The dance duo and brothers Marvel and Victory Ebinum from Lagos, Nigeria, create movements that resonate with abstract feelings and big issues relating to mental health, belonging, racism and the planet. The power and beauty of their expression comes as much from their connection to each other, as with the world around them.
Recently they spoke of what inspires them to dance, despite the challenges:
“Your life is a story where you choose the words with your actions. You can choose to lead, follow, fail, win, fall or grow. We had no shoes to dance on and we became so used to it that we loved dancing barefooted even when we had the shoes, it became a part of us.
We had no studios to train, we trained in different floors, in sands, concrete, under the rain, in the room, wherever we were, we became so used to it that even when we had the studios we just loved expressing ourselves anywhere, it wasn't about how we did it anymore it was why we did it.
Even with all that, we still kept expressing ourselves. We got hurt on the way, we argued, we fought, we cried, we almost died but we never stopped because we had a dream, a purpose. We are happy to not only express ourselves through movements but to also inspire and change minds with it and still growing to fulfill our dream which is for the world to be filled with love.
That's the key to keep moving, having a purpose and believing in your dream. That way, you will never lose focus no matter the circumstances that come your way, you will keep moving because you can already see where you are headed.”
Their performance To Build a Home featured here, was created in collaboration with @artelsewherelondon and @areprojectsfor for a project Art & Ecology. The Ebinum brothers said this about the piece:
“This piece was created minutes before we shot it […] We being in that environment, seeing the sand, the water flow, and leaves, we actually tap into that feeling of togetherness. We created our movement to tell a story of how nature brings us together, watching the communication of the wind and the water including the trees, watching them speak without actually speaking, that's what we wanted to create with our movement. We actually became the water flow, the sand, the wind and trees. Communicating to ourselves without saying a word, even when we want to be alone, when we feel depressed, when we feel anger, it just brings us together despite the craziness of this world. So the whole piece is all about TOGETHERNESS.”