Short Abstract:

This is a reflective dance workshop centered around a popular Rwandan traditional song, Igisasa, and its methodological offerings. The song will be choreographically workshopped as it has been recomposed and arranged by renowned Rwandan-Australian traditional artists Cyprien and Eric Kagorora.

Long Abstract:

Drawing from ongoing research on the role Rwandan traditional dance in embodiment and identification amongst exiles, this interactive workshop focuses on a popular folk song - Igisasa- to present the embodied and ecological relationships that Rwandan impunzi (refugees) have with the geographies of their homeland. Eric and Cyprien Kagorora are a father-son duo who have shared their knowledge and passion of traditional Rwandan song and dance, first with Rwandan parents and children who had to make life anew in exile, contending with the legacies of the 1994 war. During a long journey that saw them leaving Rwanda when the war began, Cyprien established Hoza Cultural Group in Kenya, Gihozo Cultural Group in South Africa, and currently Imanzi Cultural Group in Brisbane, Australia. As a healing strategy and framework, Cyprien trained over 1000 children and their parents -spread globally- who were able to repair and renew their lives using the rich cultural resource of Rwandan traditional song and dance. This impact was not limited to Rwandans but extended to the broader communities in the countries the Kagorora's have lived, fostering social cohesion and transnational connection through art. As a beneficiary of this legacy, and as a scholar whose research engages these themes, Gratia Ilibagiza joins her dance mentors to dance, reflect and share the "unwritten" knowledges coded in Rwandan song and dance, and how they transform our notions of the body, ecology, healing and intergenerational knowledge transmission. The workshop will be presented through rehearsal, performance and dialogue as the format modalities.

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