Danseurs Citoyens

Black is a Value explores the journey of black people to Tunisia from their origins, bringing to bear the various types of art, music, narratives and personalities that this journey brought. The events of this work unfold in public squares and city streets, where we accompany the character of Bousaadiya as he traverses the sea to his new world and join him in his search for the origins of the music of the descendants of the ancient Bornu Empire that evolved around Lake Chad. It is a music whose instruments and rhythms go back to the era of slavery and slave-driving: the different instruments guide the listeners to the gateways of African melody. The music’s other function is to be curative; it creates a space for spiritual interaction between the individual and the spirits that inhabit him, an interaction that is manifested through the blend of music and dance in a nawba (or rythmic turns) to the accompaniment of a chant in tribute to a founding ancestor or holy man. This performance is a work that involves thirty young actors, musicians and dancers who will use the street as their stage so as they explore the cultural legacy of black Tunisians through a mixture of dramatic arts and dance to the accompaniment of African rhythms and Rap music. All of these diverse disciplines will fuse into a street operetta.