Engagement Féminin

An Evening of

WEST AFRICAN CONTEMPORARY DANCE

Proud to support New Haven’s rich tradition of world class arts and entertainment for over 190 years.

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NOVEMBER 3 TO 5, 2011

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE JAMES BUNDY, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR VICTORIA NOLAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR AND

WORLD PERFORMANCE PROJECT AT YALE JOSEPH ROACH, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR EMILY COATES, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR PRESENT THE AMERICAN PREMIERE OF

ENGAGEMENT FÉMININ An Evening of West African Contemporary Dance CHOREOGRAPHED BY

AUGUSTE OUÉDRAOGO AND BIENVENUE BAZIÉ ECOUTE MA MUSIQUE PERFORMED BY ABIGAIL SENA ATSUGAH

DANS UN S’Y METTRE PERFORMED BY ABIGAIL SENA ATSUGAH SALAMATA KOBRÉ MARIAM PALÉ SALIMATA WOLOGEM Composer Lighting Designer Costume Designer Administration

ADAMA KOANDA WEND-NONGA SOUBEIGA SIDI AHAMADOU OUÉDRAOGO FRANÇOIS BOUDA

FUNDED IN PART BY THE ROOT BOY SLIM FUND. THE RUNNING TIME FOR ECOUTE MA MUSIQUE AND DANS UN S’Y METTRE, WHICH WILL BE PERFORMED CONSECUTIVELY, IS APPROXIMATELY 60 MINUTES INCLUDING A TRANSITION. EACH PERFORMANCE WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A TALK BACK WITH THE ARTISTS.

WELCOME On behalf of World Performance Project at Yale and Yale Repertory Theatre, we are pleased to welcome you to No Boundaries: A Series of Global Performances. Now in its fifth season, No Boundaries has introduced New Haven audiences to artists from the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Japan, Colombia, Poland, Peru, Kenya, Spain, and South Korea, as well as from the United States. Our 2011–12 season offers an extraordinary spectrum of theatre, performance, and dance from around the globe, celebrating the diversity of voices and experiences in today’s world. This season’s performances are all truly revolutionary: challenging the way art is made, traditional forms, and political regimes.

Tonight’s presentation, Engagement Féminin, brings the work of Art’ Dév/Compagnie Auguste-Bienvenue to the United States for the first time. For over a decade, choreographers Auguste Ouédraogo and Bienvenue Bazié have contributed to the development of contemporary dance in West Africa. In 2009, they began the initiative Engagement Féminin to revolutionize dance in their region: they created a series of workshops to train women in contemporary dance and choreography. Very few female artists create dance pieces in West Africa, but Engagement Féminin is training and inspiring a new generation of dancers, choreographers, and audience members on the African continent. The two pieces performed tonight—Ecoute Ma Musique and Dans Un S’Y Mettre—were created during the first session of Engagement Féminin. The female dancers worked with Ouédraogo and Bazié on dances inspired by their daily lives.

In February, renowned concert pianist Eteri Andjaparidze and MacArthur Foundation Fellow Jennifer Tipton join forces for a revolution of form in Spectral Scriabin. In 1915, Russian composer Alexander Scriabin staged what was most likely the first multimedia concert in history; he designed a clavier à luminère to project colors onto the stage as it was played.

Andjaparidze and Tipton have taken Scriabin’s idea of relating color to musical pitch to create an extravaganza of lush music and spectacular light.

Our No Boundaries season’s final offering will be presented in March. Chile’s Teatro en el Blanco will perform Neva, written and directed by Guillermo Calderón. A politically-charged and haunting evening of theatre, Neva takes place in a St. Petersburg rehearsal room in the winter of 1905. Anton Chekhov’s widow—Olga Knipper—and two other actors await the rest of the cast—while unseen striking works are gunned down in the streets by the Tsarist regime. Calderón’s directing and writing savagely examines the relationship between performance and history in this tightly-crafted ensemble work.

No Boundaries offers a variety of related programs, all free and open to the public. From workshops to symposia to post-show talk backs, we are committed to giving our audiences unique access to the artists—opportunities both to see the work on stage and to discuss the work with the creators themselves. A full schedule of these programs is available at yalerep.org/noboundaries.

