#DANCE The 7 Arts Theatre was on Thursday May 1, 2014 switched on by a stunning contemporary dance show, titled ‘Baobab Shadows’.
The young dancers brought the audience to their feet in a standing ovation for their exquisite fusion of storytelling, dance, music, drumming, art, and acrobatics.
Focused on the theme of child abuse, projected text threatened, “Children are no longer content to remain in the shadow.”
The dancers slipped gracefully between the front and back of a simple white backdrop, forming playful shadow silhouettes that at times resembled Dominic Benhura’s children-at-play sculptures.
Backed by a range of music, from erratic breathing to drumming to West African lullabies sung by the dancers, the audience was danced through the range of childhood experiences, from innocent play to destruction and even death.
This innovative piece had a simple white sheet setting, used effectively with projected live painting, text, and other images.
Shadow dancers clambered up five metre ropes behind the curtain, their agile acrobatics a silhouetted backdrop for the front of curtain routine.
Baobab Shadows was a treat and provided the audience with a much-needed opportunity to breathe and reflect at the end of a long day at HIFA.
We hope to see much more work of this calibre by choreographer Harold George, from Sierra Leone, and local producer Soukaïna M.L. Edom.
