West Sided Story | robindingemans

West Sided Story (2022) is a dance film by Robin Dingemans & Majula Drammeh. It uses languages, philosophies and difficult heritages from the artist's backgrounds (Aotearoa, The Gambia, Finland, Sweden, Sápmi, & The British Empire) in a playful, psychological, semiotic assault course of (dis)orientation. It is both surreal and straight forward; knowing that which has been deliberately unknown, such as Sweden being the inventor of scientific racism & eugenics, & the most segregated country in the OECD whilst falsely projecting a self image as the avant-garde of anti-racism. It visibilises complex layers of identity and positionality in a post colonial world internationally and in Sweden, including the invisibility of Samí people and their languages.

The work is one of several commissions which invited choreographers to respond to the prelude of West Side Story, which the film was originally set to but later commissioned an original music score by Johan Arrias.

Direction & performance: Robin Dingemans & Majula Drammeh

Director of Photography: Nemo Hinders

Composer: Johan Arrias

Lighting Design: Ronald Salas

Language coaching and translation: Justine Pepene-Hohaia, Ola Saleh, & Nyima at Out of Africa

Commissioned for Weld Company's Weld Side Story. Weld is funded by Arts Council of Sweden, Region Stockholm, & Stockholm City.