Kiandanda Dance Theater

Religion Kitendi combines traditional tribal and western contemporary dance movement with haute couture fashion as a point of departure to examine the prevailing legacy of the slave trade and European colonization of Africa. The piece invokes the worldview of Congolese sapeurs, dandily dressed men and women who endeavor to survive economic distress and political turmoil by feeling good in their attire. There is an ironic humor in the sorrowful trend of people spending inordinate sums of hard-earned money to seek joy and hope in kitendi (clothes). But these can also be seen as acts of resilience that bring affirmative feelings of prosperity, and with them a sense of healing and belonging.