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writing_womans_lives_symposium_paper_book_v2

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DANCING WOMEN'S LIVES, WOMEN LIVING DANCE FEMINIST<br />

AUTO/BIOGRAPHICAL STORYTELLING IN OXANA CHI'S<br />

TRANSCULTURAL DANCE ART<br />

Layla ZAMM *<br />

“I must create alternatives to this<br />

widespread mainstream which is actually<br />

very intentionally <strong>writing</strong> a single 'history',<br />

which is, for my taste, very very narrow.<br />

Widen up the radius, without exclusion. This<br />

means: allowing all voices which constituted<br />

'history' to be heard.” Oxana Chi 1<br />

“This is not about me telling her life, it's<br />

about me connecting my artistic heart to her<br />

artistic heart...”<br />

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar 2<br />

Oxana Chi, Neferet iti, Dance(a)Summer<br />

Festival, 2012.<br />

© Layla Zami<br />

Tuning in<br />

This <strong>paper</strong> presents contemporary transcultural dance pieces which tell auto/biographical stories.<br />

My purpose is to show the potential of dance art for performing women's 3 biographies which<br />

challenge dominant historical narratives, thus offering multilayered cultural memories, alternative to<br />

the mainstream yet accessible to a broad audience. I will focus on performing artist Oxana Chi. Let<br />

me introduce her. Born in Germany of Eastern European and Eastern Nigerian descent as she likes to<br />

say, Oxana is an internationally celebrated artist who works as a choreographer, dancer, filmmaker<br />

and curator in Berlin. Dwelling inspiration from her numerous travels and stays in 30 countries in<br />

Asia, the Pacific, the USA, Europe and Africa, her work has reached audiences way beyond the West‐<br />

German capital to other islands such as Java and Manhattan. Here I will focus on her last three pieces<br />

"Through Gardens (Durch Gärten)", "Neferet iti" and "I step on air", all are, as most of her repertoire,<br />

dance solos accompanied by live‐music. Even though each piece has a specific aesthetic and narrative<br />

of its own, all of them use an avant‐garde "blending of styles and juxtaposition of choreography,<br />

music, text, history, culture, and spirituality" to perform "political, unapologetic, provocative, and<br />

ultimately, healing" storytelling. 4<br />

Grounding base<br />

*<br />

Humbboldt-University Berlin / ELES Foundation PhD Talents Programme<br />

818

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