The Power of Culture

Boro is co-founder of Compagnie Salia nï Seydou from Burkina Faso. The group has been appearing for years, particularly in France. The founders live part of the year in each of these countries, but soon this situation will change. "In December we are opening our own theatre in Ouagadougou. We are throwing the doors open for other companies from African and Western countries. We are going to focus more on education and expand Dialogues de Corps, our exchange project with neighbouring countries. Politicians discuss matters; we ensure that people actually meet. Dance can contribute so much for understanding between people."

Châtel, Sanou and Boro are all three working on the choreography for Tando. That cannot be an easy task. "It works out rather well. Body language is the same everywhere," Boro explains. "And we can communicate quite well using images." De Châtel nods enthusiastically in agreement: "The work process is quite organic."

Tando stands for earth - European and African earth. "We are Africans and are rhythmically oriented. Our dance has always been mixed with western forms, without doing violence to our tradition," Boro continues. "But we also work quite aesthetically and we find Krisztina to be an inspiring partner in this."