Sen Kɔrɔ La 2020 | Dan’Sa 2018-2019 | Entangling 2016 | Transcendence 2009 | Duna 2006

Sen Kɔrɔ La (2016)

Choreographic and set design conception: Lacina Coulibaly
Performers: Ibrahim Zongo, Lacina Coulibaly
Music: James Blake – “Pan”, Pan-Africa Orchestra – “Mmenson”, Alekpehanhou
Production and Administration: Compagnie Artistique Hakili Sigi
Co-production and Studio Support: École Internationale de danse Irène Tassembedo (EDIT), Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden (CDC) la Termitière, Théâtre Soleil

In the Bamanan language, the phrase Sen Kɔrɔ La carries a profound meaning of “Under our feet.” It serves as a powerful metaphor that unveils the hidden depths of our heritage and the abundance that lies within ourselves and our land, urging us to draw upon these treasures to fuel our innovations and growth.
Sen Kɔrɔ La encompasses a collective and creative inquiry, encapsulated in a single question: Why venture far and wide in pursuit of what can already be discovered in the richness of our own traditions, right here, beneath our feet?
Sen Kɔrɔ La echoes with the profound sacredness of the mask. Across Africa, the mask represents both a deity and a mediator, embodying spiritual forces that guide and safeguard the lives of humans and nature. It accompanies the departed on their journey to the afterlife, the realm of spirits and ancestors, fulfilling its primary purpose.
Drawing its essence and substance from this core function, Sen Kɔrɔ La materializes as a choreographic masterpiece, a solo performed by two entities or by two in unison. It becomes a dance wherein both the dancer and the spirit partake in a mesmerizing duet. Sen Kɔrɔ La emerges as a dance form where shadows and bodies, the invisible and the invisible, the real and the surreal converge coexist harmoniously within the realm of creativity.

Dan’Sa (2018-2019)

Choreography: Lacina Coulibaly in collaboration with Students

Barnard College students in 2018.
Dancers: Sophie Billinge, Miranda Brown, Dominique Holt, Carla Melaco, Zoe Novella and Alexis Woodhouse. 
Music: Stride by Kodo and Odin’s Raven Magic by Sigur Ròs & Hilmar Orn Himarsson
Lighting Design: Tricia Toliver
Costume: Robin McGee

Sarah Lawrence College students in 2019.

Franklin and Marshall College students in 2019
Dancers: Tiffany Brown, Tahira Davis, Jayda Grazette, Cyanni Heyward, Theliah Hutson, Isis Kamit, Francis King-Harvey, Laurel Rodriguez, Josary Valeiron.

Dan’Sa, which translates to “Kill your limit” in Bamanan, is a transformative adventure that takes us on a journey of discovering our inner self and development. Through a unique experience where we harness our mental and physical strength to push our limits and emerge in an evolved and powered version of ourselves. 
This extraordinary work has been specifically designed to empower students and help them surpass their limitations. It has been performed in various versions, each tailored to suit the specific needs and abilities of students from different institutions. Choreographed by Lacina Coulibaly, in collaboration with students, this choreographic masterpiece represents the collective effort and dedication of all those involved in its creation. Together, they have crafted a performance that showcases the immense potential and growth that can be achieved when one dares to challenge their own limitations.

Entangling (2016)

“Riveting…Jehlen and Coulibaly fluidly connected and disconnected through lifts, turns, and tumbles with eloquent articulation and a softly luxurious sense of weight.“

– Karen Campbell, Boston Globe

Performed At: Boston Center for the Arts, Institute for Contemporary Art, Festival Tiradentes em Cena, and Centro de Referência da Dança de São Paulo

Entangling is a collaboration between dancers/choreographers Wendy Jehlen (US) and Lacina Coulibaly (Burkina Faso/US).
Entangling is inspired by Quantam Entanglement. Quantum Entanglement is a phenomenon by which two atoms that are physically separated in space and time, become, for all intents and purposes, one.
As we travel, we find ourselves entangled in a metaphorical sense, and what we experience as a physical sense, with people around the world. We feel the tugging of these invisible, impossible connections at all times. This work is a visual embodiment of that feeling. It is also an expression of what is our underlying reality – that we are all inextricably and consequentially connected to each other.
The narrative of Entangling is infused with a constant state of movement we call Dark Matter. This Dark Matter is made manifest intermittently throughout the performance in fleeting, deeply intimate moments, before it recedes into near invisibility. This structure was inspired by the work of theoretical physicist Lisa Randall.
The creation of Entangling was supported by a Choregraphers Residency at the Boston Center for the Arts and a space grant at Donko Seko center for contemporary dance in Bamako, Mali. To date, Entangling has been performed at the Boston Center for the Arts, the Institute for Contemporary Art – Boston, Festival Tiradentes em Cena (Tiradentes, Brazil), Centro de Referência da Dança (São Paulo, Brazil) and Festival MAIDA (Cotonou, Benin).

Transcendence (2009)

Choreographer/Performer: Lacina Coulibaly
Music Record: Mississippi-Mali blues by Toumani Diabaté and Taj Mahal, Mali Sadio by Soriba Kouyaté
Acknowledgements: Lassann Congo, Souleymane Badolo, Caroline Giguère, Med Coulibaly Massassi, and the French Institute in Ouagadougou, Center Georges Melies.

When the echoes of the world unite within me, I start listening to the world as it roars within me, and I dance. 
The door of doubt closes, and the door of senses opens within me. 
I start listening to the world as it roars within me. I dance, I live, I exist. 
To dance in one’s body, the body of the world. 
The body of the world, my body, the world dances. 
Under the light that supports each of my movements, I exhale the dust of the movements, and the world shakes off the weight. 
To dance a thousand memories of human gestures buried in the night of time through the light that supports each of my movements. 
To dance the philosopher’s time, the poet’s time, under the dancer’s time, to dance the infinite. To dance one’s body in harmony with gravity. 
To dance these emotions through the poetry of movement. 
To return to oneself, to finally belong, to find eternity in the moment of the gesture.

Duna 2006

Choreography/Performance: Lacina Coulibaly and Olivier Tarpaga.
Music: Yacouba Sissoko (Kora) and Issa Coulibaly (Percussion).
Lighting Design: Jenny
Photography: Wolfgang Pupp
Costume and Set: Lacina Coulibaly and Olivier Tarpaga. 

Facing the unknown, we are opened up to a world of imaginations. Strangely, death comes without warning. A child is born today, an elder die tomorrow. Enclosed behind an obscure door, we search for a bead of light, an exit, a truth, and more profoundly, our freedom. Simply, Duna is our identity.

Special Thanks to the Creative Council for the Arts (CAC), the Department of Theater, Speech and Dance at Brown University and Michelle Bach-Coulibaly