Context programming

Reclaiming Our Time

Black Achievement Month

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Dates

10 October

Location

Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Foyer

Running time

1:00 per time slot

Tickets

€15

Reclaiming Our Time

This Black Achievement Month, Dutch National Opera presents the performance Reclaiming Our Time in collaboration with pianist Djuwa Mroivili. In this performance, various young makers from the African diaspora come together, from spoken word artists to classically trained soloists and from poets to DJs.

Reclaiming Our Time

The stories on stage will be told not only in the form of various performances, but also in the form of the braiding the hair – an everyday practice and art form that has been preserved for centuries in the African diaspora. To reclaim the time that artists of colour have never had in the past, the length of the performance is determined by the time it takes to braid the hair.

The entire performance takes 5 hours (16h-21h). After the start of the performance, the audience can leave after 50 minutes or stay. New audiences can also enter on these moments. You can book tickets for different time slots and decide how long you want to attend the performance yourself.

Pianist Djuwa Mroivili and countertenor Arturo den Hartog will perform the musical compositions of Margaret Bonds, Florence Price, Leslie Adams and Robert Nathaniel Dett. Other contributions come from inspiring young artists such as theatre maker Jasmine van Putten, DJ Deborah Sumter, all-round performance artist Cherella Gessel, word artist Kalib Batta, actress Serah Doku with a monologue by playwright Pelumi Adejumo, the Zo! Gospel Choir and the South African composer Neo Muyanga.

Celebrated mezzo-soprano Katia Ledoux will perform several songs, from Schubert to Alicia Keys, and promising tenors Zwakele Tshabalala and Makudu Senaoana will sing songs from Gershwin's classic Porgy and Bess, among others.

The braiders associated with this event are:

Daphne Baloe (DaffieBeProud), Alayda Belfor, Yara Forster (Golden Giraffe Beauty), Cherella Gessel, Merci Lie-sem, Shainomy (SavvStyle) and Soraya Mulala (Sukistyling) and Shanice Starke (The Golden Braids).

Pianists:

Djuwa Mroivili

Irina Sisoyeva

Black Achievement Month

During the month of October, the Black Achievement Month Foundation will present the special contributions of people with African roots to the world and to Dutch society in particular. For a significant number of them, this country is an important focal point in their development.

Black Achievement Month

With fair success, people with African heritage have rooted themselves here and can be found in a range of disciplines in society. Among them are scientists, doctors, lawyers, writers, artists, theatre makers, athletes and entrepreneurs. All these talents and their achievements deserve to be brought to the attention of the widest and most diverse audience possible.

This year, Black Achievement Month is taking place for the sixth time. It is a recognition of the many qualities that can be found in the black community. The wealth of talent and expertise justifies this initiative and is also an ode to diversity and new citizenship. It also contributes to a balanced image of people with African roots. This is an image that is too often determined by what was said and written about persons of African descent in slavery and colonial times.