DOUBLE BILL (Halle)

Roxette Chikua and Michel Kiyombo entered the sector through the Mestizo Arts Platform. With the support of kunstZ, they made two spectacular stage creations in which they discuss their Congolese roots and look for answers to life's questions. Their performances are shown in the form of a Double Bill.

Roxette Chikua with 'Paradis'

With 'Paradis', Roxette Chikua gives a voice to the young black woman, the refugee, the child who has lived a nomadic existence for eight years in the streets of Brussels without an identity. All she has is a dream and herself.

Roxette Chikua is an autodidact, who developed into an artist through participation in numerous projects by kunstZ, Fameus, Moving Ground, Toneelhuis, Roestgroep, etc. She has already appeared in performances such as “From Cat Evil to Worse” (Moving Ground), “Open Cloth” (VIEWPOINT), “Not One Of Us” (kunstZ), and worked as a coach during “The Swing”. In 2020 Chikua participated in the artZ project “Forbidden Loves” as a maker and player. In 2021 she will be seen as a dancer in the production of Tuning People (KAPOT). She is at home in many styles and disciplines, ranging from choreography, dance and songwriting to theatre.

'Paradise'  is a solo dance performance in an afro-futuristic atmosphere where Roxette Chikua starts from her own story and takes the viewer along in her identitarian quest through song, dance and fashion.  She presents her story in the form of a parody because she believes that difficult topics can be discussed with humor. Together with her, her audience discovers and recognizes the different dimensions of a young woman of color who wants to shape her own life by breaking free from all that society considers 'normal'.

With 'afrofuturism' as inspiration, she searches for her own building blocks and forms to tell her story.

CONCEPT, TEXT & GAME  Roxette Chikua  COAHC CHOREOGRAPHY, MOVEMENT & SOUNDSCAPE  Sandra Delgadillo  COSTUME & VISUAL CONCEPT  Elif Korkmaz  SCENOGRAPHY & LIGHT DESIGN Steven Brys & Louai Hashem COACH SINGING  Judith Okon  HAIR CONCEPT  Verlaine Limbombe Ekango  PRODUCTION KunstZ vzw THANKS TO  WIPCOOP/Mestizo Arts Platform, hetpaleis, Kultuurfabriek Beauty of Art and the Elif Angels volunteers

Michel Kiyombo with Matchombe

Michel Kiyombo is a maker, dancer and actor. He had already undergone intensive dance training with Faustin Linyekula, and his solo 'Masu Kaino' was supported by his arts center Les Studios Kabako (Congo). Michel also danced in 'Toxuvan Momar N'Diaye', in 'Debout' by Djino Alolo, in 'Le manteau' by Tchekpo Dan Agbetou. In Belgium Michel appeared in 'Le sacre du Printemps' (les ballets C de la B), 'Sur les traces de Dinozord' by Faustin Linyekula.  He co-choreographed the reworking of Akram Khan's 'Giselle' in collaboration with kunstZ and gives dance workshops in De Grote Post.

Matchombe is a dance performance in which Michel looks back on his own childhood in Congo, his return to Belgium and in the meantime discovers fatherhood. On stage, he tells the story of his birth and how he came to earth as a small, vulnerable being. Through dance he grows into the man he is today. But what remains of the frailty in him? Now he is a father himself, but what about his vulnerability?

CONCEPT AND GAME Michel Kiyombo MUSIC Youness Unik COACHING Tijen Lawson and Greet Vissers TRANSLATION Greet Vissers and Somalia Williamson PRODUCTION kunstZ.