DANCE INTO SPACE

Today we celebrate International World Dance Day — a moment to honor the power of movement, expression, and connection across cultures.
Together with AFRICALIA, fellow dance practitioners, and enthusiasts around the world, we mark this day with gratitude and joy.
It is also a special milestone for us: 29 years of Dance Into Space.
Founded by Onyango Ondiege Ogw on April 29, 1997, the journey began with a solo performance titled Wakati (The Times) at the Kenya National Theatre.
Nearly three decades later, we continue to move, create, and inspire — carrying forward a legacy rooted in time, resilience, and artistic exploration.
Happy World Dance Day. Keep dancing. Keep evolving.

Mixed-ability dance is grounded in three core ideas: the body as lived experience, inclusion as a shared ethic, and difference as a source of artistic innovation. It redefines dance by valuing diverse bodies and expressions, shifting focus from perfection to authenticity and collaboration. Beyond inclusion, it challenges audiences to rethink beauty, excellence, and what it means to move and connect as humans. Yet, stigma and traditional notions of the “ideal” body still limit its recognition in mainstream art spaces. To truly evolve, the arts sector must embrace mixed-ability not as a niche, but as a transformative force that expands the language and possibilities of performance.

15 years ago - Kenya Contemporary Dance : A major aspect in the lives of these people is that it is practically like a real marathon.
Long and winding processes marked with power games, competitive and highly demanding situations with hurdles.
Caught between these power games and the demanding situations, the challenge is for individuals to keep up and meet expectations honestly.
The things they have to hold on to are their unity in their diversity, their hopes and future aspirations and their intercultural influences.
Dancers: Alakok Ntome, Sara Kwala, Monica Adhiambo and Jacob Pessah.
Music: selected from inspiring music of M. Davis, Kintu Ofrenda and G. Oryema.
Film by Nick Njache
Creation, Direction and Choreography by Ondiege Matthew

Kenyan Contemporary Dance: Marathon in the Forest Kenya Contemporary Dance : A major aspect in the lives of these people is that it is practically like a real marathon.Long and winding processes marked with ...

OPEN CALL | Residencies at Dance Into Space – Siaya, Kenya 🇰🇪
Dance Into Space invites dancers, performers, choreographers, and interdisciplinary creatives from Kenya and around the world to apply for artistic residencies at our Centre in Siaya — just 10 minutes from the lake.
We welcome artists interested in bold, process-driven and socially engaged work within a reflective environment rooted in community dialogue and contemporary practice.
What the residency includes:
• Accommodation and daily meals
• Local transport for artistic and community visits
• Studio access for training and rehearsals
• Public performance opportunities in markets, schools and community venues
• WiFi and audio-visual facilities for documentation and research
Residency fee: KSH 45,000 (Kenyan artists) and 75,000 (approx. USD 600) per person per week for international artists.
Residents engage with our mixed-ability contemporary dance ensemble and local communities while developing research, new work, workshops or creative exchanges.
We are looking for artists who value:
• Genuine collaboration and intercultural exchange
• Experimentation and research-based processes
• Community engagement and inclusion
• Long-term artistic relationships
To apply, submit:
• Statement of Intent ( your research focus, community connection)
• Brief Artistic Proposal (idea, duration, engagement approach, outcomes)
• Short bio + CV
• Portfolio links
• Preferred dates and practical information
📩 Send applications to: [email protected]
📅 Applications accepted on a rolling basis
Let’s imagine and build meaningful work together.
Dance Into Space Foundation
Siaya, Kenya
+254 754 483075

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dance-into-space-73bbbb3b1_open-call-residencies-at-dance-into-space-activity-7434595302885519360-qpep?utm_source=social_share_send&utm_medium=member_desktop_web&rcm=ACoAAGS8XV8Br5NkQE3pSOqxmkLLi83nA0Qs7BA

OPEN CALL | Residencies at Dance Into Space – Siaya, Kenya 🇰🇪 Dance Into Space invites dancers, writers, performers, choreographers, and interdisciplinary creatives from Kenya and around the world… | Dance Into Space OPEN CALL | Residencies at Dance Into Space – Siaya, Kenya 🇰🇪 Dance Into Space invites dancers, writers, performers, choreographers, and interdisciplinary creatives from Kenya and around the world to apply for artistic residencies at our Centre in Siaya — just 10 minutes from the lake. We ...

