By John Owoo
(Berlin – Germany)
“L-Movement,” a piece choreographed by Yayi Nestor Gahe, charmed an excited audience at the Ufer Studios with its powerful reflection on laughter—not just as a passing feeling but as a force that shapes our humanity.
Through flowing, pulsating, and often unexpected movements, the dancers express laughter’s roots in the body, turning it from sound into visible energy. The result is a unique movement language that connects the primal and the modern.
Undeniably, the performance, which formed part of Kuyum Tanzplattform 2025, highlights laughter’s duality: its power to bring people together across boundaries and its tendency to be suppressed by social norms. This tension was expertly expressed through the dancers’ shifts between free/expansive gestures and moments of restraint, almost as if laughter itself was being suppressed.
Instead of giving a literal meaning, “L-Movement” became a vivid metaphor—truly a tribute to laughter’s power to connect, disrupt, and heal. By combining physical exploration with emotional depth, the piece goes beyond entertainment to become an invitation: to feel, to remember, and to laugh again without limits.
Without a doubt, the piece reminds us that laughter comes before language and remains a universal way of communicating. The choreography reflected the carefree laughter of children while also encouraging audiences to rediscover that wild, unrestrained energy within themselves.
Instead of a literal interpretation, the piece becomes a living metaphor—a tribute to laughter’s power to connect, disrupt, and heal. By blending bodily exploration with emotional depth, “L-Movement” goes beyond entertainment to serve as an invitation: to feel, to remember, and to laugh again without boundaries.
“Underneath Climate Cracks – The Dying African Philosophy”, a piece choreographed and performed by Michael Kaddu, is rooted in memory and tradition. The artist reimagines rainmaking rituals as both a cultural inheritance and a contemporary ecological reflection.
The audience watched in awe as the piece unfolded with Kaddu’s heartfelt memory of his mother’s role as a rainmaker. The piece creates an intensely personal yet universally relatable tone. It is not only about the loss of ritual but also about the vulnerability of traditions that once connected humans and nature.
Indeed, the performance redefines ritual as ecological wisdom rather than superstition. At a time when rainmaking practices are fading, the work emphasizes their importance as a record of environmental knowledge. Through movement and song, the performers not only honor a disappearing tradition but also demonstrate its relevance for modern discussions on sustainability and climate.
By connecting ritual, memory, and ecology, the performance offers more than just a reverence to the rainmakers of the past. It encourages audiences to consider how embodied knowledge—expressed through dance, ritual, and community practice—can help us reconnect with nature and rethink our relationship with the environment amid global change.
Kuyum Tanzplattform 2025 is being sponsored by Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt, Hochschulübergreifendes Zentrum Tanz Berlin, Ufer Studios, Theatre Haus Berlin, Kulturplakatierung Dinamix, Rausgegangen and Tip Berlin.
Pix – thabu thindi
