Earth, Wheels, Air is a creative collaboration between the UK’s first integrated circus company, Extraordinary Bodies, and Kenya’s leading inclusive contemporary dance company, Pamoja Dance. Together, they are creating a performance that transcends borders and celebrates diverse talent.
“We are artists. The conditions we face have turned us into acrobats,”
Joseph Kanyenje of Pamoja Dance Group.
This collaboration offers each company the chance to share creative practices, expand their horizons, and learn from different disciplines. Earth, Wheels, Air aims to seed and grow an entirely new artistic collaboration and carefully lay the groundwork for a genre-defying final performance piece.
D/deaf, disabled and non-disabled collaborating artists will play with ground-breaking
movement practice and physical storytelling, as they transition from the earth, onto wheels, and into the air. Their experimental journey travels from grounded movement, onto wheel-based work, and then to airborne suspension and flight through aerial circus (trapeze, straps, harness and silks).
The show aims to reveal the narratives uncovered through the interplay of different bodies. Each one, with its own movement quality and characteristics, tells a unique story.
In parallel to the creative process this project dismantles barriers by welcoming the next generation of d/Deaf and disabled artists into the process. In both Kenya and the UK stigma, lack of resources, and lack of access are barriers to developing the talent pipeline of d/Deaf and disabled artists.
Visibility is critical to ensuring that talent is recognised and that the creative innovation inherent in work made by d/Deaf and disabled artists is part of mainstream cultural life of both countries.
Earth, Wheels, Air launches in 2024/25 with two, weeklong residencies in Nairobi, Kenya and Plymouth, UK, leading to performance sharings in both countries in this research and development phase. We are actively seeking future investment to allow the production to be fully realised and performed to the wider public.
Earth, Wheels, Air is an Unlimited International Open Award 2024 commission made possible thanks to funding from British Council. Partners include Theatre Royal Plymouth, Head Over Wheels, The Sarakasi Trust, and Woodland Star International School.
