
umuko
DOROTHÉE
MUNYANEZA
2024
“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
Dorothée Munyaneza left but always returned, tirelessly, to her motherland. She returned to listens to those who make the Rwanda of tomorrow, but who nevertheless do not forget, these "brand new ancients" to borrow the words of Kae Tempest: Akayezu Jean Patient who, from the height of his twenties, plays the Inanga marvelously, the traditional stringed instrument celebrating the epics of the past, Impakanizi, an "Intore", a chosen one, who carries traditional dances and songs with the lightness and detachment of a young man of this millennium and the seriousness of an old master, listen to Abdoul Mujyambere, Cedric Mizero and Michael Makembe.
She brings them together under the umuko where ejo, yesterday and tomorrow in Kinyarwanda, meet and speak through the body, poetry, music, inanga and song. umuko, the ancestral tree, guardian of stories, heals to weave links between what is preserved, what resists oblivion and what is to come. It is the tree of memories, the tree of vermilion flowers that illuminates this creation-celebration based on love, solidarity and joy.
Artistic direction
Performance and artistic collaboration
→ Jean Patient "Nkubana" Akayezu
Eric "Rud Bass" Hakizimana (since 03/2026)
Performance and artistic collaboration (until 08/2025)
Music
Impakanizi
Nkubana Jean-Patient
Michael Makembe
Sound management
Camille Frachet, Aude Besnard
Light & scenography
Camille Duchemin
Light Management
Camille Faye, Anna Geneste
Costumes
Production
→ Virginie Dupray - Cie Kadidi
assisted by Nouria Tirou and Louise Mutabazi
Coproduction
Dance reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
Chaillot - Théâtre National de la Danse, Paris
Maison de la Danse Lyon – Pôle Européen de création
PACT Zollverein, Essen
deSingel, Antwerp
Julidans, Amsterdam
Tanz im August / HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin
Kaai Theater, Bruxelles
festival Oriente-Occidente, Rovereto
With the support from
Institut français du Rwanda et du Goethe-Institut, dans le cadre du Fonds Culturel Franco-Allemand.
DRAC Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Past touring dates and venues:
2024
23 February, Kigali Triennale, Rwanda
15 → 18 May, Théâtre national de Chaillot, Paris
3 → 4 July, Festival de Marseille
7 → 8 July, Julidans, Amsterdam
15 → 17 August, Tanz im August, Berlin
1 September, Festival Oriente-Occidente, Rovereto
2025
19 February, Concertgebouw, Bruges
21 → 22 February, deSingel, Anvers
26 → 28 February, Le Maillon, Strasbourg
4 March, L'échangeur, Château Thierry / Le Safran
6 → 7 March, Le Tandem / Hippodrome, Douai
14 → 15 March, KVS, Brussels
18 → 19 March, Maison de la danse, Lyon
21 → 23 March, ADC Pavillion, Geneva
28 → 29 March, PactZollVerein, Essen
14 → 16 August, Zurcher Theater Spektakel, Zurich
27 → 28 October, Spielart, Munich
31 October → 1 November, Dansenhus, Oslo
14 → 15 November, Alkantara, Lisbon
21 → 22 November, Teatro do Porto, Porto
Upcoming dates:
2026
15 March, SAT Teatro, Barcerlona / Dansa Metropolitana x Africa Moment 2026
18 → 20 March, Théâtre de Vidy, Lausanne
26 March, L’aire Libre, St Jacque de la Lande
31 March → 1 April, Théâtre Les deux Scènes, Besançon
10 April, Teatre Municipal de Girona / Africa Moment 2026







