AN EVENING WITH – GERMAINE ACOGNY

Pina Bausch Centre under construction, Bundesallee 260, Wuppertal

With Germaine Acogny und dancers of the ensemble

International production will be one of the four key areas of focus at the Pina Bausch Centre. We are absolutely delighted that, to mark the Schauspielhaus’s 60th anniversary, Germaine Acogny will be working with us as artist-in-residence alongside her company. On her journey between the Ruhrtriennale and Amsterdam, the Senegalese dance legend has chosen Wuppertal – home to the Pina Bausch Centre, currently under construction – as her preferred venue.

CARTE BLANCHE FOR GERMAINE ACOGNY: She is regarded as the mother of contemporary African dance and is, moreover, one of the most important artistic voices on the entire continent. Rooted in traditional West African dances and drawing inspiration from European choreography, she developed her very own technique. At the École des Sables dance centre, which she founded with Helmut Vogt, she passes on her knowledge; a fellowship organised in collaboration with the Pina Bausch Foundation focuses on education and support. Acogny has now been active on international stages and as a teacher of young dancers in Senegal and around the world for more than 50 years.

AN EVENING WITH – GERMAINE ACOGNY will introduce the artist on 23 September through video footage of her productions and a discussion. The evening takes place as part of Germaine Acogny’s residency at the Schauspielhaus and the future Pina Bausch Centre.

We would like to thank the Ruhrtriennale for their collaboration. There, with Josephine and Bantu, “visitors can experience the latest works by two powerful choreographic voices who do not merely illustrate history, but break it down. In both pieces, the body takes centre stage as an archive of colonial imaginaries, history, resistance and redefinition.” Excerpts from the pieces will be featured during the discussion.

About the artist Germaine Acogny

Germaine Acogny is regarded worldwide as the ‘mother’ of contemporary African dance. She dances, choreographs and teaches all over the world and has become an influential ambassador for African dance. Together with her husband Helmut Vogt, she founded the École des Sables in 2004, the international centre for traditional and contemporary African dance in Toubab Dialaw, Senegal. Between 1977 and 1982, she was artistic director of MUDRA AFRIQUE (Dakar), founded by Maurice Béjart and the Senegalese president and poet Léopold Sédar Senghor. For her artistic work, the dance icon Germaine Acogny has received numerous international awards, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Dance Biennale in 2021 for her life’s work.