| Jolie Ngemi | |
| Birth Date: | 16 April 1989 |
| Birth Place: | Kinshasa |
| Citizenship: | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Occupation: | Dancer & choreographer |
| Website: | https://www.instagram.com/joellielapanthere/?hl=en |
Jolie Ngemi (born 16 April 1989) is a dancer and performance artist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ngemi was born on 16 April 1989.[1] She has danced from an early age: she first began to dance in Kinshasa at the Protestant church there.[2] She also took part in hip-hop dance battles in the streets of Kinshasa with the group, Rue Des Danses Urbains Hip-hop. She moved to Brussels to study at The Performing Arts and Research Training School (P.A.R.T.S.). She studied there for two years.[3]
Ngemi is a well-known dancer and choreographer from the DRC.[4] [5] Her style of dance fuses Congolese dances from the streets and clubs with European traditions of dance. The style is described it as Chakamadesu A U C - Afro, Urban & Contemporary (chaka madesu is a Congolese stew, cooked in a variety of ways). In 2006 she worked with the choreographer Jacques Banayang, who introduced her to contemporary dance. In 2008 she toured Africa and Europe as part of a work created by the choreographer Thomas Styeart. She has worked with Ula Sickle on a project entitled Jolie and on other projects well-known choreographers. She has worked with Boris Charmatz on several projects.
Ngemi's work can be political and in 2015 she collaborated with rapper and producer Baloji on a work that criticised the influence that cellphone and alcohol industries have on society in the DRC.[6] One venue for this performance was at the Fondation Cartier in Paris.[7] The work Jolie has been performed around the world, including at the Reykjavik Dance Festival.[8] It too is political, questioning where the profit from its mineral wealth in diamonds, coltan and tin ends up.[9] Her 2018 work Identity n’a ngai collaborated with composer Yann Leguay, who used field recordings from Kinshasa at night to inform to piece.[10] In 2019 she performed in the ensemble for Ligia Lewis' production Water Mill.[11] [12]