The Kingdom Dance Company was awarded the honor of a residency with The Performance Project at University Settlement as an Artist-in-Residency for the 2023-2024 season.

During this residency, The Kingdom Dance company created a play called The Tale of Bwerani. Bwerani means come you are welcome. Originating from the Ngoni people of Malawi south Africa. This is a direct correlation that relates to searching for a new life in America.

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        The Tale of Bwerani is a tribal work inspired by African culture intertwining hip hop dancehall Afrodance and spoken word. The play depicts the story of many tribes going through family tribulations, emotional struggles and also battling with difficult relationships. Love and unity will continue to be the underlying factor in choosing how to lead the tribes. When coming together the civilization will realize that if they are not united they will not survive the secular oppression that seeks to destroy their humanity as a whole. If an entity is divided within its walls it will not survive a war.

 

        Each tribe illustrates the battles of twentieth-century issues like The Black Lives, Matter movement, and the external effects of environmental neglect. We also touch on internal issues, such as breaking generational curses and overcoming stereotypes. We aim in our dynamic piece to make instrumental strides in tying together these stories because in life we do not face one challenge at a time but are faced with a multitude of forces that hope to destroy our hope as well as the development of our civilization. We hope to evoke a new conversation that promotes small victories within the scope of community and worldwide issues affecting us daily.