KOSSI SEBASTIEN AHOLOU WOKAWUI

Kossi Sebastien Aholou-Wokawui

​

Kossi is a member of the ensemble "Of curious nature"( www.of-curious-nature.de) and has choreographed several pieces herself. After many years of working with different choreographers from all over the world (Germaine Acogny, Helge Letonja, Tomas Bünger, Samir Calixto, Gregory Maqoma, Felix Landerer, Gille Jobin and others), they have had a great influence on his way of working.

He himself describes his work as "afrosomatic" - the term "somatic" is mainly used in medical terminology to explain physical or organic symptoms of the mentally ill. But here we are talking about how the body works in African dance, and the energy that the body gives off, and also how the movement came about. The somatic (soma, Greek = body, womb) controls all processes that we are aware of and that we can influence at will. This includes, for example, specific movements of the spine, hips, legs and other parts of the body. This is why he is also interested in the Afro-dance system or Afro-somatics. In Afro-dance there are many movements inspired by nature, be it plants, animals or elements of daily life in Africa (according to Germaine Acogny). The movements of the Afro- Somatic technique are inspired by symbolic images from nature, such as the Fromager tree, the walk of the animals. Breathing, which enlivens the body, is an important part of the exercises that allow the body to be freed, rooted to the ground and feeling better.

His work as a young choreographer is based on different dance styles (traditional African dance, modern dance, contemporary dance and others). Moreover, for him, dance is like a spirit that enters the soul and manipulates the body, the brain takes control, directs the body. It is very important for him how he can make his body speak or enter into a dialogue with his body.

In his work he researches and is very interested in experimentation, deconstructing black dance, the social body and its relationship to its environment and especially to current politics. He likes to work with the parameters of time, volume and space to construct his stories on stage.

In the context of various collaborations, he leads workshops for contemporary Afro dance and creates transcultural dance projects as well as dance theatre projects for young people.

.