ABOUT

I see dance as a door to the Unknown. A capacity in each one of us to use movement as a source of infinite elevation.

 

I like to explore this capacity within myself and within the others. And through this process, to bond with each other, to write stories, to pave the way for larger meanings.

 

It was in Senegal, as a teenager, that started my passion for the energy of Hip Hop. An impulsive dance, anchored, rhythmic, committed, alive, universal, timeless.

 

After a few years abroad, I came back to Senegal to share my travels experiences, and to participate in the development of a booming culture in my hometown.

 

In 2014, I was one of the co-founders of SUNU Street, a dance education and social project. Our objective was to promote urban cultures in Senegal through dance exchanges, professionalization, creation and sharing of artistic works.

 

I took then my first steps as a stage performer for the She Poems project, which aimed to highlight African female dancers and dance makers. An important part of my path has also been my participation in many international Hip Hop dance competitions.

 

Since 2017, I have explored choreography within the dance company Compagnie La Mer Noire, of which I am one of the founding members alongside three other dancers who I consider extraordinary. Our company was built through the creation of shows, to become today one of the most active professional structures in Hip Hop dance in Senegal. Our statement is to promote the emerging dancers and choreographers of the new generation of young African talents.

 

My drives in creation come from several sources. I like to be inspired by current and socially rooted subjects but also to question our relationships with each other’s, with humanity, with the world. Or simply to explore the contrasts of our daily life.

 

I write a lot. I use dance, mixed with other arts, to tell a story and a vision of the world, in multifaceted mediums. I believe in the power of Hip Hop as being born out of a revolutionary and cultural movement to abolish inequalities and give a voice to the underserved. Hip Hop is a dance but also a culture which gives me the energy to always reach further.

 

This multifaceted universe is a source of inspiration for everything I do. It influences my way of dancing, my way of thinking and nourishing myself as a performer when I go on stage. It gives me a starting point towards a subject, which will be transformed, channeled, developed and deepened through the creative process towards something larger, while constantly transcending it. I like to imagine the movement of creation as a circular movement from the individual to the universal and from the universal to the personal.

 

In 2018, I had the chance to be selected as Protégée in Dance of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative program, and to benefit from the mentorship of Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite for two years. I wrote my first original dance work, a short piece entitled “When the night comes” which was performed at the Baxter Theater in South Africa in February 2020.

 

I'm currently working on my next project, and I hope that you will be able to browse some excerpts here soon.