Thank you for joining us tonight at this performance of Engagement Féminin. We look forward to sharing the entire No Boundaries season with you as we host some of the world’s most inventive and thought-provoking artists.

Sincerely,

Joseph Roach, Principal Investigator World Performance Project at Yale

Emily Coates, Artistic Director World Performance Project at Yale

James Bundy, Artistic Director Yale Repertory Theatre

ENGAGEMENT FÉMININ: AN EVENING OF WEST AFRICAN CONTEMPORARY DANCE FROM THE COMPANY Dans Un S’Y Mettre (Put Yourself Out There)—the culmination of choreographers Auguste Ouédraogo and Bienvenue Bazié’s desire to share their experiences of the creative process of choreography with female artists and to ignite within these artists a lifelong passion for dance—reflects a journey central to life, and all that life demands of us.

The main ambition is to involve the viewer in a search for a way of life that speaks to our deepest aspirations. In order to succeed, we have to put ourselves out there; that is, engage in actions that will lead us to the outcome we want. In our quest for balance, among the discussion, laughter, struggle, togetherness, fluidity, and vitality, we embrace the type of daily living that forces us to meet life’s challenges head-on to reach what we desire.

—TRANSLATED BY SARAH KRASNOW

BIOS AUGUSTE OUÉDRAOGO (CHOREOGRAPHER) joined the troupe Le Bourgeon in 1993 and received training in dance, theatre, storytelling, and music. He has participated in dance workshops directed by choreographers Christophe Chelleux, Robert Seyfried, Salia Sanou, Seydou Boro, Opiyo Okach, Xavier Lot, Angelin Preljocaj, Benjamin Lamarche, and Claude Brumachon, among others. In 2000, with Wilfried Souly and Olivier Tarpaga, he created the Company Tã, which became the Art’ Dév/Compagnie Auguste-Bienvenue in 2007.

Auguste Ouédraogo has created many choreographic pieces and also participated in the creation of many other dance performances. In 2008, he launched, with Bienvenue Bazié, Engagement Féminin. This project seeks to introduce West African girls and women to contemporary dance through workshops, residencies, and performances.

BIENVENUE BAZIÉ (CHOREOGRAPHER) joined the troupe Le Bourgeon in 1993 and trained in dance, theatre, storytelling, and music. He participated in many workshops under the supervision of choreographers Salia Sanou, Seydou Boro, Claude Brumachon, Benjamin Lamarche, Mattéo Molles, Xavier Lot, and Eric Mezino, among others. Bienvenue Bazié is the Co-Artistic Director for Art’ Dév/Compagnie Auguste-Bienvenue and Wa Tid Saou. As a dancer and choreographer with Auguste Ouédraogo, he creates and develops all of the company’s work. From 2002 to 2005, he worked with the Company Kongo Ba Teria and has been working with Xavier Lot’s company ULAL DTO. In 2008, he performed in the show Etrange étranger by Pambe Dance Company.

ABIGAIL SENA ATSUGAH (DANCER) holds a BFA in Dance and Theatre from the University of Ghana (Legon, Accra, Ghana). She first experienced contemporary dance in 2007 when she took part in the first professional contemporary dance workshop organized by the Choreographic Development Centre La Termitière of Ouagadougou. She was a dance Teaching Assistant from 2008 to 2009. She participated in the first Engagement Féminin project in 2009, and during the workshop, she was selected to develop and perform the solo Ecoute Ma Musique and in the quartet Dans Un S’Y Mettre. She hopes to become a lecturer in contemporary dance.

BIOS SALAMATA KOBRÉ (DANCER) started her artistic career in 2006 touring as a dancer with singing acts and appearing in videos and various cultural events. Since September 2009, she has been a part of the project Yeleen Don, launched by the Choreographic Development Centre La Termitière, which in 2010, became a three-year training program called Je Danse Donc Je Suis. In 2010, she toured in Montpellier (France) with the show Entre Chiens et Loups choreographed by Anne-Marie Porras and Salia Sanou. She is also a dancer for Art’ Dév/Compagnie Auguste-Bienvenue's show Dans Un S’Y Mettre.

