27 — 29.11.2020

cancelled

Cherish Menzo Brussels

Jezebel

dance

WIELS

⧖ 1h

Confronted with the SARS-CoV-2 crisis, we had to cancel this project.

A woman charges onto the stage dressed in a fur coat, a gold necklace and long manicured nails. She slowly slides to the floor then crawls to the front of the stage. This is the start of Jezebel, the first creation by the Dutch dancer and choreographer Cherish Menzo. The title refers to the biblical character of Jezebel who has become synonymous with seduction and lust. Cherish Menzo’s Jezebel is inspired by another disparaged female model, the Video Vixens. They were the scantily dressed black women who from the 1990s to the early 2000s danced sensuously in hip-hop clips, flattering the ego of rappers who largely dominated that music industry. Jezebel is the story of the emancipation of Video Vixens, losing the status they were confined to as accessories and instead becoming central to the project. On stage, Cherish Menzo unveils the score of their emancipation by increasing references to hip-hop’s hackneyed stereotypes and fantasies, making light of them and appropriating them as their own. Now Jezebel refuses to be defined by others and joyfully works on bursting the expectations of our pre-programmed views.

Aftertalk with Cherish Menzo & Tarek Lakhrissi

29.11, 17:00

WIELS auditorium

Presentation: Kunstenfestivaldesarts-WIELS in the framework of News From Home

Commissioned by: WIELS in the frame of Risquons-Tout, 12.09.2020 — 10.01.2021

Concept, choreography and performance: Cherish Menzo

Lighting design and technical coordination: Niels Runderkamp

Music: Michael Nunes

Video: Andrea Casetti

Costumes: Daniel Smedeman 

Dramaturgy: Renée Copraij

Advice: Berthe Spoelstra, Christian Yav and Nicole Geertruida 

Vocal coach: Shari Kok-Sey-Tjong

Campaign image: Tatchatrin Choeychom

Production management: Bibi Scholten van Aschat 

Coproduction :  Frascati Productions

Distribution and tour management: GRIP and Frascati Productions

With the support of: Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst

Thanks to: Nicole Beutler Projects, Bau Dance and Centre Chorégraphique Le Château

website by lvh