Body And Soul

Acclaimed dancer-choreographer Nora Chipaumire--recipient of a 2007 New York Dance and Performance ("Bessie") Award--joins me to discuss her vision and mission as a Zimbabwe-born contemporary dance artist of Shona heritage. She previews her April 30-May 1 solo season at Dance Theater Workshop. BIO Nora Chipaumire was born in Mutare, Zimbabwe during the Chimurenga Chechipiri, or second war of liberation. A self-exiled artist now based in New York, she investigates the collaborative process within cultural, political, economic, and technological identities of African contemporary life. Her work is transnational, unafraid, and eager to burn cultural, creative, and geographic boundaries. She creates provocative and politically relevant multimedia dance work, illuminating the struggles of human identity in an increasingly borderless world. Her work is inspired by art from her native country such as shona sculpture and chimurenga music--art that results from the often violent convergence of rural, urban, African,