HAUS MAWU with Mandhla Ndubiwa, Aaro Assy and ZOE - "ECHOES"

ECHOES is a ritual sound performance in which Mandhla Ndubiwa, Aaro Assy and ZOE weave movement, sound and poetry into a shared act of vulnerability - a space for grief over injustice and loss, but also for devotion, transformation and joy. Through echo, call-and-response and emotional expression, the performers invoke the presence of their ancestors and trace fragmented histories along with their resonance in the diaspora.

The audience first enters a protected space of witnessing, which gradually shifts into relation and finally into genuine participation. The art of ballroom commentary acts as a bridge between ritual and club space: a guiding voice that holds the room, reads its energy and shifts it - carrying grief and joy at once. It leads into the afterparty that follows as a continuation of the performance.

HAUS MAWU was founded by performer and director ZOE with the aim of reflecting realities through folklore, fiction and pop culture. The ensemble sees itself as a collaborative initiative for diverse artists at the intersections of diasporic, feminist and queer perspectives - a space where bodies and stories become visible within a post-patriarchal heterotopia. For ECHOES, ZOE collaborated with Mandhla Ndubiwa - a transfeminine Zimbabwean multimedia performer, musician and voice of the German ballroom community - and Aaro Assy, a transfeminine Egyptian DJ, music producer and ballroom performer.

Content warning: discrimination, strobe/flash lighting, very loud sounds and music, fog, invitation for audience participation.