blacklight is a new stagework that zooms into the connection between darkness, blackness and danger. It departs from the stereotype of the black “dangerous” male body, and how in the west that stereotype is being reinforced by normative representations of darkness and light in pop culture as well as old religious texts. Could darkness and blackness become a place for transformation and freedom, instead of being a place of control?

During our residency, we are researching movement material as well as audiovisual identity for blacklight. My artistic practice is centered around identity, optics, and the ways different bodies are granted varying degrees of visibility, opacity, and transparency in society. Situated between choreography and performance, I am interested in creating worlds on stage that push against dominant norms and narratives.

Alen Nsambu is a Helsinki-based choreographer and performer who has graduated with a BFA degree in dance and choreography from Den Danske Scenekunstskolen in Copenhagen in 2022. He has collaborated internationally with artists such as Alma Söderberg, Sonya Lindfors, Marie Topp, WAUHAUS and Young Boy Dancing Group, and has performed in productions of the Finnish National Theatre and Helsinki City Theatre. His works have been presented at Zodiak – Center for New Dance, Teater Viirus, Amos Rex art museum, The Watermill Center, Dansehallerne, Konträr and INKONST, among other venues. Alen Nsambu was one of the Aerowaves Twenty25 artists with his debut solo NEON BEIGE (2024). With blacklight, Nsambu deepens his artistic exploration within the intersections of blackness and optics, and the political layers those contain.