Andreya Ouamba
Born in 1975 in Pointe-Noire in Congo Brazzaville, Andréya Ouamba began his career in 1993 at the Ballet Théâtre Monana under the direction of Chrysogone Diangouaya (also founder of the Mabina-Dance Competition Festival in Brazzaville). In 1995, he created his first piece L’Haleine, which won 1st Prize in the Mabina-Danse Competition. In 1999, he was invited to the École des Sables, in Senegal, by Germaine Acogny. He works with Carlos Orta, Flora Théfaine and Avi Kaïser. Based in Dakar since 1999, he collaborates with Marianne Niox, Gérard Chenet, Michelle Rioux. In 2000, he created the Compagnie 1er Temps and performed his personal story in Pluriel, presented at the Kaay Fecc Festival and programmed at the 4th Choreographic Meetings of Africa and the Indian Ocean 2001 in Madagascar. Invited for “l’Atelier du Monde 02” at Montpellier Danse, he works with Bernardo Montet and Susan Buirge. In 2002, he met Reggie Wilson from Brooklyn, with whom he signed a solo Tales from the Creek. In 2003, his work Pression toured in Ivory Coast, South Africa, Germany and Denmark. He received a grant for a “choreographer/composer” research residency in 2005, with the Mexican composer Alejandro Castanos, with whom he created Atraversar. The same year, he produced Chair de poule, a piece for 5 dancers. In April 2006, his duo Impro-Visé_2 was awarded 1st prize at the Biennale Danse l’Afrique Danse and went on an international tour.
Alongside Reggie Wilson, he directed The Good Dance – Dakar/Brooklyn, a 70-minute piece for 8 dancers (2008-2009) then began another collaboration with the British Matthias Sperling: Diplomacy II (Dance Umbrella commission, London). Sueur des Ombres, his 2011 creation, regularly tours internationally. In 2012, he tried his hand at a solo accompanied by a musician Step out / 2. For the Dansons Maintenant festival! organized in Cotonou by the Zinsou Foundation, he created www.smtp.af. In 2013, he choreographed Florent Mahoukou’s piece Sac au Dos for the Tarmac and was programmed at the Tandem Dakar-Paris (French Institute). He organizes professional dance workshops “AEx-Corps” for dancers from Dakar and elsewhere. With the support of the Théâtre de la Ville –Théâtre des Abbesses, the Atelier de Paris CDCN, the Jean Vilar Theater and Arcadi Ile-de-France, he produced in 2015 J’ai cessé de croire au futur, a work that questions the speeches of politicians and their promises, then De quoi sommes nous fait? in 2018. Since 2018, Andréya has been leading an art platform “La Croisée” in Dakar, an event that brings together several artists from different disciplines. At the end of 2020, he is in creation residency at Villa Bloch, Poitiers, in France, for a project on heroines who have marked their era.
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