L'Alliance New York presents Wanjiru Kamuyu's Fragmented Shadows
Company:
L’Alliance New York
L'Alliance New York presents Wanjiru Kamuyu's Fragmented Shadows from October 15-17, 2025 at 7:30pm at New York Live Arts, 219 W 19th Street New York, NY 10011. For tickets and more information, visit https://lallianceny.org/event/fragmented-shadows/.
How can we use the body as a source of liberation, a site of healing? Grounded in epigenetic and psychosomatic research, acclaimed Kenyan American dance artist Wanjiru Kamuyu asks herself and the performers to consider their bodies as museums of lived experiences and archives of memories. Offering voice and light to embodied legacies of inherited and personal inaudible wounds, Fragmented Shadows explores through emotional, visceral and sensorial landscapes the body as a vector for liberation.
“Beautifully performed, this striking contemporary dance piece by choreographer Wanjiru Kamuyu explores the body—as a “vessel” of memories and emotions” – Rafael Font Vaillant, A2S
Co-Presented with New York Live Arts
Wanjiru Kamuyu, born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, obtained a Master of Fine Arts at Temple University. She started her career in New York with such notable dance companies as Urban Bush Women and Molissa Fenley and Company. Based in Paris since 2007—when she performed as a member of the original cast of Julie Taymor’s Paris production of The Lion King—Kamuyu has worked with many contemporary choreographers including Bill T. Jones, Irène Tassembedo, Robyn Orlin, Nathalie Pubellier, Emmanuel Eggermont, Anne Collod, Stefanie Batten Bland, Bartabas, Dean Moss, and others. She has created three major works since 2017 plus adaptations for alternative spaces and young audiences which have toured internationally. Her work has been developed in residencies in France, the US, and Ireland. In 2020, Kamuyu created her first dance film, La visite, directed by Tommy Pascal. Kamuyu has also worked as a choreographer with director Jérôme Savary and has developed projects for refugees with New World Theatre (USA) and Euroculture (a project for 65 young artists and 11 refugees from Sudan, Syria, Libya and Afghanistan). She has been commissioned by directors Hassane Kassi Kouyaté (Burkina Faso), Jean-François Auguste (France), and several US universities and dance company InkBoat (California). She has also served as artistic consultant for choreographer Bintou Dembele’s (France) work Z.H. Since the 2023-24 season, Kamuyu has been the associate artist at the National Choreographic Center, CCN Nantes. As a 2023 artist in residence with Villa Albertine, Kamuyu continues to receive their support. She is also a Live Feed Artist with New York Live Arts for seasons 2023-24 and 2024-25.
New York Live Arts, guided by the leadership of visionary artist Bill T. Jones, collaborates with boundary pushing artists, advocates for their vision, and fortifies a creative future. It also serves as home base for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, which has been creating groundbreaking work for over forty years.
L’Alliance New York is an independent, not-for-profit organization committed to providing its audience and students with engaging French language classes and audacious multi-disciplinary programming that celebrates the diversity of francophone cultures and creativity around the world. A welcoming and inclusive community for all ages and all backgrounds, L’Alliance New York is a place where people can meet, learn, and explore the richness of our heritages and share discoveries. L’Alliance New York strives to amplify voices and build bridges from the entire francophone world to New York and beyond.”
Crossing The Line is a citywide festival that engages international artists and New York City audiences in artistic discovery and critical dialogue to re-imagine the world around us. Crossing The Line is produced by L’Alliance New York in partnership with leading cultural institutions.
