Press

The nine dancers weave the most intricate, complex routines with a high degree of energy. Their faces are regularly wreathed in smiles and in a sequence at the end of the first part they were reminiscent of children having a great deal of fun as they rolled on the floor but the precision with which they moved was spellbinding. The nine dancers used the full extents of the stage and the ability of individual dancers to hold excruciatingly challenging shapes was captivating.

Frank L.

His dances have an immediacy, but are underpinned by rigorous choreographic craft and are always centred on the individual. Rather than treat dancers as instruments that follow his instructions, his collaborative approach to creation focuses on the person.

Michael Seaver

“To the electro-atmospheric music of Awir Leon, who has worked with Dianor for years, he leads his colleagues into an exploration of deep waters, cruising through paths they have traveled before, revisiting the fundamentals, the channels they need to open to keep moving forward. This will be an exciting trio.”

Rosita Boisseau

“To create a more optimistic dialogue, the creator of this work gives each dancer the same chances, opening out geographic and stylistic horizons.”

Rosita Boisseau

“(…) These three choreographers are also ‘operators,’ says Amala Dianor. In Senegal, Alioune launched a festival, as did Naomi in Mali. In Burkina Faso, Ladji set up the hip hop dance collective Jump which acts as an incubator and also organizes dance battles. Onstage the dancers are not at all similar: Senegal has quite dynamic performers whereas those from Mali are largely self-taught but lack essential structure. The piece seeks to create connections between them all.”

Eve Beauvallet

“(…) Choreographed in the manner of the game of cadavre exquis, in a series of tableaux with rapid-fire tempo changes, Siguifin interweaves brilliantly undulating hip hop moves and tribal dances, here happily free of the rather vulgar clichés which we often see. The nine young dancers are overflowing with energy; we want to cheer them on, jumping up and down.”

A.A

“Siguifin means “magical monster” in the Bambara language, indicating the work’s roots in Africa. This new piece by Amala Dianor brings together a group of talented dancers. Together they celebrate the vitality channeling the overflowing artistic enthusiasm of the African continent.”

Interview with Arnaud Laporte

“From Suresnes cité danse to Faits d’hiver, Amala Dianor is making an impact at the festivals in early 2022. Having trained in contemporary dance and hip hop, the French-Senegalese choreographer claims a blended, hybrid movement vocabulary over the years and with his collaborators. He priorizes communication and sharing in his work, notably in the three pieces he is showing in the Paris region during the month of January.”

Interview with Olivier Frégaville-Gratian d’Amore

“(…) Point Zéro, a brand new work by Dianor, is an ode to movement. It accentuates the pelvis, dares to let the bodies undulate, deconstructing the trio form. You can’t tell which genre is infiltrating which form, the contemporary or the urban dancing. In nuanced work, the choreographer creates an autobiography of three friends gradually caught up in the passage of time. Point Zéro is however not about nostalgia, focusing more on the energy of the dancing. (…) Before our eyes, the soloist in Wo-Man seems to take on different faces, that of a warrior or of a child. To an electronic music score by Awir Léon, Gomis’ movement is precise, quite inventive. Wild currents of adrenaline seem to ripple through her limbs, accelerating to the point of exhaustion.”

Philippe Noissette

“A winner: Amala Dianor and Siguifin, a collaboration with African dancers.”

Philippe Noissette

"(…) Before our eyes, the soloist in Wo-Man seems to take on different faces, that of a warrior or of a child. To an electronic music score by Awir Léon, Gomis’ movement is precise, quite inventive. Wild currents of adrenaline seem to ripple through her limbs, accelerating to the point of exhaustion.”
Marie-Valentine Chaudon

“It’s an Amala Dianor dance festival right now. The choreographer will present his piece Siguifin at Suresnes Cités Danse. Siguifin, which means “magical monster” in Bambara, celebrates the vitality of dance which reflects the overflowing artistic enthusiasm driving the African continent.”

Stéphane Capron

“Together, they celebrate the vitality of dance, channeling the spirit of artistic enthusiasm which permeates the African continent.”

