Centre aims to professionalise talent in west African country where almost half of young people cannot read
In 2019, the Burkinabé choreographer Serge Aimé Coulibaly opened the doors of his contemporary dance training and cultural production centre in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso. Its aim was to professionalise the talent of young people in Burkina Faso, a poor west African country beset by violence.
One of the first pupils on Coulibaly’s programme, called Ankata Next Generation, which comes from the dyula language word for “forward”, was Kadija Sanou, better known by her stage name Kadi Bobo. The 28-year-old recalled being dragged to the class by a friend from the market where she worked in Bobo-Dioulasso, and the impact Coulibaly’s teaching had on her.
