Survival Technologies
2024
Image by Kamissa Ma Koïta.
Borrowing from the art of the griot and palaver circles, multidisciplinary artists Kamissa Ma Koïta and Elena Stoodley stage a performative assembly that rallies the power of an entire village. Concerned by artificial intelligence and its impacts, they turn to ancestral technologies with a radically joyful approach. In the centre of the circle, a battle unfolds between the machine, symbol of western progress, and dance—the ultimate tool of resistance and emancipation.
This latest work from the multidisciplinary group PME-ART provides a platform for powerful voices. Koïta and Stoodley, Quebec artists of Malian and Haitian background respectively, have both experienced uprooting, but they also share a profound, jubilant connection to traditional dances transmitting ancestral knowledge. Through a stream of images and songs in Bambara, Creole and French, Survival Technologies issues an appeal to end violence and let joy reign.
Produced by PME-ART
Creator, Director, Sound Design, Performer Elena Stoodley
Co-Ideator Kamissa Ma Koïta
Visual Design Kamissa Ma Koïta, Elena Stoodley, Bay Dam, Vladimir Cara
Set and Lighting Design Paul Chambers
Assistant Set and Lights Jordana Natale
Interactive Art Design Bay Dam
Performer, Cultural Consultant Jean Durandisse
Performer, Dance Consultant and Costume Designer Michèle Jean-Jacques
Performer and Dance Consultant Sophia Gaspard
Percussionist and Cultural Consultant Karl-Henry Brézault
Artistic Consultants Dana Michel + Karla Étienne
Artistic Facilitator, Dramaturgy Assistant Jacob Wren
Artistic Contribution Sonia Hughes
Producer Sylvie Lachance
Technical Director Vladimir Cara
Assistant Stage Manager Nicoleta Stoodley
Production Manager Becks Lefranc
Co-produced by Festival TransAmériques + Forum Freies Theater (Düsseldorf) + Festspillene i Nord-Norge (Harstad)
Developed with the support of National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund (Ottawa)
Presented in association with Agora de la danse + Tangente
Premiered at Festival TransAmériques, on May 30, 2024
Written by Fabien Marcil
Translated by David Dalgleish