Patrick Acogny De SouzaProfesseur de danse africainecontemporaine, chorégraphe, chercheur

Patrick A

13 Aug 2012 · 2 min

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1:55

In this interview excerpt, the speaker identifies as a choreographer who views the work with dancers as a collaborative process rather than an imposition. They describe their role as a facilitator and director who brings ideas, listens to suggestions, and makes final decisions to ensure the piece has a distinct signature. The choreographer employs tools such as deconstructing traditional dance forms, reinventing them, and inviting dancers to contribute their own movements. While they find traditional forms rich and full of possibilities, they also note the mental effort required to explore and transform them.

I call myself choreographer.
Yeah, that's
great! Yet the work, the work with the dancers is a collaboration. I'm not imposing anything. I suggest, I bring ideas, I suggest, I listen to others, ideas or suggestions, and I make the final decision for sure, but it's more a collaborative process. I believe I'm in a way a facilitator, a director, but at the end of the day also a choreographer because I ensure that the that the whole piece has a distinct signature. When I choreograph, I have different tools at my disposal. One of them is using traditional dance forms that exist and to deconstruct them, and that they become something reviewed, reinvented, and And new, you know, from the old you make new things, as much as asking also to the dancers to give at times their own movement, you know. But I work a lot with traditional dance forms. Yes, I feel it's so rich, there's so much to explore, and yet it's very arduous because it's It's a lot of mental work, you know.