Invocation #2 – Les Abymes, Guadeloupe – Bigidi mè pa tonbé!

Continuing the series of Invocations, a sequence of programs traveling through four cities worldwide in anticipation of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, the project arrives in Guadeloupe, a territory in Central America. This edition, titled “Bigidi mè pa tonbé!” [Totter, but never fall!], will be held from December 5 to 7 at La FABRI’K, a space led by choreographer, anthropologist, and educator Dr. Léna Blou, with dance as its central theme.

With Anaïs Verspan, Dory Sélèsprika, Fritz Naffer, Geordy Zodidat Alexis, Groupe Foubap, Lazaro Benitez, Dr. Léna Blou, Prof. Michelle Mycoo, Minia Biabiany, Olivier Marboeuf, Raymonde Torin, Santiago Quintana, Tiéno Muntu (Dr. Etienne Jean-Baptiste), and Yane Mareine.

Check out the summary program:

Dec 5, 2024, Thu
6pm – 7pm: Welcoming note and introduction by Dr. Léna Blou, Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung and Anna Roberta Goetz
7pm – 7:30pm: Gwoka dance performance by Raymonde Torin, based on the seven fundamental gwoka dances
7:30pm – 8pm: Musical performance by Fritz Naffer and the Gwoka band Foubap

Dec 6, 2024, Fri
10am – 11pm: Le Bigidi, un savoir incarné dans l’écrin du Lawonn – Dance conference and workshop by Dr. Léna Blou around the praxis of Bigidi’art
11:30am – 12:30pm: Climate change impacts, adaptation and resilience in the Caribbean: A narrative in Earth system balance, harmony and resilience – Lecture by Prof. Michelle Mycoo
2:30pm – 3:30pm: Dans le ventre des oiseaux, dans la bouche des femmes sauvages: une archive déparlante [In the belly of birds, in the mouth of wild women: a despeaking archive] – Lecture performance by Olivier Marboeuf
4pm – 5pm: Poetry slam and visual installation by Dory Sélèsprika and Anaïs Verspan

Dec 7, 2024, Sat
10:30am–11:30am: jwen, sanblé, kontré – A proposition of performance by Yane Mareine, Minia Biabiany and Santiago Quintana
12pm – 1pm: The Blip and the Pi tak: human verbs of the improbable – Lecture by Tiéno Muntu (Dr. Etienne Jean-Baptiste), doctor of music, history and society
3pm–4pm: Mapping choreographic fugues: archipelagic writing in dance – Lecture performance by Lazaro Benitez
4:30pm – 6:00pm: Kalanje – Performance by Geordy Zodidat Alexis
7:30pm–9pm: Swaré Lewoz with the gwoka band Foubap

Service
36th Bienal de São Paulo – Not All Travellers Walk Roads / Of Humanity as Practice
Chief curator: Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung / Co-curators: Alya Sebti, Anna Roberta Goetz, Thiago de Paula Souza / Co-curator at large: Keyna Eleison / Strategy and communication advisor: Henriette Gallus

Invocation #2 – Guadeloupe
Bigidi mè pa tonbé! [Totter, but never fall!]
Dec 5–7, 2024
Thurs, 6pm – 8pm
Fri, 10am – 5pm
Sat, 10:30am – 9pm
Lafabri’k
27 bis et 29 rue Abel Libany, 3e rue de l’Assainissement
Les Abymes, Guadeloupe
free admission