The mother of African dance at 80. Why Senegal’s Germaine Acogny is so influential

Senegalese choreographer Germaine Acogny in 2022.& Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images by Lliane Loots, University of KwaZulu-Natal Africa’s most celebrated dancer and choreographer, Germaine Acogny, turns 80 on 28 May. I have had the privilege of meeting the Senegalese artist, learning from her, and interviewing her as part of my ongoing research into African contemporary dance. This is a hymn to an African woman who has inspired not only African dancers but a global community of artists to think differently about who they are, their bodies, their skin, and indeed the way they move. In a continent plagued by legacies of colonisation, racism and patriarchy, Acogny has risen up as a female artist who has defied stereotypes around her Blackness, her femaleness and her long tall body, to become one of the world’s most revered dance makers. Who is Germaine Acogny? Born in 1944 in Porto Novo in Benin, Acogny moved with her family and settled in Senegal as a young girl. She is often referred to as Africa’s mother of contemporary dance, because of her long performing, teaching and choreographic career. She has built the legacy of a dance company, Jant-Bi, and her now globally recognised school and dance centre in...