Dorothée Munyaneza (born 1982) is a British-Rwandan singer, actress, dancer and choreographer. She has produced two performance pieces, ''Samedi Détente'' and ''Unwanted'', both about the

Genocide against the Tutsi The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

Personal life

Munyaneza was born in Rwanda. Her father is a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

, and her mother is a journalist. Munyaneza, aged 12, settles with her family in the summer of 1994 after the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, in England. Her mother worked for a

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

, and was therefore able to secure the family a safe passage to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. There she studied at the

Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, usually referred to as the Lycée or the French Lycée, is a French co-educational primary and secondary independent day school, situated in South Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and ...

. Whilst studying, she met Christine Sigwart, founder of the Jonas Foundation, a charity that aims to help children of various backgrounds. She became interested in music, and studied music at the Jonas Foundation. Munyaneza studied music and

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

Canterbury Christ Church University Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) is a Public university, public research university located in Canterbury, Kent, England. Founded as a Church of England college for teacher training in 1962, it was granted university status in 2005. ...

. She now lives in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, France,

Career

Munyaneza sang on the sound track for the ''

Hotel Rwanda ''Hotel Rwanda'' is a 2004 biographical historical drama film co-written and directed by Terry George. It was adapted from a screenplay by George and Keir Pearson, and stars Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo as hotelier Paul Rusesabagina and h ...

'' film. She worked with ,

Robyn Orlin Robyn Orlin (born 1955) is a South African dancer and choreographer, born in Johannesburg. Nicknamed in South Africa "a permanent irritation", she is well known for reflecting the difficult and complex realities in her country. Integrating differ ...

, ,

Nan Goldin Nancy Goldin (born 1953) is an American photographer and activist. Her work explores in snapshot-style the emotions of the individual, in intimate relationships, and the Bohemian style, bohemian LGBT subcultural communities, especially dealing w ...

, Mark Tompkins, Ko Murobushi and . As a singer, she released her first solo album in 2010, which was produced by

Martin Russell Martin Russell is an English recording engineer, record producer, composer, and musician. He has been a core member of the music group Afro Celt Sound System since the recording of the first album '' Volume 1: Sound Magic'' in mid-1995, and has t ...

. In 2012, she collaborated with British composer

James Seymour Brett James Seymour Brett (born 3 April 1974) is an English composer and conductor. Early career After graduating from the Royal Academy of Music in 1997, Brett was immediately hired by composer Michael Kamen. Brett's further contribution to fi ...

to produce the album ''Earth Songs''. In 2013, she starred in a performance by Rachid Ouramdane in

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

, France. During the performance, she chanted the names of Algerians killed during the

Paris massacre of 1961 The Paris massacre of 1961 (also called the 17 October 1961 massacre in France) was the mass killing of Algerians who were living in Paris by the French National Police. It occurred on 17 October 1961, during the Algerian War (1954–62). Under ...

. In 2014, Munyaneza produced the work ''Samedi Détente'' (Saturday relaxation). It focused upon the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994, during which more than 800,000 Tutsi were exterminated in 100 days, and her own personal experience of the genocide. The work debuted in

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

, France. In 2017, she produced ''Unwanted'', her second work about the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The work featured French composer , and focused on interviews between Munyaneza and women survivors of the genocide, as well as diving into archives of women who went through the same ordeals in Congo, Chad, Syria, and the countries that were formerly part of the

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. ''Unwanted'' has a particular focus on women victims of rape and their conceived children. Munyaneza presented ''Unwanted'' at the 2017

Festival d'Avignon The ''Festival d'Avignon'', or Avignon Festival (), is an annual arts festival held in the France, French city of Avignon every summer in July in the courtyard of the Palais des Papes as well as in other locations of the city. Founded in 1947 by ...

, and also at the .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munyaneza, Dorothée 1982 births Living people Rwandan women singers British actresses Rwandan actresses British female dancers British choreographers British women choreographers 21st-century British women singers Alumni of Canterbury Christ Church University Rwandan emigrants to the United Kingdom