International Women’s Day 2026 – Partner With Us!
This 9th March, Dance Into Space Foundation presents a powerful mixed-ability contemporary dance production:
“Her Voice. Her Body. Her Power.”
Through bold physical storytelling, we explore women’s resilience, leadership, bodily autonomy, disability inclusion, and the ongoing fight for gender justice.
We are seeking partnerships with:
• Corporate CSR & ESG teams
• Civil society organizations
• NGOs working in gender, health, human rights, urbanity & inclusion
• Government agencies
Why collaborate with us?
Because art moves people in ways speeches cannot.
Because inclusion must be visible, not theoretical.
Because supporting local creative institutions is part of sustainable development.
Host us. Commission us. Partner with us.
Let’s make International Women’s Day felt — not just marked.
📩 Inbox us to collaborate. COVAW Jinsiangu KenyaGender Links Kenya Women Founders Collective KSA Women's Collective Women's Collective Forum Kimpact Development Initiative Gender Sensitive Initiatives, GSI Gender Equality Peace and Development Centre

Breaking Barriers: When Dance Becomes Advocacy

A programme by Dance Into Space – Partner of AmplifyChange - Strengthening Fund Siaya County Kenya 2019-2022

Siaya County, Kenya, has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the country — 24.8%, nearly four times the national average. At the same time, people with disabilities — many physically disabled due to childhood polio — face deep exclusion, especially in accessing s*xual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services.
We asked ourselves: What if art could confront this silence?
Breaking Barriers was our answer.
Through mixed-ability contemporary dance theatre, we brought together performers with and without disabilities to challenge stigma, dismantle taboos, and reframe how communities see disability and s*xuality.
Our process was experiential and deeply personal. Participants drew from their lived SRHR experiences, reimagined them through choreography and improvisation, and transformed them into powerful open-air community performances.
Through this work, we:
• Empowered people with disabilities with performance and advocacy skills
• Built self-confidence, leadership, and self-expression
• Developed disability rights advocates who engaged directly with local health systems
• Debunked myths about disability and s*xuality
• Integrated HIV counselling and testing into community performances
• Promoted access to reproductive health services
Health providers reported a significant increase in people with disabilities seeking SRHR services after the project began. For the first time, condom demonstrations were conducted publicly by PWDs — breaking long-standing cultural silence.
One participant shared:
“This dance performance and s*x education process has motivated me to find a woman and start my family.”
This is the power of the arts.
Disability is often defined by environment, not ability. A hearing impairment does not limit a dancer. A visual impairment does not limit a musician. Art creates space where dignity, voice, and rights become visible. Sustainability has been strengthened through partnerships with the Ministry of Health, Disabled People’s Organisations, community-based rehabilitation groups, and SRHR actors — ensuring community ownership beyond the stage.
At Dance Into Space, we believe contemporary dance is not just performance.
It is advocacy.
It is education.
It is cultural transformation.

Thank you Kenyan Heroes for this. Feels like the work has just begun. Support, collaboration and a following from the public will be appreciated by yours truly. This recognition is just the first but very important step in actualizing our dreams especially in this unique and sometimes underrated field of the arts.

Matthew Onyango Ondiege | Kenyan Heroes Matthew Onyango Ondiege has been feted for his outstanding contribution to Kenya’s dance industry. He trains, mentors, and creates opportunities for young artists, including those with special needs. As a choreographer of international repute, he has spent over 33 years pioneering contemporary dan...

Encountering Disability and Citizenship through Contemporary Dance in Africa : By Y. Hutchison & L. Loots
"Contemporary dance, as it is being manifested in the here and now, is any physically embodied performance form that responds firstly to the idea of the moving body as the prime means of communication, storytelling and expres- sion. Secondly, contemporary dance is an evolving form that responds po- litically, socially and aesthetically to the now – to the present contemporary. So, contemporary dance may even sometimes include traditional and classical dance forms, but only as they are evolving and responding to contemporary concerns and uses. It is a political art form for the very reason that the (post- modern) body must be understood as a site of struggle where bodies – moving and being moved – deal with the lived reality of race, class, gender, disability, citizenship, decoloniality, etc." https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003506126-7/ondiege-matthew-dance-space-nairobi-siaya-kenya-lliane-loots?context=ubx&refId=9ddd75dc-96b8-4fbc-a267-92cc5bdda3fd

Friends, disability arts is a service, not just art. Now that many institutions will not fund “art”, please listen to this,
We offer:
- Inclusion & diversity training
- Team-building through movement
- Community engagement
- Mental health & wellbeing programs
- Cultural heritage & social cohesion activities
Please team up with us if these focused areas are in line with your mission. project is also on going in Nairobi.

Reach out to us !
[email protected]
Happy new year. National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) Light for the World Deutschland