The Very Last Northern White Rhino Gaston Core

This is a contemporary dance solo based on deconstructed urban dances. The audience will face an empty, minimalist space so that the incredible expressive capacities of the amazing dancer, born in Ivory Coast, can be highlighted. The soundtrack was originally created for this piece and together with the lighting design take us into an emotional journey setting off from darkness to light.

This work is inspired by a story of extinction. When Sam Anderson, a journalist for the New York Times, knew about the death of the last northern white rhino bull, he took a plane to Kenia to spend one week with the only two survivors left from that species: two cows, mother and daughter, that had entered the process called “functional extinction” which means that as soon as they passed away, their lineage would disappear. Anderson described Fatu and Najin’s daily life, how they graced around under the sun of their wildlife sanctuary, continuously protected from poachers and unconcerned about their own destiny. This image highlights life for life’s sake, for the only function of these individuals is to live and serve as an example of a species that already makes part of the past.