‘Buss dem head’: the title sets the tone, expressing all the wild energy of a performance that is mind-blowing. Conceived as an experimental and nomadic module, a form of all-terrain intervention capable of taking place in the street and in nightclubs, as well as on stage or in a gallery or museum, Buss dem head is the outcome of numerous trips made by Cecilia Bengolea to Jamaica and the links she has had for a long time with its varied music and choreography. She met numerous figures from the dancehall scene there – DJs and dancers such as Damion BG Dancerz and Giddy Elite Team. This culture that emerged in the 1960s in Kingston, growing out of reggae and its development in contact with sound systems, here rings out as a cry of rebellion, an act of resistance to the social oppression of the poorest classes. It has since split into numerous currents each of which has its own practices, styles and specific gestures, without losing any of its combativeness and spirit of resistance. Drawing from the dancehall repertoire as from an infinite library, Cecila Bengolea, Joan Mendy and Damion BG Dancerz explore the variety, complexity and virtuosity of these styles, each of which is a vehicle for a portion of history: old school reggae repertoire, referring to the pacific foundations of rastafarianism and the gangsta dancehall repertoire whose jerky movements, disarticulation, scansions and variations in speed reveal in a direct way the violence of the ghettos.

Production assistance Vlovajob Pru
Dance premiered on 24.02.2017 at the CN D

Born in Buenos-Aires, Cecilia Bengolea studied urban dance forms, before to pursue studies in anthropological dances with Eugenio Barba, as well as Philosophy and Art History at the University of Buenos Aires. In 2001, she moved to Paris and followed the training Ex.e.r.c.e. directed by Mathilde Monnier in Montpellier.
In dialogue with Levi Strauss’s œuvre Tristes tropiques, Cecilia Bengolea co-directed two videos in 2011: La Beauté (tôt) vouée à se défaire with Donatien Veisman and Cri de Pilaga with Juliette Bineau. As a dancer, choreographer and performance artist, Cecilia Bengolea perceives dance and performance as ‘animated sculpture’ and welcomes the fact that these forms allow her to become both ‘object and subject at the same time’.

In 2016, Bengolea was commissioned by the ICA for London Art Night 2016 to present a video installation into holographic mirrors at Covent Garden Market and perform an outdoor participatory dancehall practice in the historical West Piazza of Covent Garden with ballerina Erika Miyauichi and dancehall artist Damion BG Dancerz. Bengolea also works with artists Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Monika Gintersdorfer, Knut Klassen as well as Jamaican Dancehall artists such as Joan Mendy and Damion BG dancerz. In collaboration with Jeremy Deller (UK), she co-directed the film RythmAssPoetry (rap) commissioned by the Biennale de Lyon 2015. Their second film, Bombom’s Dream, shot in Jamaica in 2016, commissioned by Hayward Gallery London and Sao Paulo Biennial 2016.

Source: The company Vlovajob Pru 's website

More information

vlovajobpru.com

Since 2001, the National Center for Dance (CND) has been making recordings of its shows and educational programming and has created resources from these filmed performances (interviews, danced conferences, meetings with artists, demonstrations, major lessons, symposia specialized, thematic arrangements, etc.).