Stéphane Capron

"(…) here we find Amala Dianor’s Wo-Man, resulting from the transmission of his iconic solo Man Rec to the dancer Nangaline Gomis, who like Dianor, is from Senegal.”

Nathalie Yokel

“At the Maison de la danse, the choreographer will himself dance in Extension, then in Point Zéro. At more than 45 years old, he is currently planning his next work for twelve dancers, in collaboration with the plastician Grégoire Korganow, and inspired by Greek mythology.”

“Through his own experience, he gradually built his own transdisciplinary language (melding hip hop, neoclassical, African dance and contemporary dance), notable for its virtuosity, simplicity, the absencce of spectacular effects, the exploration of the fundamental materials in movement and the body.”

Jean-Emmanuel Denave

“Placed somewhere between contemporary, ballet, hip hop and African dance, he creates a hybrid of their vocabularies, revealing a unique language which seeks the link between our differences. Luminous and poetic, his dancing consists of powerful, feline movements. Amala Dianor continues to seduce both audiences and programmers.”

“Having been part of the Babel project established in 2018, these five impassioned dancers bulldoze their way into disobedience, attempting to make their dreams come true.”

“Since transmission and collective work have always been essential components for this creator, it is for five hip hop dancers that he participated in the choreography of Urgence (Urgency), a near conjuring of urban rage as a form of personal emancipation.”

L.H.

“In 2020, Amala Dianor, instead of reviving his own solo, imagined for this dancer a prolongation of the choreography, recreating it on the body of a young woman. A vibrant, pulsating dancer, Nangaline allows him to transpose himself into an entirely different body, reconstructing, reinventing and rewriting his journey. This solo resonates like an extension, a prolongation of [him]self, supported by this dancer’s tonicity, vitality and commitment,”

L. H

"“(...) The power of the group is as compelling as it is impressive, driven by its nonstop rhythm. But gradually they do separate, the personalities of each dancer emerging, the extraordinary vocal presence and power of Rama Koné, from Burkina Faso; she is a dancer and singer of unmatched potential. Hiphop movements are part of this, complemented by a number of traditional, diverse dances. Brilliantly intercut isolations and slow passages, unison and separation, this dance moves at a ferocious pace, carrying us with it, in a choreographic journey which includes Mali, Burkina Faso and Sénégal. (...)”

Agnès Izrine

“The title means ‘magical monster’ in Bambara, carrying nuances and some of the moves from the cadavre exquis game in this collective creation, which shows different voices and bodies in intense dialogue, reflecting the spirit of artistic enthusiasm driving the entire continent, (…). Promising.”

Maïlys Celeux-Lanval

“I wanted to change how we see Africa and focus on the young people who have chosen to stay there, to live on the land. It is a group work, I am just the foreman, the contractor. We create a dialogue between hip hop, contemporary dance and African dance inside a specific rhythmic envelope, building toward exciting the emotions of the audience.”

Amala Dianor, interview with Marie-Valentine Chaudon

“In these unexpected innovative movements there is such freedom in the bodies, with such pent-up bursts of energy. Their rage is expressed as something vital, imperative. The music of Awir Léon, (…), infuses the work with warm tones and a driving rhythmic physicality.”

Agnès Izrine

“Time seems to stop onstage during Culturebox, the program where the dancers and choreographers Amala Dianor and Johanna Faye (from the Compagnie Amala Dianor) present the creation Point Zéro.
You may find this program presented by Daphné Bürki and Raphäl, here: www.bit.ly/3sSxHFz.”

“Opening up the horizon, complicating the way we see: the choreographer Amala Dianor is alwaus trying to go farther. Between hip hop and contemporary dance, fed by African influences as well, notably the Senegalese sabaar dance, his supple, acrobatic movements flow with a pleasing grace and class.”

“I had a lot of cancellations this year, but not many postponements,” he continued. “Being at the TCE with the dancers, who were not employees, they were on unemployment and in financial peril, and whom I had not seen since March -- is fantastic. Whether they’re there in person or remotely, they are with us and they give meaning to our profession.” Interview by Rosita Boisseau

and Brigitte Salino

“Amala Dianor is clearly going places, he was invited to perform at the Maison de la Danse in Lyon and at the Montpellier Festival last year; a hybridization is possible, partly because of his solid ballet training and technique: his Falling stardust is a great platform for flying bodies. His willingness to commit to helping a number of young dancers has generated some promising results, notably in West Africa where he often works.”

