I became aware of Imis Breath in 2021. The lead of this project, Oluwabukunmi Olukitibi AKA Biehkay is a professional dancer and a yoga instructor. Oluwabukunmi has been awarded several dance residencies within and outside Africa. She opened Hearts Heartists and its sister creative center, which aims to promote a wide range of creativity through dancing, poetry and more.
One undeniable part of Oluwabukunmi is her roots. The Yoruba people are known to occupy large tracts of Nigeria’s Western region, as well as some areas of Togo, Dahomey, Brazil and the northwest coast of Africa. Their culture and spirituality place a huge emphasis on dance, drawings, words, names and utterances. This sums up Biehkay Olukitibi.
I am no expert on the Yoruba sacred acts but have been privy to stories of its ‘singbere’, which can be used for many things. It is rumored to have a brimming market in Lagos where troubled children can be taken to acquire cuts, these cuts are usually small and tiny, administered on their scalps or palms. Notably its aim is to refocus children or anyone who gets it as well as protect them from harm, spiritual attacks and in many cases if this act has been performed on an individual when they get into a fight, guns or knives would leave no marks.
Bodies of the city is the 2024 Installation of Imi’s Breathe. Its focus was to (re) Imaging Urban connections. The first leg of this production was a group residency, a placement in Asokoro.
The rotating members of this residency were Effiom Nyeh, Okanlawon Baliqis (Bally Queen), Charles Abraham, Aisha Mahamat, Idakwoji Achile Gerard, Chidumaga Uzoma Orji, Damilola Bankole, Falilat Shittu, Isaac Daniel, Isah Matankari, Japhet Stephen Tachio, Kemjikhan, Nnamdi Chukwudi Oguejiofor, Obi Kelechi, Pelemo Ava Nyajo, Sarah Adeola Oluwashogo, Ugoji Gold Ifeoma, Uyeh Member, Zara Medugu and Zorah Ijuh. These selected individuals were either dancers, musicians, writers, poets, painters, designers, storytellers and others.
The day began with a panel which was moderated by Zainab Akwanga which shifted to a night of fire and bodies, the evening series began with the beating of drums from the left side of Mama Village, precisely where Ekondo is located. This carried through the park as creatives in attendance moved with the sound from Ekondo to a stage set up for dance performances.
Pelemo Ava Nyajo is an advocate for disability inclusion and a poet. On the first night of Imi’s Breath she became my hero. She danced a routine without the company of her crutches, sitting down. At the peak of the choreographed dance act, she stood up amidst it with her left crutch. This was an unprecedented move by Imi geared towards disability inclusion in the cultural space of Abuja.
For this production Heart Heartists partnered with Ekondo (a community which promotes environmental sustainability) and Mambaah Cafe.
The most coveted moment on stage was the choreography by the duo Obi Kelechi whose stage name is Calos Blaq and Japhet Stephen Tachio. Their faces were bandaged as they danced to 4 songs, which began with Lovely by Khalid and Billie Eilish as Calos raised a still body from the surface, it was beautiful.
An integral part of Yoruba deistic philosophy includes absorbing the Orisha, many wrongly assume that their spirituality is based on pure worship. However, it largely relies on being able to manifest a deity.
This marked the crescendo of the night as masquerades appeared, faceless in white wearing raffia weaved hats on their heads. ‘Eyo’ is the Yoruba name for these types of masquerades, the popular belief is that they are the representations of the dead. They bounced and jumped in circles, holding their staff, running up and around the stage.
Prior to their entry, we experienced somewhat of a Yoruba music band, the lead uttered renditions, incantations fortified by the sounds of drums. The backup singers echoed his prayers and utterances with melody.
The breaks between dance, poetry and singing were laced by the fire breather Bally Queen. Videos of Bilqis dancing on stage with Pheelz as he performed electricity has been all over TikTok and Instagram.
Fire breathing is a circus act where mist of fuel from the mouth is poured over an open flame.
She opened the night breathing fire, appearing in intermissions in a red skirt which bounced like pom poms, calling to mind Tyla’s grammy winning water performance.
The manifestation of deities and ancestors can be regarded as a major way to keep history alive.
While Imi’s breath speaks to poetry as well as spoken words acts, it did give off the feeling of an unrehearsed intimate night at a small diner or cafe where emerging singers sing covers. There was a cover of Beyonce’s Halo which was nostalgic and dreary and the cover of Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson’s Uptown funk you up performed by Odenose. The audience crooned with each cover because they are oldies we fondly remember and children grooved running around with the bug beats.
Avatar made a huge comeback early this year on Netflix because as urban as we would like to think of ourselves, we are fascinated by the past, fueled by a need to connect with our ancestors. We are urban people who largely encourage the beliefs that spirits live on, long after we stop walking the earth.
We see these in movies and series where humans have been the doorway for old souls, and Halloween is big for many reasons but remains the day where the veil between worlds is expected to be thin.
We cannot deny that spirituality is always important to our sense of identity as much as rituals are a huge part of connecting to the spirits. While for most cultures, the processes aren’t heavily fleshed out, for the Yoruba people, the Aztec tribes, Cherokee, Tibetans and Taiwanese its intricacies can be taught for years.
Words, music, movement, lines and dance are pivotal to the culture as well as to deity worship and history.
Once you can understand this concept, you can understand Imi’s breath.