Amala Dianor

(Senegal / France)

Portrait of Amala Dianor

Big Pulse Scaling Up Artist

Amala Dianor
ABOUT THE ARTIST

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 theatre closures, he has co-written dance short movies with the visual artist Grégoire Korganow. He has also committed to training pre-professional dancers in France and also 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. The work will premiere at Suresnes Cités Danse in 2022.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Siguifin

Scaling Up Co-Production

 

Siguifin means “magical monster” in the Bambara language. This new work is the result of a collective choreographic process inspired by the game of Exquisite cadaver – a game involving drawing parts of the body, or combining words to construct a magical, multi-faceted being.

 

Research led by Naomi Fall on the dancers’ individualities and questions will develop from this meeting of young people from the three countries, and will allow Ladji Koné to position the dancers and their personalities against each other through a creative process based on mutual listening and group cohesiveness. Then, Alioune Diagne will explore the dancers’ cultures and these 3 neighboring but diverse countries.

 

The texture of each creator’s dancing will be the bridge between all these parts of the work. Based on mixing of movement vocabularies, which will have been developed in the creation residencies, Amala Dianor will then create a through line, a canvas which connects yet also respects the three choreographic proposals, building that unique, magical being. Dianor is also interested in the young artists, channeling this question: what is their present, and what future will they build together in dialogue with the world?”

IMAGE GALLERY
VIDEO TRAILER
CO-PRODUCTION & CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Cie Amala Dianor / Kaplan, sustained by French State - DRAC Pays de la Loire, Pays de la Loire Region, Town of Angers. Since 2020, it is receiving the support of BNP Paribas Foundation. Amala Dianor is associated artist to Touka Danses, CDCN Guyane, France (2021-2024) and Théâtre de Macon, France (2021-24); Les Quinconces - l’Espale, scène nationale le Mans, France (2021-2024).

 

PARTNERS
Association Diagn’art - Alioune Diagne, Association De Ceux qui - Naomi Fall, Ciel K Compagny - Ladji Koné

 

COPRODUCTION
Théâtre de Suresnes-Jean Vilar; Atelier de Paris / CDCN ; POLE-SUD, CDCN Strasbourg; Institut français de Dakar, Sénégal; Centre chorégraphique national de Rennes et de Bretagne; Centre de la danse Pierre Doussaint Grand Paris Seine et Oise

 

CO-COMMISSION
Siguifin is a Big Pulse Dance Alliance co-production, co-produced by Dublin Dance Festival (Ireland), New Baltic Dance (Lithuania), Julidans (The Netherlands), Tanz im August/HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Germany), Dance Umbrella (UK), CODA Oslo International Dance Festival (Norway) and ONE Dance Week (Bulgaria), co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union

 

WITH THE SUPPORT OF
French State - DRAC Pays de la Loire, Pays de la Loire Region, ONDA, French Institute, Francophonie

 

RESIDENCIES
CDC la Termitière, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Institut Français de Bamako et Blomba, Bamako, Mali, Institut Français de Dakar et Le Château, Saint-Louis, Sénégal

PRESS

"The power of the group is as compelling as it is impressive, driven by its
nonstop rhythm. Brilliantly intercut isolations and slow passages, unison and
separation, this dance moves at a ferocious pace, carrying us with it, in a
choreographic journey which includes Mali, Burkina Faso and Sénégal."
– Dansercanalhistorique

 

"There is a powerful group rhythm, which does not suppress the individuality of each performer, each holding his or her own while remaining essential cogs in the machine. We see the bodies in anatomical blocks: rotating shoulders, flat backs like rocks, hands devouring, inhaling the air, feet drumming the tempo, the shapes, a watchful voice guiding the group, onomatopoeia indicating changes in rhythm."
– L’Humanité,

Are you a programmer or presenter, or do you represent a festival or venue?

Access the Big Pulse Professional Platform to access all the information you need about Big Pulse artists and co-productions, including marketing materials and touring schedules.

Big Pulse Dance

Bringing contemporary dance to the people of Europe.