This October, acclaimed Swiss-American choreographer Joshua Monten will make his East African debut in Nairobi with a captivating performance series of his internationally celebrated work LINEARITY.
The Nairobi tour, produced by Upstage Limited, will run from 29 October to 1 November, and will feature performances at the Alliance Française, the Kenya National Theatre, Artzone Studios, and a special outdoor street performance at Hilton Square in Nairobi’s Central Business District on Friday, October 31.
Linearity asks “what happens when we move between the lines?”. The piece has a jaunty, playful feel, with a fast pace and athletic movements. Clad in costumes reminiscent of construction workers, the dancers are fashioning a small world made of straight lines with which they question the notion of linearity in our world.
Linearity is the property of being arranged in a straight line or being in a single, straight-line series. It can also mean that a relationship between variables is directly proportional, so a change in one variable results in a proportional change in the other. Monten plays with these concepts.
Linearity explores an inventive movement language shaped by the tension between geometric precision and fluid motion. The piece invites audiences to reflect on rhythm, control, and the human body’s relationship to form and freedom.
The artists employ brightly coloured adhesive tape to play with notions of constriction, using the tape quite literally to form lines and to bind – and un-bind; creating their own lines and boundaries. In doing so they self-create a need to contort and work in order to cross over and under the lines. We see joy in instances of breaking the lines and a turning of the lines into movement.
The tour is part of Upstage’s growing international exchange program, which connects global artists with East Africa’s vibrant performing arts scene. Monten will be joined by long-time collaborator and dancer Jack Wignall for this weekend of performances and closed-door workshops with local movement artists.
Monten’s work is known for blending playfulness with rigorous choreography, and has toured extensively across Europe, Asia, and North America. It is now set to engage Nairobi audiences for the first time.
The movement language of Linearity is based on an extended dialogue between straight lines and luxurious curves and wiggles. How straight do we really want to be? How many curves can we handle? The choreography looks for answers to questions that end up being surprisingly personal.
Joshua Monten is a Swiss-American choreographer. Since founding the Joshua Monten Dance Company his work has been performed widely on an international scale – from the Sydney Opera House to Théâtre de la Ville Paris and the Shanghai Contemporary Dance Center, as well as festivals in Avignon, Lima, Ramallah, and Cairo.
Monten’s choreography blends precision, playfulness, and physical invention and spans stage, opera, museums, and especially public spaces. His works are shaped by a deep commitment to engaging diverse audiences through bold, accessible movement.
Like watching Sisyphus roll his rock up the mountain, “Linearity” shows the fascinatingly endless task of imposing straightness on an irregular world. Outfitted with rolls of bright adhesive tape, two ambitious and energetic dancers restructure their environment by creating straight lines in the unlikeliest of places.
Don’t miss this opportunity to see the premiere of Linearity in East Africa, right here in central Nairobi.
Performance Dates and Venues:
- Oct 29 – Artzone Studios, Baricho Road
- Oct 30 – Kenya National Theatre
- Oct 31 – Hilton Square, Nairobi CBD (Street performance)
- Nov 01 – Alliance Française Nairobi
Entry to all performances is free, but advance RSVP is strongly encouraged to secure a spot! Members of the public can RSVP via this link.
Upstage is an artist-led nonprofit that creates bold, inclusive platforms for the performing arts in East Africa. Upstage uses music, dance, and interdisciplinary performance to drive transformative impact for artists, audiences, communities, and the creative sector.
