A fearless exploration of identity under the spotlight

Alesandra Seutin presents Ceci n’est pas Noire: Act II, a performance that understands the body as a site of echo and cultural resonance, where ideas around identity and belonging are constantly transformed.

Immersive in nature, the work reflects on Alesandra’s experience of being of both white European and Black Southern African heritage, a constant negotiation between intimacy and exposure, vulnerability and projection.

Ceci n’est pas Noire: Act II is about embracing inner tensions in the discovery of one’s own truth. Between surreal visions and hybrid narrative forms the piece unfolds through an episodic structure, punctuated by multiple figures embodied effortlessly through Seutin’s movement vocabulary.

Gestures, vocals and live sounds intertwine to awaken memories, traverse geographical and personal landscapes, and reveal the layered complexity of a hybrid identity. Seutin revisits and explores her earlier 2013 work of the same name. She deftly interweaves character devices to explore themes of the external gaze, transformation and assumed social roles, questioning how appearances can be fluid and deceptive. An intimate but unflinching journey, Ceci n’est pas Noire: Act II invites audiences to consider the body as a space of memory, imagination, vulnerability and, ultimately, strength.

Header image © Malkia Mutiri
Header image description: A performer poses against a pale backdrop. Wearing a long black dress and heels, the performer kneels and turns sideways.