PEPONI - Dance-Theatre Performance by the House of Wondar (Tanzania)

ABOUT PEPONI

Taking its title from the Nobel Prize-winning author Abdulrazak Gurnah's novel, PEPONI (Paradise in Swahili) is a dance-theatre performance exploring the idea of paradise from a Tanzanian perspective. Partly participative, it invites the audience to consider an urgent question: can we create our own paradise, here and now, on the African continent?

The debut production of House of Wondar, PEPONI is touring in Southern Africa in September 2026 — 8 performances across 5 countries (South Africa, Eswatini, Botswana, Mozambique and Tanzania) in partnership with the French cultural network in Southern Africa.

ABOUT THE HOUSE OF WONDAR

A professional dance company and artistic hub based in Dar es Salaam, the House of Wondar brings together eight young Tanzanian dancers with diverse backgrounds for a 20-month programme. The company supports artistic creation and innovation through residencies, stage productions, and video-performance projects, and invites artists from across the African continent and its diaspora to create choreographic, poetic, and socially engaged works that resonate with today’s world. PEPONI is its debut stage production.

CREDITS:

Direction & Choreography: Matthieu Nieto

Dramaturgy: Koleka Putuma

In collaboration with the performers: Silvester Ashery, Hassani Athuman, Tidah Antony, Careen Mohamed, Ikram Mumba, Fredrick Sanga, Dorcas Kimaro, Sabrina Zorawanga

Lightning: Ariane Zaytzeff

Music composition: Alkeys

Costume design: Deo Stylist

Vocal Arrangement: Melissa John

Production: House of Wondar - Wondarland Limited & Mouvements Migrateurs

With the support of FEF Creation - Ambassade de France in Tanzania and Alliance Francaise of Dar es Salaam

Residencies: House of Wondar and Little Theatre of Dar es Salaam

This tour is supported by : Institut Francais - AOCA, IFAS - Institut Francais in South Africa, and the Alliance Francaise network in Southern Africa through the SCAC/French Embassy in South Africa