Senegalese dancer and choreographer Germaine Acogny, who is known as the mother of African dance, performed at the 2014 Kuandu Arts Festival, and gave a series of lectures and workshops in October.
Ms. Acogny last visited TNUA in 2013 when she took part in dance activity.
In a world of dance dominated by male choreographers, the 70-year-old Ms. Acogny has been playing a prominent role in the development of modern dance in Africa.
During her latest visit, the renowned dancer demonstrated her art and led TNUA teachers and students into the world of African dance.
She performed “Songook Yaakaar” (“Facing up to Hope”), a dance she jointly created with her friends Pierre Doussaint, Fabrice Bouillon, Bernard Mounier and Fred König.
The dance, a display of Africa’s cultural and ethnic diversities, features not only body movements, but also voice expressions, such as murmuring, roaring and laughing.
The performance ended in a party mood, as she took questions from the members of the audience and danced with them.
Her workshops on October 27 and 28 were open to TNUA dance teachers and students as well as others from the university and outsiders.
Ms. Acogny stressed that everyone can dance, as long as they are willing to learn.
Ms. Acogny often blended into the students’ training her keen observations of nature and daily life. She would, for example, ask the students to imagine that they were flowers and let their heads swing like flowers naturally in the wind.