Africa-Press – Angola. The Minister of Culture, Filipe Zau, expressed feelings of regret over the death of dance teacher Sakaneno João de Deus, which occurred this Sunday (9th), due to illness, at the age of 62.
In a note of condolences, the minister says that, with great sadness, he has just learned of the death of Sakaneno João de Deus.
“In this hour of consternation, the Minister of Culture addresses the bereaved family, in his personal name, of those responsible and employees of the Ministry of Culture, his feelings of condolence”, reads the document.
Sakaneno de Deus, as he was known, was born in Songa Cama Tambo Damba, Uíge province, on November 24, 1962 and was a dance teacher and choreographer.
He was an unavoidable reference in dance in Angola, as most of the dancers known today have passed through his hands.
He was director of the Dance Academy in 1989, 1990, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003.
The deceased was a reference teacher given his professional competence in the field of arts, particularly dance, both in organization and preparation, and in training.
He is the author of several arts and production projects nationally and internationally.
Sakaneno was an effective member of the International Dance Council (CID / Unesco) and IOV.
He participated internationally in conferences, lectures, festivals, workshops, debates and training in several countries in Africa, America and Europe as a lecturer on dance practice and theory.
He created several choreographies, including those for the opening and closing of the African Football Cup of Nations, which the country hosted in 2010.
He started teaching dance when he was just 10 years old, in the village where he was born, in Uíge. In 1978, she came to Luanda and immediately began attending her first art instructor course, taught at Teatro Avenida, by the failed painter Vittex.
The following year, he left for Cuba, where he attended a higher education course in arts, which he finished in 1986, when he returned to Angola.
Before returning, he did some work in Cuba, both at the school where he studied and in orphanages. She even taught art and worked with orphaned children from Nicaragua and other countries.
The first prize he won was awarded to him by the Union of Artists and Composers (UNAC), the Identity prize.
He was also the first to organize the World Dance Day Festival in the country.
Fenacult was one of his first works and the first cultural festival organized by the Ministry of Culture, having been the author of the opening and closing choreography, in which many dancers participated, including Gingas do Maculusso, at the time with their eight nine years.
He also won the National Culture and Arts Award in the Dance Category in 2018.
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