June 26, 2021
La Plaza, The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center
114 Norfolk St, New York, NY 10002
Conceived as an opera, Nehanda investigates the myth of Nehanda, a powerful spirit, venerated by the Shona people, native of Zimbabwe and central Mozambique, who inhabits only women. In the late 19th century, Nehanda’s medium was Charwe Nyakasikana, a heroic revolutionary leader, who orchestrated the first uprisings in British-occupied Southern Rhodesia in 1896–97. Together with four comrades she was captured and, after an expedited and unjust trial, was executed by the British colonizers who were so scared that they ordered her bones and skull to be sent to the U.K. Nehanda offers a legal and philosophical defense for the first heroes of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle. The libretto is based on the infamous court case, The Queen vs. Nehanda (1898), between two sovereigns: Nehanda—mhondoro— “lion spirit” and Queen Victoria, whose long and glorified reign witnessed the rise and extension of the British empire across the world.
River To River will present one completed scene from the longer opera. The performance is designed as an immersive, participatory and durational spectacle where participants can collectively perform and investigate the process of law-making and its crucial role in the European colonial project.
nora chipaumire, artistic director | research | concept | libretto
Gwinyai Moyo Rutsito, dramaturgy | shona master
McIntosh Jerahuni, dancer | musician, mbira | singer
Tyrone Isaac-Stuart, dancer | musician | singer
Othnell Mangoma Moyo, drummer | mbira | singer
Fatima Katiji, singer | musician
Tom Jules Samie, dancer + voice
Kei Soares-Cobb, dancer + voice
Peter van Heerden, actor + voice
Sylvestre Akakpo Adzaku, studio assistant
Antek Mantorski, sound engineer
Roderick Murray, lighting + technical director
Alla Kovgan, film director | projections
Mkrtich Mko Malkhasyan, director of photography
Natalie Romero, video assistant
Leonie Wichmann, company management | production
Tommy Kriegsmann / ArKtype, production | booking