Cecilia Bengolea follows dancehall vitality in Shelly Belly Inna Real Life
Legendary dancehall performer Shelly Belly narrates a trip from the streets of Kingston to the countryside around Bog Walk, Jamaica.
The energy of dancehall is undeniable for Cecilia Bengolea. Understanding movement as both a tool for self-expression, as well as a medium for radical empathy and emotional exchange, it is the genre and culture of dancehall that she has returned to again and again over the course of her career as an artist and dancer.
Over the course of her Fact Residency we explored her fundamental belief that the power of performance can infuse both the individual and the collective body with energies drawn both from nature and from the empathetic relationships forged with others in the dance. This same belief lies at the heart of her latest work, Shelly Belly Inna Real Life, of which we present a five-minute edit.