Fragmented Shadows
Wanjiru Kamuyu
Schedule
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Thursday, October 16, 2025
Friday, October 17, 2025
US Premiere
Duration: 55 minutes
How can we use the body as a source of liberation, a site of healing? Grounded in epigenetic and psychosomatic research, acclaimed Kenyan American dance artist Wanjiru Kamuyu asks herself and the performers to consider their bodies as museums of lived experiences and archives of memories. Offering voice and light to embodied legacies of inherited and personal inaudible wounds, Fragmented Shadows explores through emotional, visceral and sensorial landscapes the body as a vector for liberation.
“Beautifully performed, this striking contemporary dance piece by choreographer Wanjiru Kamuyu explores the body—as a “vessel” of memories and emotions” – Rafael Font Vaillant, A2S
Co-Presented with New York Live Arts
Venue
Wanjiru Kamuyu
Wanjiru Kamuyu, born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, obtained a Master of Fine Arts at Temple University. She started her career in New York with such notable dance companies as Urban Bush Women and Molissa Fenley and Company. Based in Paris since 2007—when she performed as a member of the original cast of Julie Taymor’s Paris production of The Lion King—Kamuyu has worked with many contemporary choreographers including Bill T. Jones, Irène Tassembedo, Robyn Orlin, Nathalie Pubellier, Emmanuel Eggermont, Anne Collod, Stefanie Batten Bland, Bartabas, Dean Moss, and others.
She has created three major works since 2017 plus adaptations for alternative spaces and young audiences which have toured internationally. Her work has been developed in residencies in France, the US, and Ireland. In 2020, Kamuyu created her first dance film, La visite, directed by Tommy Pascal. Kamuyu has also worked as a choreographer with director Jérôme Savary and has developed projects for refugees with New World Theatre (USA) and Euroculture (a project for 65 young artists and 11 refugees from Sudan, Syria, Libya and Afghanistan). She has been commissioned by directors Hassane Kassi Kouyaté (Burkina Faso), Jean-François Auguste (France), and several US universities and dance company InkBoat (California). She has also served as artistic consultant for choreographer Bintou Dembele’s (France) work Z.H.
Since the 2023-24 season, Kamuyu has been the associate artist at the National Choreographic Center, CCN Nantes. As a 2023 artist in residence with Villa Albertine, Kamuyu continues to receive their support. She is also a Live Feed Artist with New York Live Arts for seasons 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Billing Credits
Choreography: Wanjiru Kamuyu with Sherwood Chen and Elodie Paul
Performers: Sherwood Chen, Wanjiru Kamuyu, Elodie Paul
Original music: LACRYMOBOY
Costume and set design: Birgit Neppl
Lighting design: Cyril Mulon
Artistic associate: David Gaulein-Stef
Producer: Dirk Korell
Tour manager: David Gaulein-StefProduction Credits
CO-PRODUCTION
Le Tangram, scène nationale Evreux Louviers
Le Quartz – Scène nationale de Brest
L’Onde Théâtre Centre d’Art, Scène Conventionnée d’Intérêt National – Art et Création pour la Danse
Centre Chorégraphique National de Nantes – Direction Ambra Senatore
VIADANSE – Direction Fatoumi/Lamoureux, Centre chorégraphique national de Bourgogne Franche-Comté in Belfort, in the framework of studio residences – a program of the Ministry of Culture and Communication and DRAC Bourgogne Franche-Comté
Compagnie DCA / La ChaufferiePUBLIC FUNDING
Direction régionale des affaires culturelles d’Île-de-France
Région Ile-de-FrancePRIVATE SPONSORSHIP
With the support of Caisse des Dépôts
With additional support provided by Sweat VariantCOMMISSION SUPPORT
The creation of Fragmented Shadows receives commissioning support from New York Live Arts’ Live Feed creative residency program, which is supported in part by Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Partners for New Performance.RESIDENCIES
Compagnie DCA / La Chaufferie
L’Onde Théâtre Centre d’Art
CCN Belfort – Viadanse
CCN Nantes in the frame of the studio program, with the support of Ministry of Culture/DRAC Pays-de-la-Loire
Le Tangram, scène nationale Evreux Louviers
Villa Albertine (New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston)
PS21, Chatham (New York)
New York Live Arts (New York City)
CCN Belfort – Viadanse | CCN NantesREHEARSAL SPACE
CND Centre national de la danse, Pantin
La Briqueterie, CDCN Val-de-MarneSupported by FUSED, a program of Villa Albertine and Albertine Foundation.
About New York Live Arts
New York Live Arts, guided by the leadership of visionary artist Bill T. Jones, collaborates with boundary pushing artists, advocates for their vision, and fortifies a creative future. It also serves as home base for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, which has been creating groundbreaking work for over forty years.
Support for Crossing The Line
and The Wescustogo Foundation
L’Alliance New York’s programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the Support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Header Image: Fragmented Shadows ©metlili.net
Wanjiru Kamuyu headshot: © Mathieu Waddell
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