IICL4 – NOUMEA, 2016

Most recently, Marrugeku partnered with Centre Culturel Tjibaou, New Caledonia to present the fourth Laboratory in Nouméa in September, 2016. Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance artists based in Western Australia and New South Wales and dancers from New Caledonia and Papua/Indonesia met to explore new cultural and artistic pathways in the creation of contemporary dance.

The guest choreographers on that occasion were Papuan Indonesian choreographer Jecko Siompo and Serge Aimé Coulibaly from Burkina Faso/Belgium. For Serge Aimé Coulibaly dance is a commitment. His many collaborations, in particular with Alain Platel and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, offered him a space to confront and acknowledge his identity. Never losing a sensuality that is rooted in his country, Burkina Faso, he questions the realities that are here and now and deals with themes that resonate across all continents. Since the creation of his company, Faso Dance Theatre in 2002 who perform throughout Africa and Europe, Serge Aimé built an original path, for humanity, diversity, tolerance. Serge Aimé is a long term collaborator with Marrugeku and was a guest choreographer for ICL1 in Sydney.

Jakarta-based dancer-choreographer Jecko Siompo, is a leading figure in Indonesia’s contemporary dance. Born in Jayapura and growing up in various areas in Papua: the hinterland Wamena, the coastal Fak-fak (his hometown), and the provincial capital Jayapura, the rich local dance traditions of his tribal culture is the strongest influence and the main fuel of Siompo’s unique multicultural dance vocabulary. He trained at the Arts Institute Jakarta. He has also studied hip hop in the US and attended the Tanz Studio in Germany. Together with his deep roots in Papuan dance culture, Siompo brings his firm connection with Jakarta’s hip-hop subculture into his choreography. Jecko was also a guest choreographer in Marrugeku’s ICL2 in Broome in 2010.