African Dance Styles

Diene "Waaw Waaw" Sagna grew up in Senegal and founded his own dance company Yaye Dib Dance there in 2008. Diene Sagna is considered a master of Sabar dance and has worked with artists such as Baaba Maal, Youssou N`Dour, Mory Kanté and Coumba Gawlo Seck. He has also been organising regular dance workshops in Senegal since 2011, which are aimed at an international audience. Diene is recognised for his friendly and motivating as well as challenging way of teaching. His classes are welcoming to everyone. For him as a teacher and artist, the tanzhaus nrw is an important place of encounter: "For me, the tanzhaus nrw is like a big family where everyone believes in one thing - dance." With dedication, Diene, who now lives in Bonn, devotes himself to promoting West African art and culture. Performances, courses, workshops and other events have taken him to 40 countries so far.

Khadidiatou Bangoura is originally from Liberia and Guinea. She was born in France and grew up in Germany. After completing a BA in International Relations & Development Studies and an MA in African Studies in London, she graduated in contemporary dance at Danceworks Berlin in October 2017. She has worked with choreographers such as Jan Pusch (2017), Okwui Okpokwasili (2018&2019), Thomas Kopp (kollektiv anderer Tanz - 2019), Ester Ambrosino (Tanztheater Erfurt - 2019), Rafaële Giovanola (Cocoon Dance - 2020), Lin Verleger (Comedia Theatre Cologne - 2020) & Ives Thuwis-De Leeuw (Junges Ensemble Stuttgart, 2020). Her own choreographic works include 'The heart is a muscle' (November 2016), 'Adult-ish' (July 2017), 'fight, flight, freeze (June 2020) and 'FÜHL DIE WELT DURCH MEINE HAUT - OBSERVATIONS ON EVERYDAY RACISM' (September 2021). In 2022 she was invited by David Zambrano to perform on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of Tic Tac Art Centre in Brussels and for the contemporary art exhibition 'Sit Back, Relax & Enjoy the Apocalypse' at the art space 'La Vallée' in Brussels. In February 2023, she performed in "Soul Dance" at the Rolande Leonard Festival in Lausanne.
Since March 2023, she has been working on the development of an inclusive dance course for blind, visually impaired and sighted participants. This research led to the development of a dance performance for blind and visually impaired viewers without audio description, which was presented as a work in progress in August 2023 under the title "HOW DOES IT FEEL?".

Sabine Kuxdorf is a social worker based in Cologne. She gained her first dance experience in the dance theater production "Collisions Interdites" by DIPHTONG KOLLEKTIV in which she performed in 2022. In August 2023 she acted as a consultant for accessibility and performer in the first research phase of the dance project "HOW DOES IT FEEL?" by Khadidiatou Bangoura.
Together with Khadidiatou Bangoura, she worked on the concept of an inclusive contemporary dance training for sighted, blind and visually impaired people in March and April 2023. Furthermore, since 2023 she has been increasingly active as a consultant on accessibility for blind and visually impaired people and in the conception and production of audio descriptions for various artists, theaters and ensembles in NRW (e.g. Studiobühne, Analogtheater Köln, Ballett am Rhein, Theater Münster).

From Equatorial Guinea, Nessa Ndong found her passion for dance upon moving to Spain at the age of 13. With training in Barcelona in Contemporary, hip hop, and Afro, she has become a versatile dancer and teacher. In 2015, she spent 3 months in LA, training at renowned institutions like Millennium Dance Complex. Specializing in Afro dance, she has since trained and taught in Barcelona, Madrid, London, Manchester, New Delhi, Frankfurt, and many more cities. Now based in Manchester, Nessa is a key member of the Afrocats team, Footlights Academy, and Shey Dance Academy while running her own Afro dance classes. "My goal is for everyone to recognize the value of African dance and achieve that special unity in my classes".

Oboja Adu is a dancer, choreographer, musician and DJ from Ghana. As Ghanaian National Dance Champion, he first represented his country at the “Concord Malibu Worlddance Championship”. He won one of the most coveted awards for dancers in West Africa with his group Five Shining Stars in 1989. Since 1994, Oboja has been teaching at tanzhaus nrw. Additionally, he is a music producer as well as chairman and founder of the “ENIJE for Africa” association that holds the annual Düsseldorf “Africa Days”.

Paul Damiano is a passionate dancer and choreographer from Nairobi, Kenya. He has been inspiring audiences with his dance art since 2012. In recent years his artistic path has taken him to Germany. Here he persistently pursues his goal of gaining international experience as a dancer and bringing his artistic vision to life. Paul Damiano specializes in the expressive forms of Afrohouse and Krump, captivating audiences with his strong presence and impressive personality. As an experienced professional dancer, he has demonstrated his skills not only in Germany, but also in Kenya, Poland and the Philippines. There he taught various Afrohouse workshops. In addition, he has represented the Afrohouse and Krump style at various battles, and thanks to his unique expertise he has already judged several dance battles, including the Bar Battle at Theater Oberhausen. In various renowned dance schools, including the JC Academy in Düsseldorf, Line Up in Cologne and Urban Art Compley in Wuppertal, Paul has not only inspired numerous students, but also gained valuable experience in the art of teaching. Last year he represented his dance style Afrohouse with expression and passion at Redbull Dance Your Style in Munich as an invited dancer.