Mounia: S.T.U.C.K. / Ivan Michael Blackstock: Traplord

Thursday 22 August 2024

In Internationaal Theater Amsterdam

Doors: 20:45, Main programme: 21:00

Summer Dance Forever is an internationally acclaimed Hiphop dance festival. Dancers and audiences from around the world gather in the city of Amsterdam each year in August to enjoy this week-long dance feast, packed with the best of today and the great promises of tomorrow. Organized in several venues around town, Summer Dance Forever presents a great variety of dance performances, next level battles, soulful club nights and workshops to refresh and boost your skills. Next to this, the more intimate SDF Weekender takes place every year in February, focussing on House Dance. This year's summer festival takes place from 20-26 August at Paradiso, ITA and DeLaMar. Check out the full program here.

Step into a world of raw emotion with this double bill featuring Mounia Nassangar's debut piece "S.T.U.C.K", a mesmerizing exploration of Waacking's essence and power. Following this, Ivan Michael Blackstock's "TRAPLORD" takes you on a journey of self-discovery, confronting mental health and masculinity themes through dance, theater, and spoken word.

Mounia: S.T.U.C.K.
This piece marks the choreographic debut of international Waacking icon, dancer, and model Mounia Nassangar. In "S.T.U.C.K", five dancers express the essence of Waacking through their unique interpretations, each sharing their own powerful narrative. Reflecting the rich history of Waacking as a dance of urgency and expression born from oppression, "S.T.U.C.K" delves deep into the ability of dance to transcend language and speak when words fail. With bodies and stories that diverge yet converge on a profound shared experience, the performance breaks new ground with its unwavering commitment and sincerity. Exploring culture from a subjective and sensitive perspective, "S.T.U.C.K" promises to leave you with a lasting impression.

IVAN MICHAEL BLACKSTOCK: TRAPLORD
From award winning dance artist and cultural innovator Ivan Michael Blackstock comes TRAPLORD, a dance performance meditating on life, death and rebirth. Wandering between dreams and reality, TRAPLORD takes us on a new heroic journey to self-actualisation. Using dance, theatre and spoken word to explore raw and confrontational themes of mental health and masculinity, TRAPLORD is an invitation to question the stereotyping of Black men in contemporary western society; an attempt to escape from the mental state of being condemned before having lived.

Within this production are artistic choices and truthful narratives that pursue authentic lived experiences including physical and mental trauma, and may include images which depict abuse. TRAPLORD aims to inspire a healing process in both our performers and audience members. Join us on this journey.

“Ivan Michael Blackstock’s interrogation of stereotypes is broodingly atmospheric, strewn with imagery and often highly effective” - The Guardian ****

Q&A
Want to know more? Stick around for the Q&A and ask some of your burning questions to the dancers and choreographers.

Credits TRAPLORD:
Director and Choreographer: Ivan Michael Blackstock
Co-Designer: Chloe Lamford
Co-Designer: Shankho Chaudhuri
Lighting Designer: Simisola Majekodunmi
Sound Designer: Luke Swaffield for Autograph
Video Designer: Ian William Galloway
Costume Designer: Saskia Lenaerts
A production of Sadler’s Wells x 180 Studios in co-production with The Factory and ALTRUVIOLET
Supported using public money by Arts Council England.
Supported by Cockayne – Grants for the Arts and The London Community Foundation, The Maria Björnson Memorial Fund and The Foyle Foundation.