This production continues the collaboration between the Franco-German director Mikaël Serre and the Senegalese dancer and founder of the renowned École des sables, Germaine Acogny. After returning to her roots in a first opus, this time she and her team warn of a pharaonic project: the construction of an industrial port a few meters from École des sables, which will result in the destruction of their village and neighbouring communities. Even though the local residents had initially hoped that this construction project would create jobs, they are now rather hostile to what will bring an unforeseeable upheaval to the local ecosystem. It is a screaming new sign of the dangers of rapid globalization that threaten the planet. Dance, theatre and politics are closely intertwined in this engaging and gripping piece, which, surrounded by other remarkable artists, is carried by the mesmerizing presence of the most authoritative figure in contemporary African dance.
DIALAW- Project emerges from a socio-political context shaped by the Black Lives Matter movement and the question of the status of colonial memory in the collective psyche. Toubab Dialaw already bears the traces of colonial history in its etymology. Formerly a trading post for the slave trade, the construction of the port is intended to make it the new place for the exchange of goods between Africa and Europe. In the DIALAW project, economic and human relations that connect Europe and Africa are examined, as well as the risks of modernity with all its hopes, acts of violence, contradictions and dangers of a rapid globalization that threatens our planet.
IDEA Fluide Ensemble | WITH Germaine Acogny, Hamidou Anne, Stéphane Soo Mongo, Anne-Elodie Sorlin, Pascal Beugré-Tellier | DIRECTED BY Mikaël Serre | TEXT Hamidou Anne, Ian de Toffoli, Le Fluide Ensemble | DRAMATURGY Jens Hillje | ASSISTANCE Anaïs Durand Mauptit | ARTISTIC COOPERATION Ninon Leclère | AUTHORS & EXPERT of MYTHOLOGIE Ian de Toffoli | AUTHOR & POLITOLOGUE Hamidou Anne | SCENOGRAPHY John Carroll/ Mikaël Serre | COSTUMES Jah Gal Doulsy | VIDÉO Martin Mallon | MUSIC Antonin Leymarie | LIGHT Léandre Garcia Lamolla | PRODUCTION Le Fluide Ensemble | COPRODUCTION Le Monfort Théâtre –Paris, africologneFESTIVAL, Théâtre de la Ville-Paris, Festival PERSPECTIVES Saarbrücken, Les Théâtres de la ville de Luxembourg, Théâtre des 13 Vents – CDN de Montpellier, Théâtre-Cinéma de Choisy-le-Roi | RESIDENCY IN SENEGAL Jant-Bi, L’École des Sables – Toubab Dialaw | CREATIVE RESIDENCY LE CENTQUATRE-PARIS, Le Monfort Théâtre – Paris | SUPPORT l’Institut Français, l’AFD, Fonds Transfabrik – Fonds franco-allemand pour le spectacle vivant WITH THE SUPPORT OF DISSEMINATION la Ville de Paris. Projet soutenu par le ministère de la Culture – DRAC d’Île-de-France, Ministery for Culture and Science of Land Nordrhein-Westfalen; Sparkasse KölnBonn; Kunstsalon Foundation | THANKS TO l’Opéra national de Lorraine pour la mise à disposition d’un élément scénique, au Théâtre de la Ville, à la Cie La Part des Anges | PRODUCTION & DISSEMINATION Ninon Leclère, Bureau Formart
GERMAINE ACOGNY, Tänzerin / Choreographin - Senegal
Germaine Acogny is considered the "mother of contemporary African dance" in the world. With her husband, Helmut Vogt, she created the Ecole des Sables in Senegal, which opened in 2004. It is a place of exchange and professional training for African dancers and dancers from all over the world. Since 1998, Germaine Acogny has regularly created solos for herself and, since 2004, choreographies for her company, JANT-BI, which tours successfully throughout the world. Germaine Acogny is a Knight of the Order of Merit, Officer of Arts and Letters. She is also a Knight of the National Order of the Lion and an Officer of Arts and Letters of the Senegalese Republic. In 2007, she received a BESSIE Award in New York for the choreography of Fagaala by the JANT-BI Company. In 2021, she was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale for her work.
MIKAËL SERRE, Director - France/Germany
The director, performer and translator was trained at the Saint-Etienne Art School and the Jacques Lecoq International Theater School. Decisively influenced by his cross-border development, his work has developed on an international level. His productions were shown at F.I.N.D. Festival Schaubühne Berlin, ImPulsTanz, Maxim Gorki Theater, Théâtre National de Chaillot, Théâtre de la Ville Paris, Grand Théâtre Luxembourg, and Opéra national de Lorraine. His last productions are: La Pucelle d'Orléans by F. Schiller at the Maxim Gorki Theater, A un endroit du début with Germaine Acogny, Le Cantique des Cantiques with Abou Lagraa, Les Contes d'Hoffmann at the Opéra de Dijon, La Bohème by Puccini Oper Trier, Les Brigands by F. Schiller, Ariane et Barbe Bleue at the Opéra National de Nancy and The Rake's Progress by Igor Strawinsky.
HAMIDOU ANNE, Political essayist / Actor - Senegal
An observer and actor in the renewal of African society, he has an atypical background between Senegal and France. A graduate of ENA Dakar, then in 2012 of ENA and Celsa in Paris, this young diplomat chose to return to Senegal to serve his country in various positions within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture before resigning. For the past five years, he has also been involved in the cultural, political, and intellectual spheres of Afro-responsibility. He is the author of Politisez-Vous! in collaboration with Mohamed Mbougar Sarr and Fary Ndao, Penser l'Afrique qui vient!; Amadou Mahtar Mbow : une vie, des combats, Africultures, hors-serie: Décentrer déconstruire décoloniser in collaboration with Aminata Aidara and Anne Bocandé.
