blue nile to the galaxy around olodumare

On 12 July 2022, NASA published images from the James Webb Telescope of galaxies over 10 billion light years away. While our ability to capture the light of ancient galaxies propels us closer to an idea of futurity, it also serves as a reminder that perhaps we are not as far along as we think. Collaborating again for this new creation, South African collective Impilo Mapantsula and Jeremy Nedd dig deeper into topics that navigate entangled avenues of Black diasporic and Afrofuturist experience. They present their exploration through the lens of Pantsula. This powerful dance form, well known for its high-speed virtuosic footwork, gave voice to an entire generation during Apartheid. Focusing on the improvisational potential of Pantsula’s movement vocabulary in response to the cosmic and spiritual jazz of Alice Coltrane and Bheki Mseleku, the performance draws on phenomena found in the cosmos as metaphoric inspiration: from the birth of a galaxy to the death of a star. Connecting the powerful and lyrical jive style of today’s Pantsula while echoing “past” struggles against oppression, the performers contemplate the compression of space and time, and our illusions of progress towards the future.