Mijn Wayang en Ik - Afra Ernst

Dans & ballet

Last year, Afra Ernst flew back to Indonesia after eighteen years. Born in Jakarta and living in the Netherlands since she was six, she kept wondering why she and her mother left at the time. Her gut feeling turned out to be correct: it was pure necessity, they had no choice. A shadow past that Afra, no matter how hard she tries, cannot let go.

Afra interweaves dance, poetry and Indonesian imagery into a carefully layered performance. In her choreography, Mauri Kierindoongo, Christiaan Hendriksen and Moze Naél (poetry) take the audience into a penetrating internal battle about learning to accept your shadow past.

My Wayang and Imakes it palpable that we ourselves are always stronger than our shadows. And leave one question for the visitor: do you dare to look at your shadows?