The Namasagali experience: performing Utopia

ABSTRACT

It has been almost twenty years since Namasagali College, a co-educational secondary school in Eastern Uganda, staged its last performance, yet the memory of these musical theater productions are recalled with the nostalgia of a lost renaissance. These transdisciplinary productions that utilized modern dance, acting and mimed songs transformed the education of students from the Freirian ‘banking system’ into a liberating educational experience where students participated in the co-creation of these theatrical works. With Father Damien Grimes, Mill Hill Missionary from Wales, at the helm, more than 25 productions were staged during his years as headmaster (1971–2000). What Grimes never lost sight of was the performing arts pedagogy he initiated, which transformed the school into a self-made institution of hope despite the political instability that impacted the school throughout his tenure. This paper investigates the questions of agency, innovation and the role of performance in the self-fashioning of a liberated feminist self among the female students of Namasagali. Drawing on interviews from former students and teachers, this article will discuss the notion of solidarity among students within a modern dance world view as practised in a post-colonial education system.

KEYWORDS:

• Modern dance
• agency
• liberated self

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Ascona was a place founded by European intellectuals in the early 1900s as an escape from industrialism in a small fishing village in Switzerland. Rudolf von Laban developed his movement theories during his time at Ascona from 1912–1914 when the war broke out. The pursuit of artists at Ascona was to develop new art forms and live an idealistic alternative life surrounded by nature.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jill Pribyl

Jill Pribyl, MA, CMA is a former Fulbright Scholar at Makerere University where she taught for over 10 years in the Department of Performing Arts and Film.  In 2006 she created a study abroad program for NYU which she co-directs each January. Currently, she is spearheading a dance education certificate program at the University of Kisubi, Jill served as the Artistic Director of the Kampala Ballet and Modern Dance school which was founded by the Queen of the Buganda Kingdom from 2005-2008.  Jill is pursuing her Ph.D. at the University of Cape Town, investigating the emergence of modern dance at Namasagali College.