Entre ciel et terre

Kossivi Sénagbé Afiadgenigban’s first solo, Entre ciel et terre (Between Heaven and Earth) reveals the choreographer’s inner quest and initiation into adulthood as he ponders his cultural and spiritual identity. Between the Vodun rituals he took part in as a child, the Protestant education he received from his aunt, with whom he was placed, and the Muslim liturgy he took part in at the age of nine under the aegis of an imam who was quick to convert him, the young Togolese felt lost. What was he? Animist, Christian, Muslim? What choice should he make to feel truly himself? In 2012, a major annual ceremony attended by his extended family triggers a desire and a need for him to better understand the foundations of his Vodoun culture. In this solo, the choreographer unveils the initiatory journey within tradition he undertook and, in so doing, the encounter with himself that followed. The struggle, both mental and physical, to choose a spiritual path that may answer his existential questions and enable him to reconnect with himself. 

On the stage, a white rectangle measuring 7 m2 delimits a space that encloses the dancer: the space of lines and right angles, the terrain of the modern world, the world of today, which it would be pointless to refuse. By removing part of the sticky tape, the dancer opens a breach and traces a circle, symbolic of community, protection and continuity with ancestors. Merging one form into another, inscribing one’s culture in today’s ever-changing world; rooted in tradition and open to the outside world. Connected between heaven and earth. 

Kossivi Sénagbé Afiadegnigban’s choreography incorporates gestures and attributes from Vodoun rituals, testifying to his path of initiation. The upright  finger that swings back and forth represents the movement of the avaga, a small rattle used to summon the spirit, the vodun, to guide it so that it rides the adept. As soon as he is in a trance, the adept is covered with kaolin powder – like talc – a symbol of purity that also acts as a connecting element between the carnal body and the spirit that has come to possess it. 

In this extract, at the end of the piece, the dancer makes the circle his own and, through ritual, finds a link with his origins and an answer to his quest. 

Source : Programme Instant Togo – December 23, interviewed by Anne Décoret-Ahiha, May 7th 2024, Lomé (Togo)
Performed At Magic Mirror, Institut Français du Togo, decembre 15th 2023.

This video was registered thanks to the support of the Institut Français, the Metropole de Lyon and the City of Lyon as part of the 2023 – 2024 project “Development of a digital resource on African choreographic creation and a tool for artistic training, art criticism and cultural mediation in Benin and Togo” led by Dr Anne Décoret-Ahiha.