Solo Performance Work

For their Solo Performance thesis at Barnard College (CC'19), Nerima Makhondo (fka Rũgũrũ Karira) performed a piece entitled 'Four women, if you know you know'(an Ode to Nina Simone). This 15 minute performance explored how Black Women have engaged with the freedom movement in contemporary African political conversations. Under the guidance of Prof. Kyle deCamp, Nerima weaved a piece that highlighted two contemporary African women directly opposed their governments and faced violent responses; Stella Nyanzi (Uganda) and Joana Mamombe (Zimbabwe). Additionally, they used three identified Womanist virtues; Unshouted Courage, Quiet Grace and Invisible Dignity to create the characters and added an additional virtue, Radical Rudeness to create 4 characters. The piece also uses collected excerpts from Alexis Pualine Gumbs' poetry, Stella Nyanzi's poetry, Ntozake Shange's book Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo, Joana Mamombe's speeches and Banyala war songs (from my Auntie Bertha) to weave an intricate narrative spotlighting black women's encounters with political violence and further than that, through integrated spellwork, give instructions for healing. "I want to hold a space both spiritually and physically using my body to the souls of black women that I have encountered in one way or another and those that I have not to celebrate them. Within my piece, I want to bring to the fore the spiritual and physical tactics that have been applied to preserve our existence and ensure survival." - Rũgũrũ Karira CC'19 In the performance, Nerima uses performance techniques such as their drumming, costume changes, spell work, folk dancing, stage demarcation among other tools to set 'conditions' for their four characters in order to differentiate the virtues and tell the story. CW: partial nudity from min. 14:20