L'ECOLE DES SABLES TOUBAB DIALAW / SENEGAL

Dancing Life – Living Dance The association Jant-Bi /l’Ecole des Sables was created in 1996 as a “Home Base” for African Dance, where young dancers from all over Africa can benefit from a professional education which gives them a strong foundation for an artist’s life and an opening towards other horizons. The International Centre for Traditional and Contemporary African Dance is a meeting place where dancers from all around the world can both exchange approaches and connect with other arts.

The Centre’s Activities • Professional workshops for dancers from all over Africa (three month sessions since 1998). • Professional workshops for dancers from all continents who want to discover African dance. • Residencies for dance companies. • Discovery workshops of African dance for semi-professionals, amateurs or particular groups (artists, different professional groups) interested in an experience linking their activities with movement, nature and African culture. • Discovery and exchange programmes between western children and children from the village. • Conferences and seminars (organised by the Centre or by outside groups). • Choregraphic creations for the centre’s company (Jant-Bi). • Workshops for seniors. • Presentation of performances.

Besides the activities and programmes devoted to Dance, l'Ecole des Sables is also a place for people of other artistic backgrounds. Its exceptional setting permits to organize discovery workshops for all the creators who want to find new sources of inspiration in Africa: writers, musicians, painters, sculptors, etc.

• Administration

Bungalows

Bungalows • Restaurant

Bungalows

• 2. Dance space • Conference room

• 1. Dance space

The Infrastructure Restaurant Dance venues L’Ecole des Sables has spacious dance venues of unusual architecture. The first space has a surface of 400 m2, with a natural sand floor, while the second space measuring 280 m2 has a professional dance floor and is well equiped for performances. Both look out on the lagoon.

A restaurant which can seat around eighty people has a view of the sea and the lagoon. The kitchen is run by women from the village, a friendly and professional staff. The African cooking is well adapted to western tastes.

Accommodation The particular style of accommodation available is well adapted to climatic and environmental conditions. Three “villages” are composed of bungalows with patios, a total of 24 houses. Each house can comfortably take 2 or 3 people. 9 houses are equiped with a personal bathroom and toilet. For the other houses, outdoor facilities are available, generous and appropriate.

Conference / Multifunctional room This building can accommodate around forty people for conferences with a possibility for multi-simultaneous translation, video projection, sound system. It can also be used for specific courses (music, yoga...)

Location L’Ecole des Sables is situated in Toubab Dialaw, a small fishing village, 55 kilometers south of Dakar, on the “Petite Côte”, with beautiful white sandy beaches and rock formations. The School is located one kilometre from the village on a five hectares area overlooking a beautiful lagoon and with view at the sea.

Landscape Typical African savannah with baobabs, the symbolic tree of Senegal. At some distance inland, softy rolling hills give special charm and specific energy to this place.

The people in charge of the Centre Germaine Acogny, artistic director of the Centre and of the Jant-Bi company, is one of the pioneers of contemporary African dance. A collaborator of Maurice Béjart and the founding director of his school Mudra Afrique, in Dakar, she has created her own technique of Modern African Dance which she has been teaching all around the world. She is also herself an accomplished dancer and choreographer. Her solo performances (the most recent creation, “Tchouraï”, 2001) have travelled to all continents. Her true passion is teaching and the transmission of African Culture through dance. CONTACT Sénégal JANT-BI / L'ECOLE DES SABLES Toubab Dialaw, Sénégal BP 22626 Dakar-Ponty Tel - Fax : +221 836 36 19 [email protected] France JANT-BI /SEBT du 3ème Monde 24 rue Léonce Castelbou 31 000 Toulouse Tel : +33 (0)5 61 23 17 75 Fax : +33 (0)5 61 23 34 04 [email protected]

grafik design • artwork bialek & buelow

Helmut Vogt, of German origin, husband and collaborator with Germaine Acogny, is the administrative director of the Centre and of the Jant-Bi company. He has devoted his life to Dance since 1981, subsequently to a varied career after work experiences in banking, advertising and publishing.

The Partners

• AFAA / Afrique en Créations, France • Africalia Festival, Belgium • APEFE, Belgium • Arts International, New York • BICIS, Senegal • The British Council • Jean and Claire-Lise Coppen • The European Union • The Ford Foundation • La Communauté Française de Belgique • The French Cooperation Agency • The German Embassy, Dakar • The Goethe Institute • Peter Greer • The Netherlands Embassy, Dakar • The Prince Claus Foundation, The Hague • Marie-Hélène Rendu • The Swiss Embassy, Dakar • UNESCO • Wolf von Wangenheim