MAGDALENA
Magdalena is an intimate multimedia solo work by the award-winning filmmaker and a Guggenheim Fellow Gabri Christa. Utilizing storytelling, visuals, and dance, the artist reveals a deeply personal account of experiencing her Dutch mother’s dementia, and an effort to piece together her past, marked by struggles with war, interracial marriage and unconventional motherhood.
about the work
The titular character – Josephina Magdalena Aleida de Jong – lived a remarkable life. Born in Holland to a modest Dutch family, she survived the severe bombing of her hometown of Rotterdam during World War II and lived to meet a handsome middle-class Black man from the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao who would become her husband. When Magdalena’s memories started to fade, her daughter, Gabri Christa, took on the task of rebuilding her mother’s life through stories, dance, and images. The resulting 60-minute multimedia piece is part family album, part story of love and race, but above all, a reckoning with the harrowing consequences of a devastating illness that affects an increasing percentage of the world’s population.
“An act of loving discovery, recall and reclamation.”
— Eva Yaa Asantewaa, Infinite Body
related work and research
In 2018-19, Gabri served as an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health for the Global Brain Health Institute. Her work is chronicled here.
BOOKING & CONTACt
To book Magdalena for performance and community engagement workshops, please contact Gabri Christa.
“a daring multi-modal work taking on big issues such as race, immigration and memory.”
— Kathryn Boland, Dance Informa
Learn More
credits
Writing, Choreography & Performance: Gabri Christa
Director: Erwin Maas
Design & Dramaturgy: Guy de Lancey
Photography: Maria Baranova