Wakatt – Serge Aimé Coulibaly / Faso Danse Theatre

Création 2020

For Serge Aimé Coulibaly, a Burkinabé-Belgian choreographer, dance is a social commitment. Through a
powerful and universal language, he questions the world and shares his thoughts with an international audience.
If his inspiration has its roots in Africa, his influences are multiple. Therefore, each period of creation unfolds on
the African continent as well as in Europe.

Serge Aimé Coulibaly’s dance is contemporary, is anchored in emotion and brings hope. It is through this prism
that he approaches complex themes by infusing them with positive energy.
After having investigated a popular uprising (Nuit Blanche à Ouagadougou), after having explored what
commitment to a better world requires of the individual (Kalakuta Republik), after having scrutinised our
disdainful attitude towards the history of migratory peoples through a few myths of West African origin (Kirina),
in WAKATT – a creation that has been in preparation since 2018 – Serge Aimé Coulibaly and Magic Malik
question the present time.

The pre-COVID19 world reality already offered enough substance for this questioning : the fear of the other
that we feel is emerging everywhere, nationalism, terrorism, ecological evolutions and the youth movement for
the climate, the position and voice of minorities …
Then the pandemic and the global regulations to control it not only influenced the agenda and the economics of
performance creation and touring, they reinforced the basic questioning: how can we talk about the present
time?

WAKATT presents us with a humanity in transition. In this work, Serge Aimé Coulibaly looks at the nature of the
human being, his “natural instinct” to survive and create a future for himself. At a time when walls are being
erected between peoples, when nationalisms are gorged with the rejection of the other, when masks are being
worn and distances are being established, WAKATT encourages resistance and openness towards a common and
generous future.


“A future that would not be monstrous would not be a future, it would be a predictable, calculable and programmable
tomorrow. Any experience open to the future is prepared or is preparing to welcome the monstrous newcomer, to
welcome him, that is to say to grant hospitality to what is absolutely foreign, but also, it must be said, to try to domesticate
him, that is to say to bring him into the house, and to make him take habits, to make us take new habits.”

Jacques Derrida, 1990.


World première : September 2020 at Tanzhaus Düsseldorf/Ruhrtriennale (DE) and at Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles (BE)


Concept & choreography Serge Aimé Coulibaly
Compositions and musical direction Magic Malik
Created and performed by Marion Alzieu, Bibata Maiga, Jean-Robert Koudogbo Kiki, Antonia Naouele, Adonis Nebie, Jolie Ngemi, Sayouba Sigué, Snake, Ahmed Soura, Marco Labellarte
Musicians Magic Malik Orchestra: Magic Malik (German flute), Maxime Zampieri (drums), Jean-Luc Lehr (bass)
Dramaturgy Sara Vanderieck
Assistant choreography Sayouba Sigué
Scenography and Costumes Catherine Cosme
Light Design Giacinto Caponio


Stage manager Matisse De Groote
Sound Technician Ralph M’Fah-Traoré
Light Technician Herman Coulibaly
Assistant director Hanna El Fakir
Production manager Sandra Diris
Technical director Joris De Bolle
Artistic advice Thomas Prédour
Company Manager Faso Danse Théâtre Lies Martens
Communication manager Faso Danse Théâtre Sandra Diris
Pre-production Laure Louvat


Production Faso Danse Théâtre
Coproduction Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles (BE), La Biennale de la Danse Lyon (FR), Ruhrtriennale (DE), deSingel Antwerpen (BE), Kampnagel Hamburg (DE), Münchner Kammerspiele (DE), Tanzhaus Düsseldorf (DE), Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg (LU)
Touring Frans Brood Productions, Gie Baguet en Tine Scharlaken
Thanks to Ankata (Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso) en Dreamcity Tunis
With the support of The Flemish Community, Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Wallonie-Bruxelles International and The Belgium TaxShelter

Contact & touring : Frans Brood Productions – Gie Baguet & Tine Scharlaken info@fransbrood.com + 32 9 234 12 12