The New Kids creative residency is already a symbol of the Maputo Fast Forward concept, which demonstrates the power of artistic interdisciplinarity when combined with youthful talent and irreverence.
Since 2022, New Kids has been created with the idea of empowering the talent of young artists, boosting their careers through training, collaboration and the provision of complementary tools for the professionalisation and sustainability of artistic work.
While in the two previous editions – 2022 and 2023 – the project consisted of creating a musical, this year the diversity of the cast of creatives promises to take the experience to something that transcends an artistic genre.
This year New Kids includes a software designer (Alcino Chivangue), an actor and director (Fernando Maholela), a rapper, composer and performer (Ismael Camal), a light designer (Mateus Nhamuche), a stage assistant (Orlando Intimane), two actresses and dancers (Samira Massingue and Shanice Barbosa) and a pianist and singer (Yasmin Chilundo).
The curator is one of the most renowned choreographers in Mozambique, Panaibra Canda, who joined the project last year. Canda has a career of over 25 years in the performing arts and in 2023 was named one of the 100 most influential black personalities in Portuguese-speaking countries.