Fernando Anuang’a is part of a new generation of Kenyan contemporary choreographers who started his career in 1990 with the sensational RareWatts group. During the course of his dance career, Anuang’a, has created some of the most powerful and breathtaking choreographies combining traditional Maasai dances with contemporary dance styles.
Born around Lake Victoria in Siaya, Nyanza Province of Kenya, Anuang’a family moved and settled in Kitengela when he was 10 years old.

Anuang’a says his passion for the Maasai dance started during the annual interschool music festivals in which he participated. However, it was the Kenya “Win A Car” Dance Championship in 1990 which shot Anuang’a to notoriety and national fame. With a red cloth wrapped around his waist, red ochre mixed with cow fat applied to his arms and cropped hair at the top of his head leaving his youthful lithe body exposed save for the beaded necklace around his neck and equally beaded leather belt around his waist, Anuang’a stood out in the crowd.

He traveled widely with Kenya’s  African Heritage Festival and now lives in France.   “For the Maasai people,” Anuang’a says, “dancing is a lifestyle they keep whether they are grazing the cattle in the fields or going on with their daily life. Mine was to put in a disciplined practice everyday and bring in choreography to adapt the modern moves”. He continues, “I am a choreographer who fuses traditional Maasai dance with techno music and modern moves. This helps in getting the current generation to appreciate the dance shows.”

His choreographies include:

  • “Feelings & Voices”, a solo that transforms feelings from Maasai vocals into movements.   A back-up team provides background voices in the show. As the voices of elders in the performance tell stories of their times, mainly about being morans and becoming elders, and the women talk of their experiences from girls into womanhood and child delivery, Anuang’a’s dance steps shift to represent prominent events being narrated: love, games, revolt, and peace.
  • “A Journey into the Future” which blended tradition with modernity.  This show included Maasai dancers from Magadi.  It elaborated the value of respecting heritage in the face of changing technologies and lifestyles, and scored well in both abstract and entertainment features.  Anuang’a and the dancers travelled to several East and Southern African countries with this show, coordinated by Alliance Française de Nairobi.
  • “Indo-Masai Fusion”, collaboration with the Indian classical dancer, Jaya Pachauri from Mauritius. This, too, travelled through a few African countries after being shown in France. Jaya’s graceful Indian classical dancing is juxtaposed by Anuang’a’s warrior like Maasai dancing, producing a choreographic whirlwind full of emotion, energy and traditional elements.

‘Traditional Future’ is Anuang’a’s most recent choreography.  It was created at the Studio Akili in Lamu and produced by the fashion designer, Pierre Cardin.  It has been shown at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris and at the Theatre Cucinelli in Solomeo, Italy.  In this choreography Anuang’a explores how to evolve tradition towards modernity without obliterating his tracks, without betraying his roots.  He beautifully  transforms the age-old Maasai vocals and movements into a work of art that will stand the test of time.

Anuang’a also featured in a music video clip by the Malian songstress Rokia Traore for her album ‘Beautiful Africa’.

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Fernando Anuang’a is part of a new generation of Kenyan contemporary choreographers who started his career in 1990 with the sensational RareWatts group. During the course of his dance career, Anuang’a, has created some of the most powerful and breathtaking choreographies combining traditional Maasai dances with contemporary dance styles. Born...