OYO to create a special dance production on Pablo Picasso
The Ombetja Yehinga Organisation (OYO) has been commissioned by the Embassy of Spain in Windhoek to create a special dance production on Pablo Picasso.
The show will be performed on 19 October at the National Theatre of Namibia (NTN) in the morning for school and a public performance will be organised on the same day at 19:00. The tickets are free of charge. Patrons are requested to collect in advance their tickets at the NTN because there will be no tickets at the door.
Director at OYO, Dr Philippe Talavera said the performance will not be a biography of the life of Picasso, but it will be a tribute to his work. “We were inspired by several pieces such as ‘La vie’ or ‘famille de saltimbanques’ and developed sector from those. Picasso is also the first one to have used collages and reused items. So, the dancers are also reusing and transforming objects, creating and then deconstructing the stage as the piece goes on,” he added.
Talavera said this will be a massive production, something that has never been seen in Namibia. “It will be very different to the work OYO normally does. Cubism is about deconstruction, about looking at objects and bodies from different perspectives, we created something completely different. I can not wait to see the reaction from the audience,” he added.
OYO further explained that music composer Pondi Dikuua created the soundtrack and features poems and texts mostly written by Picasso and read by Dikuua, Gregory Decroocq, and Jesus Lasso Chateau.
“The costumes have been created by the University of Namibia fashion designers and alumni Isabella Fernando, Maija-Liisa Nautende, Quin-Leigh Hammond, Laimi Ndapunikwa, Laimi Ndinelao Moses, Monika Shapumba and Elizabeth Kaulu. Talavera did the choreography and the OYO dance company, led by Desmond Kamerika, Mary-Jane Andreas, and Sydney Farao, will perform the work,” they said.
This project is funded by the Spanish Embassy in Namibia and it represents Namibia’s contribution to this global celebration, in line with the Spanish and French Governments ‘Picasso Celebration 1973-203’, commemorating the work of Picasso on the 50th anniversary of his passing.
