“Traditional dances are really valuable sources of inspiration.”

Georges Momboye

Regenerative dance and jubilatory exchange between traditional African rhythms and urban culture, “Tahaman” retraces the history of hip-hop dance, going back to one of its African sources, the Bolowi, a traditional dance from the north of Ivory Coast, originally practised by young people responsible for protecting the rice fields from predatory birds.

With the virtuosity of the dancers and its hypnotic percussion rhythms, this piece is a story of encounters, proud of its sources, bursting out of the osmosis between hip-hop and traditional styles. The rhythm work is a true source of inspiration for Georges Momboye here, a choreographer for whom contemporary African dance is rooted in a real continuity with its own past.

Updating: April 2010

Born in Ivory Coast and trained in classical, jazz and modern jazz dance, Georges Momboye began his performing career as a member of traditional companies such as Les Guirivoires, Ensemble Koteba and the Ivory Coast National Ballet. He soon felt himself cramped by traditional performance and sought other choreographic experiences in France, the United States and Canada, with artists such as Alvin Ailey, Brigitte Matuizi, Rick Odums, Elsa Wolliaston and Gisèle Houri. 

In 1992 he decided to move to France and create his own company Yankady, “creative freedom” in Malinke, which was renamed the Georges Momboye Company in 1996. The company's resolutely-declared aim is to disseminate a representative artistic expression of contemporary Africa, which he defines as “young African dance”. The repertoire mingles contemporary, African and hip-hop technique, and includes two re-interpretations of Russian ballets (“l'Après-midi d'un faune” and “The Rite of Spring”), commissioned by the Biennale of Val-de-Marne, and pieces for a young audience (“Claire de Lune”). An internationally-recognised artist, he teaches dance courses in Europe, the United States, Asia and Latin America. In Paris in 1998, he founded the Centre de Danses Pluri-africaines et des Cultures du Monde, also known as the Momboye Centre, with support from UNESCO's International Dance Council. This is a key venue for discovering dance coming out of the African continent as well as being a venue for comparisons and exchanges.

Further information : 

Digital resource  - Médiathèque du Centre national de la danse
http://mediatheque.cnd.fr/spip.php?page=mediatheque-numerique-ressource&id=PHO00003890

Since 2001, the National Center for Dance (CND) has been making recordings of its shows and educational programming and has created resources from these filmed performances (interviews, danced conferences, meetings with artists, demonstrations, major lessons, symposia specialized, thematic arrangements, etc.).