Evans Ng'ang'a on University Way

Building a road on the rumble of a freshly built and destroyed police building, a Chinese company demonstrates both the power of its entrepreneurship and the utter planlessness of Nairobi. Just like the city that hosts his art, Evans’ career as a contemporary dancer is mostly unplanned. For over five years, he has been “working everywhere, for no one and for everyone”, on most of the scenes in town (Sarakasi, GoDown, KNT, Goethe or Alliance), and with many different dancers and choreographers, both Kenyan and foreign (Kebaya Moturi, Neema Bagamuhunda, Miriam Rother, Stephanie Thiersch, etc.). Nairobi offers so many of these opportunities that Evans doesn't feel the need to struggle for those international platforms that most Kenyan artists dream about.

“You don’t sell dances on DVD, they have to be performed on a stage. Even though Kenyans are very poor at appreciating art, Nairobi has enough market.”

Despite this genuine confidence in the development of the culture sector, the state of the art in Kenya is still one of a chrysalis. The path to recognition was first drawn by pioneers like Opiyo Okatch in the 1990’s. But, still today, very few people are willing to understand the body language and vocabulary of contemporary dance. According to Evans, serious dancers and choreographers in Kenya are a mere 30 individuals. It is a common stereotype for the African continent that music and dance have since the dawn of time been associated with every event in society. The dance produced by this young and urban generation has little if any tradition to stick to and is becoming more and more independent project wise. Follow artists like Evans to see where that road leads to.

Bonus picture: Evans rests after teaching yoga at the Sarakasi Dome for the African Yoga Project.