Crossing the Line Festival 2019FIAF Crossing the Line Festival 2019 FIAF

BRIDGING:
An International Dialogue on Diversity
and Inclusion in the Arts

Spotlight on Germaine Acogny

Presented in partnership with:

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The 4th edition of BRIDGING pays homage to Senegalese and French dancer, choreographer, and educator Germaine Acogny .

BRIDGING was launched by the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) and The Edmond de Rothschild Foundations as part of Crossing the Line Festival 2016. BRIDGING offers international perspectives to evaluate policies and practices in an effort to move beyond simple acknowledgment of cultural diversity to achieve genuine equality in the arts in our shifting cultural landscape. Artists featured as part of BRIDGING include Anne Nguyen and Rachid Ouramdane in 2016, Faustin Linyekula in 2017, and Syhem Belkhodja and Nacera Belaza in 2018.

This year’s program highlights the artistic practices and legacy of artist Germaine Acogny and will include performances, conversations, student workshops, and a public restitution of the workshops. Germaine Acogny is widely considered the Mother of Contemporary African Dance. Her dance styles and teachings reclaim and reposition traditional African movements within the world of contemporary dance, encouraging artists worldwide to recognize the power and contributions of African dance.

Germaine Acogny
Read Bio

SOMEWHERE
AT THE BEGINNING

Germaine Acogny
& Mikaël Serre

DANCE THEATER

US Premiere
Thu–Sat, Sep 26–28
at 7pm
La MaMa

Learn More

AsiaAfricaAmerica

Yoshiko Chuma
& Germaine Acogny
with Rachel Cooper

TALK

Fri, Sep 27, from 12–1:30pm
92nd Street Y

Learn More

Dance Workshops
& Public Restitution

Germaine Acogny

WORKSHOPS

Mon, Sep 30–Fri, Oct 4
NYU Tisch School of the Arts

PUBLIC RESTITUTION

Fri, Oct 4 at 7pm
La MaMa

Canceled

Germaine Acogny

Senegalese and French, Germaine Acogny has developed her own Modern African Dance technique and is widely considered the Mother of Contemporary African Dance. For more than five decades she has been an emissary of African dance and culture, performing, choreographing, and teaching all over the world, From 1977 to 1982, she was artistic director of Mudra Afrique, created by Maurice Béjart and the Senegalese President L.S. Senghor in Dakar. In 1997, Acogny was appointed artistic director of the Dance of Africa in Creation section in Paris. With her husband Helmut Vogt, she founded in 1996 the Ecole des Sables, the International Centre for Traditional and Contemporary Dances of Africa, based in Senegal. She has received two Bessie Awards: Japanese choreographer Kota Yamazaki and Acogny won for their joint creation Fagaala, and in 2018 she was recognized for the performance of her solo Mon élue noire-sacre #2. Acogny is a Knight of the Ordre du Mérite, Officer and Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and Officer of the Ordre de la Légion d'Honneur of the French Republic. She is also a Knight of the National Order of the Lion and Officer and Commander of Arts and Letters of the Senegalese Republic.

SOMEWHERE AT THE BEGINNING
Germaine Acogny & Mikaël Serre
DANCE THEATER
US Premiere
Thu–Sat, Sep 26–28
La MaMa

Germaine Acogny

Senegalese and French, Germaine Acogny has developed her own Modern African Dance technique and is widely considered the Mother of Contemporary African Dance. For more than five decades she has been an emissary of African dance and culture, performing, choreographing, and teaching all over the world, From 1977 to 1982, she was artistic director of Mudra Afrique, created by Maurice Béjart and the Senegalese President L.S. Senghor in Dakar. In 1997, Acogny was appointed artistic director of the Dance of Africa in Creation section in Paris. With her husband Helmut Vogt, she founded in 1996 the Ecole des Sables, the International Centre for Traditional and Contemporary Dances of Africa, based in Senegal. She has received two Bessie Awards: Japanese choreographer Kota Yamazaki and Acogny won for their joint creation Fagaala, and in 2018 she was recognized for the performance of her solo Mon élue noire-sacre #2. Acogny is a Knight of the Ordre du Mérite, Officer and Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and Officer of the Ordre de la Légion d'Honneur of the French Republic. She is also a Knight of the National Order of the Lion and Officer and Commander of Arts and Letters of the Senegalese Republic.

SOMEWHERE AT THE BEGINNING
Germaine Acogny & Mikaël Serre
DANCE THEATER
US Premiere
Thu–Sat, Sep 26–28
La MaMa