"Je danse donc je suis" was a training project in contemporary and traditional dance for young people in difficulty. This project funded by the EU allowed to a little more than 40 youngsters from Ouagadougou and Bamako to follow from 2010 to 2012 an ambitious training programme. Dancing here is a synonym for life, expression, hope but also for the fact of existing and being.
They were a little more than 40: part in Ouaga and part in Bamako. Their age ranging between 12 and 25 years.Their world was as bleak as it is for many young Africans: trying to cope with a life in the streets, educational difficulties, family problems, social challenges, … In 2010, these youngsters joined the three-year program «Je danse donc je suis» (‘I dance therefore I am’) focused on social integration through artistic training. This programme was an initiative of Africalia in partnership with Donko Seko in Bamako and the Centre de Développement Chorégraphique (CDC) – La Termitière in Ouagadougou. It was financially supported by the European Commission through its EuropeAid programme «Investing in People».
The main objective was not merely to foster the personal and socio-cultural development of these youngsters (in the artistic sector but also in other economical fields of society), but above all it aimed to advance their social integration (self-esteem, physical and intellectual development, respect and listening to others, changing perception of populations towards the target group).
On the agenda from 2010 to 2012: a continuous series of workshops by African dancers, awareness raising actions, showing ‘work in progress’ in popular neigbourhoods of Ouagadougou and Bamako and regional exchanges between the young participants from both cities.An audiovisual follow up of this programme (with monitoring and evaluation and reflective action) will contribute in measuring the impact of artistic initiation on these young people and will serve the formulation of an efficient methodological approach for similar initiatives in the future.
To guarantee the programme’s success, the artistic training centres are accompanied and supported by two local social organisations that focus on young people in difficulty, in charge of the psychosocial monitoring and the evaluation of the development and socio-cultural integration of these youngsters.
The harsh discipline of the dance trainings, the encounters with the artistic community, the sense of being alive and the mutual respect have transformed these young participants and – by osmosis – changed the perception of others. «Je danse donc je suis» allowed these young people not only to dream and hope for a better life, but also to improve their capacity of telling their stories through dance and to develop confidence in themselves…
Download the presentation brochure of the project
