Modern Moves Postdoctoral Associate Francesca Negro is performing across Europe this summer in several high profile events: On the 24th of May, at the Budapest Salsa Festival, she will perform in a new salsa choreography created by the Lisbon-based dancers Nuno and Vanda for their group, Salsa Stage. On the 21st and 22nd of June, she will participate in the Criola Festival 2014 at Alicante, performing with António Bandeira, one of the first instructors of Kizomba in Europe. They will also participate in a Summer Dance Workshop at the Château de Ligoure, France, between the 10th and 17th of July, where they will present on Angolan Semba, and use the occasion to develop some reflections on the cultural and political exchanges between Cuba and Angola in the realm of music and dance.

Between 16th and 25th May, Modern Moves Advisory Board Member Kwenda Lima will take, for the first time to Cabo Verde, his choreographed show ‘MULOMA: A Corporeal and Visual Expression’. MULOMA (Mende for ‘let us be united’) combines contemporary dance techniques, a minimalist scenography using props suggestive of journeys, protection, and contemplation (calabashes, cords, sails, umbrellas, and chairs), and music inspired by ‘our vast universe, from mantras to traditional African, Asiatic and Indigenous music.’ With the aim to revivify our connection to Mother Earth to illuminate the fundamentals of happiness, and guided by the conviction that movement constitutes a principal means of interaction between human beings and the world, MULOMA’s primary objective is to amplify our ‘corporeal conscience’ by returning dance to society. It also returns Kwenda to his birthplace, Sal, with a new production: a journey surely full of emotional and artistic significance.