Sankofa danzafro

Sankofa Danzafro’s mission is to “dance to be heard, rather than to be seen.” Artistic director Rafael Palacios’ motivation is to rewrite the history of black communities through the eyes of those directly affected, Afro-descendants in Colombia and beyond. For him, history was always written by the oppressor, while the oppressed had no voice. This is why, using the voices of Sankofa dancers and musicians, for more than 20 years he has been creating choreographies aimed at retelling the story from a point of view that has been ignored for centuries. “Sankofa,” meaning “return to the root,” is more than a word, it is an African philosophy that proposes that the past is a keyhole through which one can see the present, and be able to envision the future. This thought has guided Sankofa Danzafro since its creation in 1997.
Through various educational projects and creative works, Sankofa Danzafro has sought to build a bridge between Afro-Colombian peoples and the African continent. The company channels Afro-Colombian ancestral roots in the creation of works developed within the framework of everyday life, traditional and contemporary. Sankofa’s works are a combination of poetic dance built on the ideas of social connection, personal growth and positioning local cultures within the national dynamic. The company has performed in Brazil, France, Peru, Spain, Jamaica, Burkina Faso, Canada, Uruguay, China and the United States, and received the 2008 National Dance Award from Ministry of Culture of Colombia for San Pacho… Blessed! In 2010, the company also received a mention from the United Nations for its contribution to the social inclusion of Afro-descendants in Latin America, for its Steps in the Earth project.