Marcel Gbeffa
Born in 1982 in Cotonou, Marcel Gbeffa spent much of his childhood in Congo, where his father had settled. The war that began in 1998 precipitated his return to Benin. He began studying physics and chemistry at the University of Abomey-Calavi with the idea of continuing in aerial mechanics. In 2001, while trying to raise the funds to enroll his second year, he discovered contemporary dance during a performance by the group Ori Danse Club. The following year, he joined the Ori Danse Association for which he managed the administration and logistics. He also follows the workshops of dancers and choreographers travelling through Benin, such as Norbert Senou and Caroline Fabre, Francesca Pedullà… A scholarship allows him to join the 8th edition of professional training in traditional and contemporary dance in Africa at the Ecole des Sables, Senegal. In 2007, he created his first solo Et Si… which was selected for the “Danse l’Afrique danse” Biennale in Bamako in 2010 (8th Rencontres chorégraphiqued d’Afrique et de l’Océan indien). In 2008, he joined Andréya Ouamba’s Premier Temps company as an assistant and performer (Sueur des Ombres, J’ai arrêté de croire au futur) and went on tour in the United States and throughout Africa. The same year, he created with Valérie Fadonougbo the Centre Chorégraphique Multicorps de Cotonou, to promote training and choreographic creation in Benin through internships, residencies and festivals.
He also multiplies international artistic collaborations: Reggie Wilson (United States), for Good Dance, Maria-Luisa Angulo (Brazil) for Solitudes Blues, Fatou Cissé (Senegal) for Illusion and also collaborates with visual artists: Violaine Lochu (France ) for Xoxo, and musicians: Clément Duthoit – collective Air artistes – la Boutique (France) for Chtulucène. In 2011, on the occasion of the Exhibition “Dansons maintenant !” organized by the Fondation Zinsou in Cotonou, he created the duet: Le Couloir sombre de l’amour, and a piece for 9 dancers: Sans regard. In 2013, he was in residence at the Pavillon Noir – Ballet Preljocaj in Aix-en-Provence for his solo Derrière le rideau. His creations also include duos: Vodoun (2012-2013), trio: Les Entrailles de l’Identite (2014, coprod. StepText)) and collective pieces: Noir mirage (2012, Prod. Fondation Zinsou), Root’in (2015 , Prod. Zinsou Foundation). In 2019, he began a creative project with the French visual artist Sarah Trouche around Guélédé masks (Benin – Nigeria) and the matter of gender. After a residency in Cotonou and France (Ateliers de Paris), the piece Dide was created in Paris in 2020 and has toured in 2021 in France and Africa. Settled between the United States, France and Benin, Marcel Gbeffa launched in 2019, the festival Connexion (2nd edition in 2021) in Benin to promote meetings and exchanges between artists from the continent and allow them to develop and to broaden their artistic skills.
In 2022, he obtained a Fulbright grant from the American government to develop his research around the transmission of dances in the diaspora (Purchase College, SUNY)Source : « Dansons Maintenant ! », Catalogue de l’Exposition (3 Avril – 30 Juin 2011), Fondation Zinsou, 2012.
Interview de Marcel Gbeffa par Aurélie Lecomte, 10 août 2012, Cotonou, retranscription : Maëva Poli, Document Fondation Zinsou
Interview Marcel Gbeffa, par Anne Décoret-Ahiha, 30 juillet 2015, Cotonou.