Jacqueline Thuilleux

“Inspired by the idea of trying unexpected collaborations on each new project, Amala Dianor has now begun creating a “magical monster” in Siguifin. This ambitious work brings together three co creator/ choreographers: Souleymane Ladji Koné, Naomi Fall and Alioune Diagne, as well as nine young dancers from Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso. This company, under the direction of Amala Dianor imagined a sort of cadavre exquis (“Exquisite Corpse”) game in three parts, each of which explores different facets of contemporary Africa, highlighting the diversity and the gaps separating these countries which may be geographically adjacent but which are nonetheless quite different.”

Marie Pons

“It is what we call a pure moment of grace, because of performances which move you, which make your heart swell. Wednesday, on stage at the Grand théâtre, Héloïse Gaillard and Amala Dianor celebrated their differences: the artistic director of the Ensemble Amarillis was named a Chevalier of the National Order of Merit; whereas the founder of the company which bears his name received the decoration of Chevalier of Arts and Letters.”
Laurent Bauvallet

“Finally, Amala Dianor’s dancing is quieter than what we are used to -- (…) Here he presents his first official work, in which he deconstructs the academic side of ballet in The Falling Stardust, symbolically fairly significant here. The dancers are all in black, dancing to sporadically symphonic music, the movement is hybrid, crossing lines all over the place. Unsettling, Amala Dianor proves emphatically that ballet, contemporary dance and hip hop dance can work together quite well.”

François Delétraz

“The confrontation of hip hop with ballet movements and vocabulary which uses arabesques as perfect lines offer fleeting images which are sometimes too predictable. Happily there are flashes of nervous energy driving the pace of the work.”

R.BU

“With The Falling Stardust, as with most of my pieces,” he says, “I try to build a rapport between the dancers onstage. The dialogue is not only with the audience; I want the dancers to realize they are not alone onstage, that they must interact with the others. There’s a sort of double perspective.”

Interview with Olivier Frégaville-Gratian d’Amore

“The stated goal: ‘having a grouping of vocabularies and aesthetics in order to find -- then lose -- structures we are used to using’ while clearly stepping away from the question of virtuosity.”

Lise Ott

“The range of the vocabulary, the ease in passing from one register to another, the ability to fuse the varying styles in order to form a homogenous ensemble -- drive this mystical journey. There is an abundance of energy, variations in the shapes and movements and arrangements of the bodies.”

Thomas Hahn

“Their gazing deep into the audience gives them a sort of anchor point to work with. But when we look at the others, the markers change slightly. Looking at someone else and moving while doing so, destabilizes and refracts their points of contact -- this was an important part of the dancers’ work, along with the need for them to engage intellectually, to make decisions, to react to others’ actions.”

Nathalie Yokel

“Onstage I seek to validate the individual, the dancer, to bring each of them to a space less about virtuosity than vulnerability -- so they may be seen differently.”

“The work is about both strength and fragility, doubt and conviction, in its answer to the renewed challenge of a shared open form of dance.”

“Always engaged, the powerful hybrid dancing of Amala Dianor gracefully constructs bridges between aesthetic concepts, to the great delight of the spectator.”

“This choreography is again a story involving encounters, improbable yet credible.”

“This is a group work with a balletic influence. Its original idea was to move the technique somewhere else; I wanted to invite dancers to work with who had confirmed talent in a specific dance form, be it contemporary, ballet or hip hop. These forms are generally seen in works based on just one of the techniques, but here they combine into a new form, including the dancers’ personalities, stepping into spaces where they feel more vulnerable, as it is not just their virtuosity which is visible and at stake.”

Thomas Hahn

“His declared objective: to tell his own stories, going beyond technique, finding meaning another way, creating choreography in which the dancers are dancing selflessly, giving their all.”

Lise Ott