An interview with The Art of Resilience’s Joel Kioko
Lewa Next Gen’s The Art of Resilience will premiere in New York City from September 1–11, 2021 at the High Line Nine in partnership with Montague Contemporary. The exhibition captures the stories and faces of individuals living and working around Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in northern Kenya.
Joel Kioko is a rising ballet star who has catapulted to fame with his athletic leaps. Growing up in the slums of Nairobi, Joel is no stranger to the conditions faced by so many and the worsening difficulties brought on by the pandemic. His choreography and rousing performance acknowledge the challenges faced but look to the future with unwavering hope.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background. How did you come to enter the world of ballet?
My name is Joel Kioko and I’m 21 years old from Kuwinda, Nairobi, Kenya. I started ballet around the age of 12 after I was spotted at my school by a girl called Annabel Shaw. She was doing an outreach arts programme that my cousin was attending. I wanted to annoy my cousin, so I leaped about — Annabel saw my elevation and told my future teacher and mentor, Cooper Rust, about me. After seeing me, she offered me a scholarship to her dance school. Nobody in my family or community had ever seen or heard of ballet before and nobody (especially me) could have believed where ballet would take me.
Do you have a particular process you go through when you are beginning to learn a new piece of choreography? Where do you draw inspiration from?
I don’t have any particular processes or patterns I follow, but I draw inspiration from music and often from films — they are two great loves for me.
What role do you feel the artist plays in society?
I feel artists can provide therapy for people through entertainment and escapism. We can help relaxation, but we can also provoke people to be thoughtful about issues that matter to us and society.
What inspired you to get involved with Next Gen’s art exhibition for Lewa Wildlife Conservancy? Why is this project meaningful to you?
Last year, I choreographed a piece for a fundraiser for the Ol Pejeta conservancy in Kenya. I love wildlife and I love Kenya, and the loss of the last male white rhino in Kenya is very sad. It will be the basis for the piece I’m creating for the Next Gen exhibition.
Tell us about the performance you will be putting on during the Next Gen exhibition. What inspired it? What do you hope viewers will take away from seeing it?
I’m hoping the audience will be moved by my performance, which is inspired by the white rhino and the wildlife of Kenya. Last year, I participated in Animal Kingdom by Akram Khan Company, which involved groups around the world filming the ‘animal inside’. I helped the charity What Dance Can Do to create a version in London.
I am hoping to use traditional Masaai music for my piece and the traditional voices of those living in the remoter areas of Kenya, as the soundtrack to my work.
How has COVID impacted your work and have you seen your work shift in the past year?
The restrictions over the last year have had us all dancing in small, isolated spaces. I have always loved contemporary dance, but dancing alone and moving less formally has given me a real love for contemporary dance. My focus has shifted a lot from classical ballet. For the last year we weren’t able to partner and dance pas de deux, so I have spent more time creating new things by myself.
What are you working on now?
I have just graduated from a three year diploma course and a professional trainee certificate at the English National Ballet School in London. I am about to begin my first professional contract in Chicago with the Joffrey Studio Ballet Company.
Through a range of mediums, art can inform and inspire viewers to explore new ideas. How does art — particularly African art — connect viewers with conservation?
I love Kenya and my heritage. I want people to be able to be informed about the issues in my country, from conservation of the wildlife to poverty in the slums. I want people to know about the Kenya I know and love and, through information, to be able to help us and appreciate the diversity of the world.
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