Saba
SABA is a stage adaptation of a tale from traditional East African oral culture: the Ibimanuka. Combining song, live music and dance performance. Future and tradition converge in a minimalist and intimate circular staging.
Creation
Saba
Like a prayer, a ritual, a moment suspended between heaven and earth, ISHINGIRO's hypnotic performance takes us into the poetic world of Rwanda's esoteric code.
7, pronounced ‘Saba’ in Swahili, refers to the 7 heavens and the 7 performers in this piece inspired by a traditional tale. Originating in oral culture, this ancestral tale is part of a set of stories known as Ibitekerezo: a form of epic poetry performed at the royal court by the ritualists of pre-colonial Rwanda. Among the myths of the first dynasty is that of the Ibimanuka, the fallen of the sky.
Hijacked during colonisation for racist purposes, its biased and separatist interpretation served to justify genocidal propaganda. It is in a spirit of cultural re-appropriation that our 7 performers come to pass on their heritage to us through this universal myth of genesis, which in reality brings everyone together around a common ancestor.
