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Disenfranchised Grief

Disenfranchised Grief A dance film by Diana Amma-Gyankoma Abankwah This 2.5-min long original bilingual dance film tackles the themes of disenfranchised grief, family estrangement, mental illness and the aftermath of life as a suicide loss survivor. It is choreographed, produced and performed by Diana Amma Gyankoma, with the artist’s own vocals inspired by ‘The Sound…

Disenfranchised Grief

A dance film by Diana Amma-Gyankoma Abankwah

This 2.5-min long original bilingual dance film tackles the themes of disenfranchised grief, family estrangement, mental illness and the aftermath of life as a suicide loss survivor. It is choreographed, produced and performed by Diana Amma Gyankoma, with the artist’s own vocals inspired by ‘The Sound of Silence’ melody. It is dedicated to her sister, Maria Abankwah-Larsen, who lost her life to suicide in July 2024.

https://youtu.be/PvajaZNyx8E

By Diana Amma-Gyankoma Abankwah

About Diana Amma Gyankoma Abankwah | The Psyber Giantess

Born and raised in Botswana, Diana Amma Gyankoma Abankwah is a Ugandan-Ghanaian interdisciplinary performance artist, dance maker, musician and writer based in Stoke-on-Trent where she emigrated from Rwanda in 2022.

Diana’s practice is an experimental blend of live performance art that combines experimental cross-genre dance improvisation (influenced by tribal fusion, amapiano dance, and Bharatnatyam) and music as the primary forms of storytelling.  She also fuses voice; physical theatre; drag; immersive technologies; and social commentary on generational trauma, spirituality and repressed queerness. Her work seeks to challenge and resist current portrayals and restrictions on Black African identity and performance art.

She has performed her solo afro-psychedelic live-art performance titled Trance-fixed in Wonderland: Stranger Than Psy-Fi — for Stoke-on-Trent Pride, Ensemble Festival in London, and Let’s Dance International Frontiers 2024 as artist-in-residence with Serendipity UK Institute for Black Arts and Heritage. 

You can find more of Diana’s work on Instagram and YouTube.

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