ABOUT

Distorted Rap Choir is a part of D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER,
a project by Cherish Menzo.

In her new creation D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER, Cherish Menzo and her onstage partner Camilo Mejía Cortés look for ways to detach their bodies from the way they are perceived and the daily reality in which they move. Among other things, they look up to the sky, at dark matter and at black holes that meet and collide to give birth to a new, (afro)futuristic and enigmatic body. D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER wants to get rid of the biased way of looking at one’s own body, at that of the other, and at the stories we attribute to them. Together, they throw their bodies into a complex conversation that they want to both enter into and transcend – a duality that feeds the performance. Just as in her previous project, JEZEBEL, Menzo stretches her movement language further by integrating the Chopped and Screwed method to her movement language, a process in which the music’s tempo is sharply reduced. By stretching the notions of time, the register changes and the performing body manages to generate new readings.

​Parallel to the performance is a Distorted Rap Choir trajectory. At each venue, a dozen local people of colour are invited to take part in lab workshops working on themes from D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER. At the end of the workshop days the choir will record a rap anthem, which will be integrated into the show. Per location a new choir and an extra layer will be added. D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER wants to bring about a thorough reshuffle of the atoms, looking for a new form for – and way of looking at – the (black) body and the complex outside world to which it relates.

See full credits and calendar for D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER here.