Art Happens

Jeremy Nedd (us/ch)

how a falling star lit up the purple sky

tour datesinfo
© Philip Frowein

Western films serve Jeremy Nedd and the Pantsula artists of Impilo Mapantsula as a speculative starting point for new stories and myths. With his performer’s lasso, Jeremy Nedd establishes a dialogue between two opposing worlds as he continues his fruitful collaboration with Impilo Mapantsula, an international network of artists working to preserve the living heritage of pantsula.

The Western as a film genre makes use of extremely explicit tropes around the hero, the “other,” and the vast, empty landscape they both fight over and inhabit. A number of characters and images from these clichés have become deeply imprinted in the collective imagination, but these are certainly not images of Pantsulas….

How a falling star lit up the purple sky is a dynamic visual poem that proposes a paradigm shift, rethinks the idea of the archetype, and hopefully invites a reassessment of the psychic and geographic spaces occupied by the Western, the (Wild) West, and the South.

"Against a backdrop of a thousand colors, Jeremy Nedd and the nine dancers of the South African collective Impilo Mapantsula subvert western archetypes to question our relationship with the land and history." ─ Mouvement

Concept / Choreography: Jeremy Nedd
Performance / Choreography: Sicelo Xaba, Vusi Mdoyi, Sello Modiga, Thomas Motsapi, Bonakele
Masethi, Kgotsofalang Moshe (original cast), Vuyani Feni, Sibongile Mathebula, Elma Motloenya,
Lungile Ngwenya
Lighting Design / Technical Management: creation Thomas Giger
Technical Management touring: Sebastian Sommer
Stage Design / Technical Management: Laura Knüsel
Audio Design: Fabrizio Di Salvo & Rej Deproc
Musical Consultation: Brandy Butler
Costume: Rosa Birkedal
Dramaturgy: Anta Helena Recke
Diffusion: ART HAPPENS
Production assistance: Kihako Narisawa, Juliana Simonetti
Production Management: Regula Schelling / produktionsDOCK
Touring: Caroline Froelich (Moin Moin Productions), Arina Frölich
Coproduction: Kaserne Basel; Arsenic – Contemporary Performing Arts Center, Lausanne; International Summer
Festival Kampnagel; Wiesbaden Biennale; The Centre for the Less Good Idea, Johannesburg
With the kind support of Fachausschuss Tanz & Theater BS/BL, Pro Helvetia, Swiss Arts Council, SüdKulturFonds, Stanley
Thomas Johnson Stiftung, Kulturfonds of the Société Suisse des Auteurs (SSA), GGG Basel, Jacqueline Spengler Stiftung, Scheidegger-Thommen-Stiftung, Schweizerische Interpretenstiftung

DatePerformanceCity CountryOrganisation/Venue
22.03.2025how a falling star lit up the purple skyMedellin (co)Teatro Contemporaneo
29.03.2025how a falling star lit up the purple skyBogota (co)National Arts Centre - Delia Zapata Olivella
19.03.2025how a falling star lit up the purple skyBucaramanga (co)Santander Theater
15.03.2025how a falling star lit up the purple skyLima (pe)Temporada Alta Festival / Alianza Francesa
14.03.2025how a falling star lit up the purple skyLima (pe)Temporada Alta Festival / Alianza Francesa
07.03.2024how a falling star lit up the purple skyCergy-Pontoise/Val d'Oise (fr)Points Communs
29.02.2024how a falling star lit up the purple skyZurich (ch)Swiss Dance Days
28.02.2024how a falling star lit up the purple skyZurich (ch)Swiss Dance Days
10.11.2023how a falling star lit up the purple skyBrussels (be)Halles de Schaerbeek
09.11.2023how a falling star lit up the purple skyBrussels (be)Halles de Schaerbeek
13.04.2023how a falling star lit up the purple skyMilan (it)Triennale Milano
12.04.2023how a falling star lit up the purple skyMilan (it)Triennale Milano
06.04.2023how a falling star lit up the purple skyBern (ch)Dampfzentrale
05.04.2023how a falling star lit up the purple skyBern (ch)Dampfzentrale
05.09.2022how a falling star lit up the purple skyWiesbaden (de)Wiesbaden Biennale
04.09.2022how a falling star lit up the purple skyWiesbaden (de)Wiesbaden Biennale
27.08.2022how a falling star lit up the purple skyGroningen (nl)Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival
26.08.2022how a falling star lit up the purple skyGroningen (nl)Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival
25.08.2022how a falling star lit up the purple skyGroningen (nl)Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival
20.08.2022how a falling star lit up the purple skyHamburg (de)Internationales Sommerfestival Kampnagel
19.08.2022how a falling star lit up the purple skyHamburg (de)Internationales Sommerfestival Kampnagel
18.08.2022how a falling star lit up the purple skyHamburg (de)Internationales Sommerfestival Kampnagel
03.07.2022how a falling star lit up the purple skyMakhanda (za)National Arts Festival
02.07.2022how a falling star lit up the purple skyMakhanda (za)National Arts Festival
01.07.2022how a falling star lit up the purple skyMakhanda (za)National Arts Festival
29.05.2022how a falling star lit up the purple skyLausanne (ch)Arsenic
28.05.2022how a falling star lit up the purple skyLausanne (ch)Arsenic
27.05.2022how a falling star lit up the purple skyLausanne (ch)Arsenic
26.05.2022how a falling star lit up the purple skyLausanne (ch)Arsenic
15.05.2022how a falling star lit up the purple sky  (premiere)Basel (ch)Kaserne
14.05.2022how a falling star lit up the purple sky  (premiere)Basel (ch)Kaserne
13.05.2022how a falling star lit up the purple sky  (premiere)Basel (ch)Kaserne
12.05.2022how a falling star lit up the purple sky  (premiere)Basel (ch)Kaserne