Opening REf18 in the spirit of uniting African and Western imaginary, Kirina is a production featuring 9 dancers, 1 actor, 4 musicians, 2 singers and 40 extras, born from a collaboration between the choreographer Serge Aimé Coulibaly (previously a dancer for les ballets C de la B founded by Alain Platel and founder of Faso Danse Théâtre), the Malian singer, icon of world music, Rokia Traoré and the scholar and writer Felwine Sarr (librettist of the show).
The show takes its name from the place situated in today’s Guinea where the last battle took place, resulting in the birth of the Mandingo Empire in West Africa. It is from this place that the crew recounts and describes the march of a people, caught up in a moment of extreme strength and splendour.
The power and sensuality of music meet the energy of dance, merging with a text able to lead African and Western roots into the future. «Our societies are in constant motion, populations change quickly in big cities, and these transformations are part of a great march, that of humanity», said Coulibaly.
