| Stücke, 2+, 3+, 4+, 5+, 8+, 9+, 10+, Kinder, Repertoire |

Baobab

Dance Performance with Live Music (2+) |

Cíntia Rangel & Theater o.N. (Germany) |

Sunday, October 11th, 4 pm; Monday, October 12th, 10 am; Wednesday, October 14th 10 am and Thursday, October 15th, 10 am – Tanzstudio at Podewil (Berlin Mitte) |

About the production

One of the myths about the Baobab says that the Orishas created it so large (a Baobab can grow up to 30 metres high) that it can be seen from afar and can itself see for great distances. Its trunk is hollow and thick (it can reach a diameter of up to 11 metres) and can store not only water, but also knowledge over its lifetime of more than a thousand years.

The legend says that when the Baobab saw its reflection in the water of a lake, it began to ask the Orishas why it was so different from the other trees. The Orishas then turned it upside down so that it could focus on itself and realise that it was just as special as all the other trees with leaves, fruit or flowers. This is why the branches of a Baobab resemble roots.

In this way, the Baobab became the tree of life, an ancient link between past and future, a symbol of resilience in the face of time and challenges, a keeper of knowledge that is passed down through generations.

It is believed that if you hug a Baobab, you can hear its stories and teachings from thousands of years ago.

This is the story that inspired the dance performance "Baobab".

By using the Baobab as a metaphor for resistance and diversity, this project describes a ritualistic journey in which the relationship to time, the diversity and richness of Afro-diasporic cultures and the transmission of knowledge through the body.

"Baobab" is a celebration of the ancestral experience. A performance that offers children a journey between the past and the future from an Afrofuturistic perspective.

About the artist(s) / group

Cíntia Rangel is a dancer, choreographer, and costume designer. Cíntia earned a Bachelor’s degree in Art History at the Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) in 2011 and subsequently studied Dance, also at UFRJ. From 2011 to 2013, she danced and created works for the Cia de Dança Contemporânea da UFRJ, and from 2013 to 2014 she also participated in the Centro Experimental de Dança Afro-Contemporânea (Center for Experimental Afro-Brazilian Contemporary Dance). In 2015, she moved to Munich, where she worked on several projects - including festival productions - in the fields of film, theater, and dance. Since 2020 she has been living in Munich and Berlin, where she collaborates with, among others, Grupo Oito, and was recently seen in Ligia Lewis’ performance “Wayward Chant” at the Gropius Bau. At Theater o.N. she appeared in the production “Flip-Flop” in 2022. In 2024 she designed the stage and costumes for the production “Ein Fest für die 13. Fee” (“A Celebration for the 13th Fairy”) for sighted, blind and visually impaired audiences, and in 2025 she developed her first original production for children aged 2 and above, “Baobab”, for Theater o.N.

Concept, direction, choreography and performance: Cíntia Rangel
Music and performance: K'boko (Fabiano Lima)
Dramaturgy and assistant director: Guilherme Morais
Set design, video and documentation: Zé de Paiva and Kathleen Kunath
Costume design: Michelle Ferreira
Lighting design: Raquel Rosildete
Lighting design co-work: Aslı Atasoy Öner
Project management: Vera Strobel
Production Management: Yaser Mohammad
Public relations and marketing: Sophie Braun, Nele Riepl, Silke Saalfrank