Summer Dance Forever x Cinedans presents Ailey / Drapetomania

In collaboration with Cinedans we have curated a free film program at the Melkweg for you all to enjoy on the Sunday afternoon! Please note that there is limited capacity.

Ailey
Director: Jamila Wignot
USA, 2021, 95 minutes

Alvin Ailey Ellington (1931-1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) in 1958. The AAADT, and its affiliated Ailey School, acted as a safe haven for black artists who expressed their African American identity through dance. Director Jamila Wignot edited ninety minutes of rehearsals, performances, statements by Ailey himself and by a selection of ex-dancers from his company. She interspersed it with current images of a production in the making by hip-hop choreographer Rennie Harris, made with the latest generation of Ailey dancers. The documentary provides insight into the complexity of Ailey's life, in which he struggled not only for recognition as a black artist in a dominant white culture, but also for (self)acceptance of his sexual orientation and his struggle with feelings of dissociation as an artist within the black community. 

Watch the trailer here!

Drapetomania
Director: Richard Kofi
Choreographer: Junadry Leocaria
NL, 2022, 5 minutes

'Drapetomania' by Dutch multidisciplinary artist, curator, podcaster and author Richard Kofi refers to an alleged mental illness that caused enslaved blacks to flee from captivity. In this short abstract dance film, choreographed by Junadry Leocaria, a couple tries to find a way out of a collapsing world. Their search for freedom defies all logic, making them the glitch in the system that disrupts the narrative itself.