A sun-baked Senegalese fishing village erupted in vibrant colours over the weekend as it hosted the African Dance Biennial, the continent's largest showcase of contemporary dance. Twenty-five dance companies from across Africa gathered in Toubab Dialao, an hour from the capital Dakar, for the three-day event that concluded on Sunday.
A Celebration of African Dance
Dancers in vivid oranges, greens and blues stomped, leaped and collapsed into the sand, bringing life to the small coastal village. The biennial, founded in 1997, has spent nearly three decades rotating across African cities, most recently Maputo, Mozambique, in 2023. Its mission is to raise the visibility of choreographic work on the continent.
The École des Sables: A Hub for Dance
The event was held at the École des Sables, or School of Sands, which has become Africa's most prominent professional dance training institution. Founded in 1998 by Germaine Acogny, widely regarded as the mother of African contemporary dance, the school's open-air sand studio reflects her nature-rooted teaching philosophy. It has drawn dancers from dozens of countries for intensive courses blending her original contemporary technique with traditional West African and Black modern dance styles.
The École des Sables gained international attention as the home of the first African production of Pina Bausch's "The Rite of Spring," which toured globally from 2021 to 2025.
Uncertain Future Amid Development
The biennial comes as the school faces an uncertain future. A billion-dollar deep-water port project overseen by Dubai Port World, under construction just south of the fishing village, threatens to expropriate surrounding land, including property the school acquired to protect its natural ecosystem. Arts institutions in the area have formed an association to resist the development.
