Julienne Doko CORPS ACCORDS

We walk alone in the world, carrying our inheritance in our genes and our life experience. Sometimes in harmony with, and sometimes opposed to the Other.

CORPS ACCORDS explores cycles of confrontation and synergy between the self and the other on the journey towards reconciliation of identities.

The piece was inspired by the story of Saartje Baartman, a young South African woman who was brought to Europe at the beginning of the 19th century and exploited there as a piece of exotic erotica. Her story has led me to question the knowledge embedded in our physical body and in our ancestry. How have centuries of objectification of the female body, particularly black women’s body, throughout Western culture influenced interpretations of the black female body today? What is the interplay between spirit, mind and body and how do these aspects of self, speak to each other in movement?

Sometimes taking the appearance of a deadly fight, other times a playful interaction, CORPS ACCORDS stages the search for harmony between one’s body and environment by letting the body define itself as the mind listens and accepts with humility the inheritance of the flesh and spirit.

Julienne Doko (FR/CAR/DK) is a French dance performer, teacher and choreographer with roots in the Central African Republic, based and living in Denmark. In her dance practice, Julienne explores connections between different dance styles and uses contemporary dance as a space of hybridisation, a vehicle for synergy between dance techniques and expressions. Her movement and dramaturgical line take inspiration from her homelands and the journeys she has taken in between. Julienne has performed internationally with a number of companies, in festivals, TV shows and musicals.

Choreography Julienne Doko

Dancers Meire Santos & Julienne Doko

Drummer and music Simin Stine Ramezanali

Composer Jackie Gallant

Video installation recordings Julie Malmstrøm

Video installation edit and soundscape Julienne Doko