Traffic Jam

Since beginning my travel to Uganda, I have been collaborating with dancers there on a set of projects I loosely call “Traffic Jam.”  Many of the dancers are or were students at Makerere University.  Others are members of Lifechangerz, a gospel and hip hop group based in the Kivulu slum adjacent to the university. The video below is from 2014, and takes place at Treasure Life Youth Center in Kampala.  The music is from the Jovenes project “Caminemos Juntos.”  I took that music with me to Kampala and my friends there wanted to choreograph something to it.  They were very excited about the idea of connecting to the stories of the homeless youth from Jovenes Inc., in Los Angeles.  Many of the Ugandan dancers were dealing with struggles of their own.  We had hosted a research event at TLC, and the dancers were due to perform at the end.  Everything took longer than we had anticipated (not unusual in fieldwork!), and so by the time it was time to dance, the sun had set.  Luckily, we managed to talk a passing ambulance driver into parking on the soccer pitch with his lights on long enough for the dancers to perform.  I love how the strong lights in the darkness add to the feeling of the dance.