Opening Black Achievement Month 2022: Siguifin

The idea of an encouter is central in Siguifin, to which three choreographers from West Africa contributed: Alioune Diagne who is based in Saint Louis in Sénégal; Naomi Fall, from the Blonba Cultural Center in Bamako, Mali; and Ladji Koné who is an artist in residence at the Termitière, the CDC of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Together, they created a work for 9 young African dancers, from each of the countries. Amala Dianor: “I am hoping to offer the audience the possibility of vibrating, feeling along with the dancers and their energy: all of them live their dance quite fiercely.”

Siguifin is the result of a collective choreographic process inspired by the game of exquisite cadaver (a game involving the drawing of parts of the body, or combining words) to construct a magical, multi-faceted being. From the mixing of the different movement vocabularies, Dianor creates a through line, a canvas that connects yet also respects the three choreographic proposals. Driven by the question: “what is their present, and what future will they build together in dialogue with the world?”.

After starting out as a hip hop dancer, Amala Dianor entered the prestigious CNDC school in Angers (in the class of 2002). He then performed for 10 years as a dancer with a number of choreographers in very different worlds, including hip hop, neo-classical, contemporary and afro-contemporary. In 2012, he founded his own company, and his dance style and vocabulary were immediately identifiable: sliding from one technique to another with ease and virtuosity, with a hybrid approach to shape, and a poetic approach to the issue of ‘otherness’. Since he created his first solo Man Rec in 2014, he has worked in close collaboration with the electro-soul composer Awir Léon, who has written the original music for his pieces. He also often collaborates with other choreographic artists, composers, writers and plasticians.

In 2019, he created his first major work for nine dancers to whom he taught his special blend of styles and techniques; the work was called The Falling Stardust and is currently touring. In 2020, he prepared at Maison de la Danse in Lyon, the trio Point Zéro, which he will perform with his dancer/ choreographer friends Johanna Faye and Mathias Rassin. During the period of theater closing, he co-writes dance short-movies with the visual artist Grégoire Korganow. He has also committed to training pre-professional dancers in France and then in Western Africa with his project Siguifin, a collective creation for nine dancers and three countries, with the choreographers Ladji Koné, Alioune Diagne and Naomi Fall, and the work premiered at Suresnes Cités Danse in 2022.

Artistic Direction Amala Dianor
Choreography Alioune Diagne, Naomi Fall, Ladji Koné en Amala Dianor
Performers Salif Coulibaly aka Zongo, Jules Romain Djihounouck aka BBoy Romeo Alicia Seybiya Gomis, Daniel Gombila Koala aka Tchaprat, Rama Koné, Adama Mariko, Roger Sarr Abdoul Kader Simporé aka Dainss, Adiara Traoré
Music Awir Léon

Siguifin was selected by Big Pulse Dance Alliance and co-produced by Julidans (Netherlands), New Baltic Dance (Lithuania), Tanz im August/HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Germany), Dublin Dance Festival (Ireland), Dance Umbrella (GB), CODA Oslo International Dance Festival (Norway), ONE Dance Week (Bulgaria) and presented by Zodiak - Side Step Festival (Finland), International Dance Festival TANEC PRAHA (Czech Republic), Torinodanza Festival (Italy), supported by Europe Creative, program of the European Union.

Lights, General manager Nicolas Tallec
Costumes Laurence Chalou
Executive Manager Mélanie Roger
Tour manager Lucie Jeannenot
Sound Manager Ugo Raimbault
Light Manager Agathe Geffroy