“We are in an alien world. Only awkward movement is possible.”
• Bayo Akomolafe
Choreographer Cherish Menzo examines the figure of the monster in FRANK —short for Frankenstein. More than (re)producing a physical or visual portrayal of the monster, she is researching the monstrous as an embodiment of beliefs and narratives that terrify and horrify, and yet also attract us. Distortion is a choreographic leitmotif used to generate movement material and as a tool to devour the dance and loosen its structure. Cherish Menzo investigates the action of decay and how something gradually breaking down and becoming less or worse can affect one’s gestures. The performance space fabulates on the Baka Gorong, a place located at the back of the former plantations and in front of the wetlands, where enslaved people in Suriname secretly went to carry out Winti rituals – demonized under Dutch colonial rule – and to consider fleeing. She is joined by Omagbitse Omagbemi, Mulunesh and Malick Cissé —performing artists from different generations—to construct a performance between the ritual, the apocalypse, and the carnival, where narrated identities are challenged, where flesh can deviate and be corrupted until it bursts and becomes unbearable. The dancers express their standing in the world with incoherent, broken-down movement in a scenery that collapses around them. In an increasingly unstable world of hiccups and unlikely events, often gruesome and violent, we are reminded of early horror movies and this eerie feeling, the flicker in the dark.
Jury Report
The jury commends the uncompromising nature of FRANK. It is not a grey but a resolutely black performance: demanding for those who ordinarily feel undisturbed and safe outside the theatre, and necessary in a world where Black bodies are not free.
Discover more about FRANK
Want to dive deeper into the world of FRANK? On its webpage, you'll find an in-depth essay by Madeleine Planeix-Crocker, the full script and song lyrics from the performance, along with additional background information.
Enter at your own risk.
Gallery
