On December 9, the festival Dialogues de Corps will open its doors for a new edition : Nos Solitudes Partagées (Our Shared Lonliness), at the Choreographic Center La Termitière in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. In these times of uncertainty and restrictions, the festival is adapting and this edition will have a special resonance with the presentation of mainly solos. An ode to all isolated bodies and a message of resilience and hope.
Every year for the past 13 years, The CDC La Termitière, a temple of dance in West Africa, celebrates dance in all its forms: performances, panel discussions, workshops, both inside and outside its walls. A meeting not to be missed in Sahel for dance enthusiasts and professionals.
2020 will have been a long and trying ordeal for bodies and souls and 2021 is already around the corner. We are reassured that this type of event can still take place and we are therefore looking forward to closing the year dancing! Dialogues de Corps festival will definitely be happening!
Our Shared Lonelinesses: a special program
It is a beautiful program to which the artistic director Salia Sanou invites us with all his team: dancers often alone on stage, from Burkina Faso, Benin, Egypt, Ghana, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, the United States and France… Nos Solitudes Partagées. An edition that reflects the times we live in, a reflection on our isolated, confined, distant bodies. And a message of resilience, a tour de force: reminding us of the importance of keeping going, of expressing ourselves, of sharing, of gathering ; with a stage that will bring together artists from several African countries as well as from Europe and America.
Hors Les Murs : refugees and displaced persons on stage
However, a group of crucial importance contrasts this program: the presentation of the program Hors Les Murs.
For several years now, choreographer Salia Sanou has been leading workshops for Malian refugees and internally displaced persons in Burkina Faso.
Before the festival, these workshops are being held at La Termitière, with teachers Salia Sanou (Burkina Faso), Sena Atsugah (Ghana), Maman Sani (Niger) and Taïgué Ahmed (Chad). The restitution will be part of the festival, giving the participants the opportunity to go on stage and in public spaces, to express themselves, to exist in the eyes of the public and to break with their daily life.
Yeleen Don : a new generation of artists
The 2020 edition of Dialogues de Corps will also be an important milestone for students from the professional training program Yeleen Don (given throughout the year at the CDC), who will receive their diploma and present different choreographic pieces.
Stimulating exchanges
At last, in a climate of solitude and sometimes anxiety, the festival will be an opportunity to exchange thanks to panels, conferences, a great dance lesson and spaces for discussion. Reflection, comfort, thinking about the future, getting inspired, these moments will undoubtedly be essential and enriching for the dancers and choreographers.
The festival will end outside the walls with a show in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso but dancing is not over yet: from December 27, 2020 to January 7, 2021, the workshop Danses Partagées will be held in Ouagadougou, a great way to enter the year on the right foot !
Dialogues de Corps Festival
13th Edition
Nos Solitudes Partagées
December 9th – 13th 2020
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Artists :
Dimitri Chamblas, Sena Atsugah, Bernadette Sanou, Allassane Congo, Salia Sanou, Wilfried Souly, Bibata Ibrahim Maïga, Serge Amoussou Guenou, Marius Sawadogo, Roger Sarr, Ousséni Dabaré, Vincent Harisdo, Éric Niébé, Paul Kaboré, Yaya Bakuni Sanou, Djibril Ouattara, Héla Fattoumi et Éric Lamoureux, les étudiants de la formation Yeleen Don, les participants de l’atelier Hors Les Murs, compagnie CielK et XtraMOov
Choreographic Center La Termitière
Outdoor theatre Désiré Bonogo
House of arrest and correction – Ouagadougou
Institut Français de Ouagadougou
Institut français de Bobo-Dioulasso