Dance performances in post-genocide Rwanda: remaking identity, reconnecting present and past

Since it took power by putting an end to the 1994 genocide, the Rwandan Patriotic Front has initiated the project of building a new Rwanda. The latter is conceived as a de-ethnicised nation-state which, while being “modern” and open to socioeconomic development and the processes of globalisation, remains rooted in its ancestral past. Hence, Rwandan cultural heritage is integrated in this undertaking to create a unified and developed Rwanda. This article examines the current revitalisation of so-called traditional dances in Kigali as part of the endeavour to build a new national identity. It explores the changes in dance repertoire and dynamics that are brought about in current Rwandan dance performances in order to materialise the utopia of the new Rwanda. Special attention is given to the alliances between old and new, used as a way to establish continuity with an idealised precolonial past: classical pieces alternate with novel creations; long-standing dance forms are the basis for experimenting with new figures; Western-style dresses coexist with purportedly traditional costumes; and songs, performed without the need for innovation by Twa singers and considered tokens of tradition, are joined with constantly changing choreographies staged mainly by university students. While recognising the success of youth dance troupes in embodying the image of the new Rwanda, the article also critically addresses the unacknowledged effects of the imposition of the post-genocide state ideology: the growing uniformisation, spectacularisation and instrumentalisation of dances; persistent ethnic tensions within the troupes and Rwandan youth as well as an increasing divide between rich and poor, centre and periphery; and the marginalisation and exclusion of large parts of the population who cannot access the envisaged ideal.