Sunken words

Ghaliah Conroy | NL/IE

In Sunken Works, Ghaliah Conroy points to the Western view of black female bodies. She takes us, among other things, to the human zoos that took place in the Netherlands and Belgium until the 1970s. Ghaliah uses Krump, a dance form, voice and movement to explore how these bodies have been objectified and sexualised.

Location Zuiderpark/Parkpodium

Running time 25 min.

Genre Dance

In Sunken Works, Ghaliah Conroy switches between soft, flowing and more raw and intense movements. She uses the Krump dance form as a way of accessing a certain anger she feels as a result of experiences of discrimination and stereotyping.

She shows how the public displays of black bodies in the past have influenced our relationship and perception of them. Like Sarah Baartman, a woman who was captured and exposed to thousands of people because of her body type. How does that affect a black dancer and choreographer on stage, nowadays? Ghaliah uses strong imagery, movement and voice to disassemble, reclaim and heal parts of her body. Sunken Works is a way to explore how the past shapes a Western view of black women and how we can heal from it.

Ghaliah Conroy is an emerging dance maker/performer born in Dublin. She comes from a family of artists and has a background in dance, music and theatre that influences her work and creative process. Being half Irish and half French Guinean, growing up in two drastically different cultures has given her a unique perspective that has really shaped her into who she is as an artist.

The performance Sunken Works va Ghaliah Conroy