Waters Whisper
Ama Kyei: Waters Whisper (Finland-Sweden-Ghana)
Sat 14 March at 1 p.m. in Finnish & 3 p.m. in Swedish (Bravo! Festival opening), Stoa Helsinki (tickets on sale at the end of January at lippu.fi)
Sat 21 March at 3 pm in Finnish Tickets & 5 pm in Swedish Tickets, Vuotalo, Helsinki
Sun 22 March at 11:30 am in English, WeeGee Exhibition Center, Espoo (free, no reservations)
Kindergarten and school performances:
Fri, March 13, at 9:30 a.m. in Finnish & 10:30 a.m. in Swedish, Stoa, Helsinki. Reservations starting Jan. 13 at 10 a.m. at kultus.hel.fi
Thu, March 19, at 9:30 a.m. & 10:45 a.m. in Swedish, Vindängen, Espoo. Reservations HERE
Fri 20 March at 10:00 in Swedish, LillaLuckan, Helsinki. Reservations: barnkultur@luckan.fi
The performance can also be seen at the New Children's Hospital during the festival week.
Duration approx. 30 min.
Recommended age: 3–7 years
Language: Finnish / Swedish / English
Waters Whisper will premiere at the Bravo! festival.
Waters Whisper is a dance performance for 3-7 years old children and children with special needs up to elementary school. The performance is inspired by water researcher Emoto's book called "The hidden messages of water", in which he observed that water formed beautiful icecrystals when it heard beautiful and encouraging words, prayers, or music. Another source of inspiration for the work is Mami Wata, the water goddess with roots in West Africa, who reminds us of waters sacred and life giving power. The work carries traces of Ghanaian storytelling traditions, where magic and dance as means of communication are common. In the performance, dancer Kyei seeks a channel of communication with water through various dances, in collaboration with the audience.
The choreography and perfoming of the piece is done by Ama Kyei. Kyeis background is in dance traditions stemming from the African continent (adwoa, kete & kpanlogo) and diaspora (house, hip hop, salsa). Kyei has done her official dance studies in Western contemporary dance (Stockholm Uniarts) and in street styles (Åsa folkhögskola). The dance language in the piece will stem from these dance traditions and from the dances of the children.
Scenography is done by multidisciplinary artist Wanda Holopainen. The scenography involves textile works inspired by mythologies of Mami wata. Music of the piece is done by Sophia Mitiku, Saban Ramadani and Diva Cruz. The music is a blend of electronic music with traces of latin american percussion and soundscapes inspired by water and afrodiasporic ancestry.
Choreographer, performer: Ama Kyei
Set design: Wanda Holopainen
Music: Sophia Mitiku, Saban Ramadani and Diva Cruz
Photo: Naomi Holopainen