MABOUNGOU: Being in the World

MABOUNGOU: Being in the World delves into the resonant universe of Montréal-based dancer, choreographer, and philosopher Zab Maboungou. A self-described “child of colonization”, born in Paris to a French mother and a Congolese father, she grew up in the Congo during its revolutionary awakening in the 1960s. Where the juxtaposition of both village and urban life met in past and present convergence, and fought for their futures in the political turmoils of Congo’s efforts for independence. After the loss of her mother in childhood, she resisted traditional matrilineal pressures by following her intuition, claiming the right to become the woman that she chose to be. Zab arrived in Montreal in 1973, and for more than thirty years she has galvanized the contemporary dance scene with her radically regrounded conception of time, the body, and the self. Zab challenges the norms and preconceptions surrounding African dance, by embracing the constantly evolving culture.