Waxtaan

“Waxtaan” is a Wolof word that means “discussion” or “lengthy deliberation”. This new choreographic work is based 
on traditional dances – the most beautiful and best suited to this creation – from many African countries. The company brings out their incredible richness of gesture and rhythm and takes a new look at these dances, which have an image of popular folklore. The reinterpretation of these traditional dances is firmly contemporary, as are the choreographic tools employed to reconstruct and recompose them. The originality of the work lies not only in its treatment of traditional dances. It also takes a critical look at the men who govern us. Indeed, the dancers parody heads of state, ministers, politicians, the men in power. They call them to account through dance in the hope that things might really change and that the economic, social and cultural situation will deteriorate no further.  

“Inspired equally by western contemporary dance and many traditional African dances, Waxtaan shows all the faces of Africa, the darkest as well as the most joyful, the most modern as well as the most traditional. The dance is energetic, vigorous, acrobatic even, and still manages to blow the lid off serious matters, hypocrisy and social domination.”

“ ‘Waxtaan’, which she (Germaine Acogny) devised with her son Patrick Acogny during a residence at Château Rouge (Annemasse), is typical of the energy and engagement of this great lady: a commentary on men in power as much as a contemporary performance, pulsing with the traditions (not the folklore) of Mali, Guinea, Benin, Senegal, Burkina Faso, etc.”




Source : Programme de salle Maison de la Danse