CHERISH MENZO

Cherish Menzo (°1988, The Netherlands) is a performing artist and choreographer based in Amsterdam and Brussels. For her artistic work, she is interested in the transformation of the body on stage and in the “embodiment” of different physical images.

Implementing distortion, decay, and dissonance, Cherish attempts to detach bodies from forced perceptions and their daily corporeal realities, underlining the complexity and contradictory nature of images that seem recognizable at first glance. Glitching the ‘’common’’ lexical, she seeks the Uncanny, the Enigmatic, and the Monstrous to give shape to – and materialize speculative forms and fictions.

DARKMATTER

The performance is driven by the desire to break free from the conditioned way we look at the body — our own, that of others — and the stories we attach to it. DARKMATTER places the Black body at its center and addresses the stereotypes that surround it, questioning how it is perceived and how much that perception is already fixed in advance.

The title refers to dark matter, an astronomical phenomenon that is almost invisible yet essential to the structure of the universe. The word “DARK,” when crossed out, suggests a gesture of detachment: removing the Black body from stereotypical readings and opening up new ways of seeing.

On stage, choreographer and dancer Cherish Menzo and internationally active performer Camilo Mejía Cortés work with their bodies at the core of the piece. The way they differ and relate to each other is never stable but constantly changing. What first appears recognizable gradually becomes something else, and vice versa.

DARKMATTER brings together different stage elements. Movement, music, text, scenography, lighting, and the voices of the choir merge and separate throughout the performance. The choreographic research uses the “chopped and screwed” method, a technique from hip-hop remix culture that drastically slows down musical tempo. This shift changes the perception of time and creates new ways of reading the performing body.

The work was nominated for the VSCD Swan Awards and selected for Het Theater Festival in both the Netherlands and Belgium. With DARKMATTER, Cherish Menzo received the BNG Bank Theater Prize (2023) and the Dutch Drama Jury Prize for Best Direction (2023).

The concept and choreography are by Cherish Menzo, who also created and performs the work together with Camilo Mejía Cortés. Lighting design is by Niels Runderkamp; music composition by Gagi Petrovic and Michael Nunes; scenography by Morgana Machado Marques; costumes by JustTatty.com. Dramaturgy is by Renée Copraij and Benjamin Kahn. The production is by GRIP and Frascati Producties, with international distribution by A Propic – Line Rousseau and Marion Gauvent. The recorded voices of the Distorted Rap Choir contribute to the sonic and dramaturgical structure of the work (more information here).

Please Note

The performance includes strobe lighting effects and three extended blackouts. The music may be perceived as intense; earplugs are available. Nudity appears on stage.

Gallery Photo Credits: Bas de Brouwer

Cover Photo Credits: Yaqine Hamzaoui