A tree with vermillion-coloured flowers is at the heart of Dorothée Munyaneza’s work from 2024. Its name is “umuko”, traditionally considered a healer and keeper of stories, a symbol of the resilient ties between past, present, and future, and also a memory from Munyaneza’s childhood. Together with five young Rwandese dancers, musicians, and poets, the multidisciplinary artist celebrates the creativity, audacity, and freedom of a new generation: people who carry forward the memory of a common heritage while dreaming about the future and resisting the omnipresent danger of annihilation. umuko is a work of joy, love, and solidarity.   ‍

Artist's note by Dorothée Munyaneza: “It's been 28 years since I moved away from my native land. 28 years that I live in new lands.  28 years that I root myself elsewhere. First, London, then Paris and today Marseille. 28 years that I haven't forgotten umuko, that tree that illuminates my childhood. That tree that resonates only in the native language. That bright red tree, earth red, which links me to what begins, to what is lost and found again, when I return, to what continues...”  - Dorothée Munyaneza  

Dansehallerne present umuko as part of the festival OPENINGS. With the festival, we open up for top-class international performances and strong national talents. For a wide spectrum of dancing bodies: older bodies, smaller bodies, bodies of different shapes and colors. For the iconic and the surprising. For other perspectives. OPENINGS celebrates the joy of dance and makes dance accessible to everyone.

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