Te Ara Moana Moves
Alkamal Walkamal Almutlaq
Asanda Ruda
About the work
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Alkamal Walkamal Almutlaq is a solo dance work that traverses the terrain of generational alienation, political defiance, and personal emancipation. Its title, Alkamal Walkamal Almutlaq—“Completeness and Absolute Wholeness” in ancient Arabic—reflects a profound meditation on the eternal connection between spirit and soul.
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Rooted in Afro-contemporary expression, the work explores the intersections of space, culture, and politics, positioning the body as both vessel and archive. Ruda’s movement channels ancestral memory and music while forging new possibilities of being, asserting a self-defined identity beyond inherited frameworks. The choreography embodies liberation, transformation, and the reclamation of space, offering audiences a poetic encounter with love, healing, and spiritual wholeness.
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Through symbolic gestures and ethereal movement, the piece meditates on the interplay of spirit and soul, illustrating how inner balance manifests in physical form. The dance invites reflection on universal questions: How do love and care sustain the body and spirit? How can the self find harmony in a world marked by political and cultural constraints?
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Alkamal Walkamal Almutlaq is an immersive exploration of resilience, renewal, and the power of embodied ritual. It positions the dancer as both oracle and participant, translating ancestral knowledge and personal narrative into a shared experience of reflection and awakening.
About the artist
Asanda Ruda
South Africa
Choreographer, dancer, and teacher Asanda Ruda has graced stages worldwide, earning acclaim for her visionary contributions to the dance world. Her career reflects a journey of perseverance, cultural exploration, and artistic mastery. The young female South Africa MID graduate performed alongside the professional company from 2015 in international productions around Italy, Russia and Greece. In 2020, she joined the performance arts company Pina Bausch TANZ with a joint production with Sadler’s Wells foundation till 2023. Respectively as a performance artist in 2021 Ruda’s solo production received the l’Acogny D’argent Award 4th edition of the Africa festival a prestigious Pan-African cultural event that rewards the best African creators in solo choreographic work. The platform led to her subsequent guest Resident Artist in Zurich, Brussels and HELLERAU THEATRE In Dresden, Germany. Ruda was awarded the 2025 Choreographers Research Residency Award at the Cite Internationale Des Arts, in partnership with the CND Centre Nationale de la Danse in Paris, for her acclaimed solo work Kemet (Black Lands). The residency is for choreographers working and living outside of France. Her solo work Kemet (Black Lands), a groundbreaking exploration of space, politics, and cultural emancipation, garnered widespread acclaim.
Through this performance, she challenged conformity within an Afro-contemporary framework, exploring generational otherness and asserting individuality beyond inherited cultural paradigms. A powerful protest of self-identity, the piece resonated with echoes of the past while striving toward new possibilities of being. Her artistic brilliance was further recognized with the Choreographers Research Residency Award at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, in partnership with the Centre Nationale de la Danse. This prestigious honor supports choreographers living and working outside France in pursuing their creative visions. Ruda’s innovative body of work exemplifies her ability to merge ancestral memory with bold, self-defined identity. Her piece Kemet – Black Lands pays homage to historical legacies while reclaiming space and redefining individuality. Similarly, her offering of Alkamal Walkamal Almutlaq –
Completeness and Absolute Wholeness delves into the spiritual realm, exploring the unity of spirit and soul as a source of healing. This meditative work seamlessly integrates ritualistic and Afro contemporary choreography, offering a lyrical reflection on themes of love, health, and balance. Ruda’s artistry consistently invites audiences to engage with universal themes, while celebrating the transformative power of dance as a vehicle for both self-expression and profound cultural discourse.