Africa's Largest Contemporary Dance Festival Held in Senegal

In the Senegalese fishing village of Toubab Dialao, twenty-five dance companies from various African nations convened for the African Dance Biennial, the continent's premier event for contemporary African dance. This three-day festival, which concluded on Sunday, took place at the École des Sables (School of Sands), established in 1998 by Germaine Acogny, often referred to as the mother of African contemporary dance. Renowned for its open-air sand studio and nature-inspired teaching methods, the school is Africa's leading professional dance training center. It gained global recognition for hosting the first African rendition of Pina Bausch's 'The Rite of Spring,' touring from 2021 to 2025. Founded in 1997, the biennial rotates among African cities, with the last event held in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2023. However, the school's future is uncertain due to a billion-dollar deep water port project by Dubai Ports World, which threatens to expropriate local land. In response, local arts institutions have banded together to oppose the development.