nora chipaumire
nora chipaumire was born in 1965 in what was then known as Umtali, Rhodesia (now Mutare, Zimbabwe). She is a product of colonial education for black native Africans – known as group B schooling – and is invested in knowledge acquisition and sharing outside of prescribed parameters.
mission
Manifesto —
Born in Rhodesia , now Zimbabwe – nora chipaumire makes work and creates ideas that straddle multiple imaginaries — African , black , woman —
A life lived through aesthetics informed by refusal , defiance , negotiation , contradictions and more . The planet is home and borders aught to be approached with skepticism . Since 1998 , these refusals have taken form of movement , objects , non objects , manifestos , sound and building a pedagogical practice (nhaka) that works the present now with the present past.
in the wind
nora chipaumire – artistic director & performer
PRESENT
Alla Kovgan – Filmmaker
Alex McLure – Project Manager
Amélie Gaulier – Project Manager
Astrid Rostaing – Booking & Distribution
Carlos Hernandez – Financial Manager
David Gagliardi – Musician
Fatima Katiji – Performer (Dance, Music)
Franz Schütte – Sound Engineer, Nadel Eins Studio Berlin
Gilbert Zvamaida – Musician
Heidi Eckwall – Technical Director
Irene Pätzug – Stage Design
Kei Soares Cobb – Performer (Dance, Music)
jay beardsley – Project Manager
Jonathan Kudakwashe Daniel – Performer (Dance, Music)
Joyce Edwards – Performer (Dance, Music)
Kwamina “Binnie” Biney – Sound Engineer
Laetitia Tshombe – Project Manager
McIntosh “Soko” Jerahuni – Performer (Dance, Music)
Mohamed Y. Shika – Performer (Dance, Music)
Shamar Watt – Performer (Dance, Music)
Svenja Wichmann – Multimedia & Archives
Sylvestre Akakpo Adzaku – Stage & Assistant Tour Manager
Tatenda Chabarwa – Performer (Dance, Music)
Thomas O. Kriegsmann / ArKtype – Booking & Distribution
Tyroneisaacstuart – Performer (Dance, Music)
Vusumuzi “Vusa” Moyo – Sound Engineer
Yinka Esi Graves Performer (Dance)
PAST
Abigail Hutchinson – Studio Manager
Adam Bach – Sound Designer
Aleva Ndavogo Jude – Performer
Alexandra Ripp – Project Manager
Alexandre Lemieux – Company Manager
Amy Casello – Company Manager
Anna Morris – Tumbuka Dance Company, Artistic Director
Antoni Mantorski Barczuk – Sound Designer
Ari Marcopoulos – Filmmaker, Stage Design
Atiyyah Khan – Performer (DJ)
Austin Williamson – Performer (Music)
Beauty Katiji – Performer (Dance, Music)
Germaine Acogny – Performer (Choreography, Dance)
Gilbert Zwamaida – Performer (Music)
Gwinyai Rutsito – Spiritual Dramaturg
Jamie Kight – Grants & Financial Manager
Jawole Willa Jo Zollar – Performer (Choreography, Dance)
Jordana Phokompe – Company Manager
Julian Weller – Technical Director
Kara Walker – Stage Design
Kei Leon Soares Cobb – Performer (Dance, Music)
Kouyate Lamine Badian – Costume Designer
Kristina Villaverde – Technical Director
Leonie Wichmann – Company Manager
Loris Bradley – Project Manager
Lucia Palmieri – Performance (Music, Dance)
Mamoudou Konate – Performer
Marguerite Hemmings – Performer
Mapp Inc – Booking & Distribution
Marya Wethers – Company Manager
Mathilde Walker-Billaud – Creative Research & Grant Writing
Mieke Ulfig – Filmmaker
Mirna Matosic – Project Manager
Natalie Marx – Consultant
OBO Ade – Performer (Dance, Music)
Okwui Okwapasili – Performer (Dance)
Olivier Clausse – Technical Director
Omar Sosa – Composer
Othnell “Mangoma” Moyo – Performer (Music, Dance)
Pape Ibrahim N’daye “Kaolack” – Performer
Pentacle – Booking & Distribution
Peter Van Heerden – Performer (Acting, Movement)
Philip White – Technical Director/Sound Engineer
Pia Murray – Studio Assistant
Roderick Murray – Technical Director
Rosey Selig-Adiss – Consultant
Serena Wong – Technical Director
Souleymane Badolo – Performer (Dance)
Tanganeropa Crispen Mujongondi “Moyo Sinyoro” – Performer (Dance, Music)
Thomas Mapfumo + Blacks Unlimited – Music
Tom Jules Samie – Performer (Dance)
nora chipaumire president
Alla Kovgan treasurer
Alla Kovgan is a Moscow-born, New York–based filmmaker who has worked at the intersection of cinema and the performing arts for over 25 years. She is best known for the 75th Prix Italia–winning feature CUNNINGHAM (2019); the short NORA (2008), which won 30 awards worldwide; MOVEMENT REVOLUTION AFRICA (2007); the Emmy-nominated documentary TRACES OF THE TRADE (2008); the 3D VR experience DEVIL’S LUNGS with the Finnish band Suistamon Sähkö, winner of the 2018 Vienna Shorts Grand Prix; and, most recently, THE OATH, her collaboration with choreographer Annie-B Parson — a film and public art installation presented on 29 screens at New York’s Penn Station. Between 2001 and 2011, Alla curated the KINODANCE Dance Film Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, and co-curated the Balagan Experimental Film Series in Boston. She holds an M.F.A. in Film, an M.Ed. in Instructional Design and Media, and a B.A. in Linguistics and Information Science.
Donna Faye Burchfield secretary
Director BFA Dance Lab & MFA Low Residency programs at Bennington College previously served as professor and dean of the University of the Arts, School of Dance in Philadelphia, and as dean of the American Dance Festival (ADF) at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina for a decade. In 2022, she was awarded the Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts by the French Ministry of Culture. She was a recent contributor to “RECIPROCITIES: Sustaining Dance Across an Ocean,” edited by Noémie Solomon and has been an active member of major international dance platforms for decades. Burchfield joined Bennington in Fall 2024
IRS 38934
Lori Jones (2023–2025)
