‘Afroconfusionist’ Choreographer Explores African Dance, Music in Hamburg

Yinka Olatunbosun

Nigerian born interdisciplinary artist, Israel Akpan Sunday is on a mission to thrill the Hamburg audience in a poetic jam session with the production of ‘Afroconfusionist.’ Produced by Family Production and S.I.A. Projects, Afroconfusionist is a mishmash of political and cultural-historical references, styles and feelings that combines music and dance.

Set to be performed by a team of four dancers and two musicians, the choreographer Israel Akpan Sunday revealed that the group will use their culture to interrogate the concept of indecision. Funded by the Hamburg Ministry of Culture and the Hamburgische Kulturstiftung, the production was propelled by the need to explore the multi-cultural resources from the artist’s home country, Nigeria. Sunday, who currently lives and works in Hamburg is an interdisciplinary artist who taps from sociological, political and economic problems of his contemporary society to question the system. 

His performance style is characterized by a fusion of everyday movements and behaviours with contemporary dance and live music. His works are sensual, poetic and political. For instance, his 2017 production titled ‘Consider Me Mad Projects,’ he appropriates the human body as a performance tool in a dance workshop that toured several African countries including Uganda.