EMBODYNG OTHERNESS: NELISIWE XABA'S FREMDE TANZE

‘Outside’, in the foyer of the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, where the audience is informally gathered awaiting for the show, Nelisiwe Xaba makes her appearance. Solemnly walking to the notes of the Aida, dressed in a blond wig, the South African dancer marches carrying around her neck a large circular tray, worn like a collar, upon which have been placed small desserts in the form of black human characters. The caricature mimed by this body-installation is fervid, the reference goes to the Cake walk: the dance organized and conducted by the slave servants to mock the mannerism of their aristocratic masters. The ‘foreignness’ of the piece is already set up, as well as Xaba’s intention of playing on and challenging European audience expectation and modes of vision. With a firm gaze, she ‘looks back’, and invites the audience to join her into the theatre venue…