Cane, Corn & Gully

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In this extraordinary debut, Barbadian history is masterfully transformed
using dances once performed by the enslaved
to salvage women’s voices. Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa’s
artistry is a celebration of her ancestral heritage.
Her enchanting and rebellious symphonies
are an impressive demonstration of innovation and decolonisation.

‘…them, who hide drums in pineapple carcasses…’

While travelling through archives from the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade,
Safiya discovered fragments of speech from
the enslaved in the form of movement. To reclaim
their narratives, she began weaving dance and poetry
which led to a dextrous exploration of form and language.
By tracing movement from the earliest records of Barbadian
history to her memories, Safiya has choreographed a brave
collection where the women take centre stage.

‘…a duppy is bathing in my mouth…’

Cane, Corn & Gully is ground-breaking.
Safiya’s journey gifts us with surreal and wondrous moments including
lovers meeting inside Muhammed Ali’s left fist,
a bearded fig tree gifting choreography advice,
mothers hiding cutlasses up their skirts and
girls who learn to outsmart the devil with a two-step.

‘she spits extinction in de eye…’