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
Asanda Ruda is a choreographer, dancer, and teacher whose work has been presented internationally and celebrated for its innovative engagement with Afro-contemporary forms. She is the 2025 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for dance.
Ruda’s career began in Soweto community groups and continued through formal training at Moving Into Dance (MID) from 2011–2015. She subsequently joined the MID professional company, touring internationally and performing works by renowned choreographers as well as her own creations across Italy, Russia, and Greece.
Her accolades include the l’Acogny D’argent Award (Africa Festival, 2021) and the 2025 Choreographers Research Residency Award at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. Ruda’s work explores space, politics, and the emancipation of the self, fusing ancestral memory, Afro-contemporary movement, and ritual to interrogate identity, love, and healing.