Rohiet Tjon Poen Gie
Yeye

At Yeye dancer Rohiet Tjon Poen Gie, who grew up in Suriname, explores how his own Catholic beliefs relate to the traditional Afro-Surinamese Winti religion. Should the 'known' first be let go to make way for 'new' spirituality or can the two stand side by side? In what ways are consequences of slavery felt in this regard? Rohiet merges Hip Hop and contemporary dance with Yeye. Together with Ibrah Silas Jackson, he explores the relationship between denial and recognition, between push and pull.

Yeye is part of a Double Bill. Also, the performance INGI by Gregory Shaggy Albertzoon is featured this evening.

Rohiet started out as self-taught and has a background in hip-hop (popping and breaking). He works not only as a performing dancer, but also as a choreographer and teacher.

What is recurrent in his work and research as a maker is that he uses hip-hop and contemporary as movement languages. He also finds it interesting to draw from other sources, such as the cultures and history of the people he works with, a text, the environment, and so on. He has a particular affinity for the styles of floor work, acrobatics and partnering. A recurring theme in his work is colonialism. He himself comes from a country that was colonised and still experiences its effects. He is constantly looking for ways to show the underexposed perspective to the audience in his pieces.

Several choreographers and directors he has worked with include Erik Kaiel, Kalpana Raghuraman, Shailesh Bahoran, Farida Nabibaks, Paul Röttger and Olivier Diepenhorst.