Africa-Press – Senegal. An open and free dance show combining several styles was presented on Wednesday by the Japanese contemporary dance company « Baobab » which is visiting Africa for the first time, APS noted. .
The troupe came to participate in the eleventh Festival of rhythms and forms of the world called « Dialaw festival » (from April 26 to 30) organized in Toubab Dialaw (50 kilometers from Dakar) by the general manager of « Makeda production’ ‘Ndeye Mané Touré.
« I met the administrator of the company, the dancer Fukuyo Mezawa in Montreal last June and I found it very strange that her company is called +Baobab+ and that they have never set foot in Africa. And I offered to do something together,” explains Ndèye Mané Touré.
As part of a « friendly evening » organized by the Japanese ambassador to Senegal Izawa, they presented the show entitled « Cadre qui rit » at the ambassador’s residence in front of a limited audience made up among others the director of the National Grand Theater, Ansoumana Sané, that of the theater Daniel Sorano Ousmane Baro Dione and the stylist Aïssa Dione.
The one-hour show was designed by Japanese choreographer and dancer Wataru Kitano accompanied by three dancers, namely Fukuyo Mezawa, Moéko Uematsu and Saori Yoneda.
Chaining different scenes, the dancers showed their talent in bodily movements sometimes versed in hip hop, classical dance and sometimes gestures drawn from a style seeking « antithesis and contrast ».
They make parts of the body dance, for example the neck, the hair, the spine, etc., when they are mentioned by the public and also imitate certain animals such as the dog, the horse, the cop, etc., the all in a musical compilation responding to the dance style.
According to choreographer Wataru Kitano, the « Baobab » company created fifteen years ago brings together hip hop dancers and conveys values and a philosophy in the image of what the baobab represents, a place of union where villagers meet. to discuss.
For Ambassador Izawa, the name of the troupe refers to « their attachment to the culture of Africa ».
The « Baobab » company will perform on Saturday in Toubab Dialaw as part of the festival after a show given at Germaine Acogny’s Ecole des Sables.
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