PEPONI
aking its title from the Nobel Prize-winning author Abdulrazak Gurnah’s novel, PEPONI (Paradise in Swahili) is a dance-theatre performance exploring the idea of paradise from a Tanzanian perspective. Partly participative, it invites the audience to consider an urgent question: can we create our own paradise, here and now, on the African continent?
The debut production of House of Wondar, PEPONI is touring Southern Africa in September 2026 8 performances across 5 countries (South Africa, Eswatini, Botswana, Mozambique, and Tanzania) in partnership with the French cultural network in Southern Africa.
About House of Wondar
A professional dance company and artistic hub based in Dar es Salaam, House of Wondar brings together eight young Tanzanian dancers with diverse backgrounds for a 20 month programme, under the artistic direction of Matthieu Nieto. The company supports artistic creation and innovation through residencies, stage productions, and video-performance projects, and invites artists from across the African continent and its diaspora to create choreographic, poetic, and socially engaged works that resonate with today’s world. PEPONI is its debut stage production.
“Dance is the timeless interpretation of life.”SHAH ASAD RIZVI
Direction & Choreography: Matthieu Nieto
Dramaturgy: Koleka Putuma
Performers: Silvester Ashery, Hassani Athuman, Tidah Antony, Careen Mohamed, Ikram Mumba, Fredrick Sanga, Dorcas Kimaro, Sabrina Zorawanga
Lighting: Ariane Zaytzeff
Music Composition: Alkeys
Costume Design: Deo Stylist
Set Design: Martha Joseph John
Vocal Coaching: Melissa John
Production: House of Wondar — Wondarland Limited & Mouvements Migrateurs
With the support of FEF Creation – Ambassade de France in Tanzania and Alliance Française of Dar es Salaam
Residencies: House of Wondar and Little Theatre of Dar es Salaam
This tour is supported by Institut Français – AOCA, IFAS – Institut Français in South Africa, and the Alliance Française network in Southern Africa through the SCAC/French Embassy in South Africa