Still assisted by Platel and les ballets c

Choosing a theme both backbone and singular, "the city and dance", Guy Darmet, man of the Lyon Biennial, is naturally interested in African capitals of Dakar, Ouagadougou, Tunis or Johannesburg plus guests more expected as Rio, Seville, New York or... Lyon. "Today, 50 of the world's population live in the city." It is the setting of all experiments of all decision making. "It is also the field of conflict, demonstrations of violence", summarizes Guy Darmet.

As the Parisian public already have seen in the 6th choreographic meetings of Africa and the Indian Ocean held in April in Paris with the support of the Afaa, the contemporary dance often fed traditional dance is very alive in Africa.

Germaine Acogny, the Senegalese, was a pioneer. His first Studio of dance, in 1968 in Dakar, from the direction of Mudra Africa, extension of the school of Maurice Béjart in the 1970s, and his own institution today, the Ecole des Sables. Lyon, Germaine Acogny dance a solo of the Beninese Sophiatou Kossoko, assistance to women from one country to another. "Tchouraï", the name of the natural incense burned in homes in Senegal, is an imaginary journey that retraces the important moments of the life of the dancer. A round trip in his memory. Child prodigy of the South African establishment, Boyzie Cekwana, passed by the Johannesburg Dance Foundation, signed by twenty-three years of parts for the Playhouse Dance Company. With time, his personal directory is enriched and Cekwana created his company, The Floating Outfit Project. "Cut!", in Lyon, duo where he shared the poster with Desire Jo - Ann Davids is a blast. A simple red t-shirt, trousers and an African Cup, Cekwana strike the foot on the ground, seeks balance as: "cut!" echoes of the traditional steps on a cru blues confronted with a reality, often difficult, more contemporary. The duo is sometimes a great theatrical with its shirts and shoes laid on the ground that the dancer ends by walking.

Rebel enthusiasm

In its wake, it discovers a talent plus nine, Serge - Aimé Coulibaly, Burkina Faso. Dancer at his debut in the acclaimed folk company Feeren, Ouagadougou, Coulibaly will little by little to emancipate themselves, internship in France to the design of a solo "Minimini." In 2003, he met the Belgian Alain Platel, embarks it in adventure "Wolf", offbeat tribute to Mozart. It remembers that rebel enthusiasm on stage who has not left it since. Still assisted by Platel and les ballets c. de la b., Serge - Aimé Coulibaly presents this year "A Benguer" ("the other side"), where he is interested in the status of the West African youth. "She only wants one thing, leave the impasse in which it lies. Young dream to go from here, they plan and forget to live their life here. "On the shelf, a kind of hangar, African coffee where it repeated the world, the maquis. Small events come pace the course of action, as well as the rap spat live by a trio who blend voice of griot, lolo, arc to mouth and kora! Influenced by Flemish, energetic dance, "A benguer" sometimes sinning by excess shares or gesture already seen elsewhere. But this cry of alarm about the future of a continent and its youth goes to the fair.

The Biennale, finally, will play its role of discoverer with the tandem me Aïcha M'Barek and Hafiz Dhaou and Jean Tamba. From Tunisia, the first passed by hip-hop before meeting the more contemporary choreographers Abou Lagraa or Fattoumi-Lamoureux in France course. They create Lyon Khaddem Hazem, Quartet speaking of the country and "asleep destiny" of the men. Their dance is hosted a "desire of sharing, search". As Jean Tamba, strong of its past which sees the neoclassical rub to percussion, he imagines with "Water b nite" a dance which raises the question of the sacred, so important in Africa, and the ecological preservation of the fate of humanity. "Give a form to the water by the movement", said. It flows from source.