Formed in March 2011, The Kandake is a dance-theatre collective that combines social activism and community engagement with folkloric, modern, theatrical, and experimental movement.
Our trilogy of socio-political, multidisciplinary plays will incorporate dance from various parts of the world, martial arts, aerial arts, video art, audience participation, and fusions of traditional and contemporary music.
More About The Trilogy:
1.) In
1001 Nights: Love Stories on Death Row (A Rock Opera) the legendary, storytelling Queen Scheherazade is reimagined as a prisoner on Death Row.
1001 Nights... explores marginalized experiences of ethnicity, religion, sex and sexual orientation within Western and Eastern cultures and takes a critical look at the American prison-industrial complex.
After several downtown commissions as a work-in-progress, the full script was solicited by the renowned, Off-Broadway
Public Theater in 2015 and is currently being reviewed by another
Off-Broadway company. The Spanish-language version of the show took home an HOLA award for "Outstanding Musical", a New York Latin ACE Award for "Best Musical" and several other awards.
One of Egypt's premier composers, the world-renowned
Hossam Ramzy, called the music "Inspiring."
Help us fund a world premiere of 1001 Nights... in NYC!
2.)
Jaguar Woman is a murder mystery and love story based in Indigenous Brazilian and West African spirituality, history, socio-politics, and overall culture in Brazil.
In
Jaguar Woman, the fourth wall doesn't exist. The audience "plays" the role of tourists and Enitan, an elderly quilombola, tells them the story of a mysterious stanger who left a permanent mark of his community over 30 years prior to the present day.
However, the tourists can never be quite sure how truthful their trickster-storyteller is, as the borders of reality fade, and the real-world threat of fascism looms. The full script for
Jaguar Woman was solicited by an
Off-Broadway company in 2019. Wish us luck!
Support our October 5 excerpt and staged reading September 29 as well as continued developments for this work! 3.)
An Epic Journey Through the Art of War and Hip Hop draws heavily from South/East Asian mythology and pays homage to the unique intersections that can be found between imported martial arts movies from the 70s/80s, Japanese pop culture, and American Hip Hop culture.
Let's create a hip hop/kung fu musical together!