MARIAM PALÉ (DANCER) is a multi-talented artist. Her radiant, gentle, and fascinating voice has been featured at festivals in Africa and Europe. As an actress, she first trained in theatre with artists Hubert Otto, Moussa Sanou, and Fargass Assande, before working with the troupe Badénya. In 2005, she applied her theatrical experience to the screen by acting in TV shows and film. She participated in several dance workshops taught by renowned choreographers like Angelin Preljocaj, Krisztina Dechâtel, Salia Sanou, Seydou Boro, Ousséni Sako, Hind Benali, Auguste Ouédraogo, and Bienvenue Bazié, among others. In 2009, she took part in the first Engagement Féminin project and is now a dancer in the quartet Dans Un S’Y Mettre by Art’ Dév/Compagnie Auguste-Bienvenue.

SALIMATA WOLOGEM (DANCER) As a child, Salimata Wologem learned to practice traditional dance and to sing in Burkinabe local languages. She was also very active within her community and danced to the songs and music played by griots during traditional ceremonies. In 2006, she discovered contemporary dance thanks to Séraphin Zekoua from the Foundation Négritudes/Mémoires Vivantes in Bobo-Dioulasso. Since then, she has been developing an interest in contemporary dance and has participated in several workshops. In January 2009, she participated in the first Engagement Féminin project and is currently a dancer for Dans Un S’Y Mettre by Art’ Dév/Compagnie AugusteBienvenue

ON THE COVER: ECOUTE MA MUSIQUE. ABOVE: DANS UN S’Y METTRE. PHOTOS BY NESTOR DA.

WORLD PERFORMANCE PROJECT AT YALE STAFF Joseph Roach, Principal Investigator Emily Coates, Artistic Director Kathryn Krier, Production Manager Bonnie Antosh, Assistant Production Manager Cosima Cabrera, Assistant Production Manager

THE WORLD PERFORMANCE PROJECT (WPP) promotes research in performance studies across departments at Yale. An interdiscipline that draws from the arts, humanities, and human sciences (theater, drama, dance, visual arts, speech, linguistics, anthropology, sociology), performance studies defines as its objects cultural performances of all kinds, from theatrical presentations to rites of passage, and expands its frontiers anywhere significant performances are likely to take place, from Yorubaland to Disneyland.

Working in partnership with departments and programs throughout the university, WPP presents performances, workshops, lectures, and symposia with artists and scholars working in a spectrum of performance forms. Through these events, WPP fosters teaching, research, and publication on performance-related topics.

Originally established with funding provided by a Distinguished Achievement Award granted to Joseph Roach, Sterling Professor of Theater, by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, WPP is affiliated with the Yale College Theater Studies Program and the Whitney Humanities Center at Yale.

For more information about the World Performance Project please visit

yale.edu/wpp

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE STAFF James Bundy, Artistic Director Victoria Nolan, Managing Director Jennifer Kiger, Associate Artistic Director

ARTISTIC

Resident Artists Paula Vogel, Playwright-in-Residence Liz Diamond, Evan Yionoulis, Resident Directors Catherine Sheehy, Resident Dramaturg Ming Cho Lee, Set Design Advisor Michael Yeargan, Resident Set Designer Jane Greenwood, Costume Design Advisor Jess Goldstein, Resident Costume Designer Jennifer Tipton, Lighting Design Advisor Stephen Strawbridge, Resident Lighting Designer David Budries, Sound Design Advisor Walton Wilson, Voice and Speech Advisor Rick Sordelet, Fight Advisor Mary Hunter, Stage Management Advisor Associate Artists 52nd Street Project, Kama Ginkas, Mark Lamos, MTYZ Theatre/Moscow New Generations Theatre, Bill Rauch, Sarah Ruhl, Henrietta Yanovskaya Commissioned Artists David Adjmi, Todd Almond, Hilary Bell, Adam Bock, Bill Camp, Lear deBessonet, Will Eno, Marcus Gardley, Matt Gould, Kirsten Greenidge, Danai Gurira, Ann Marie Healy, Amy Herzog, Naomi Iizuka, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Aditi Brennan Kapil, Carson Kreitzer, Dan LeFranc, Elizabeth Meriwether, Scott Murphy, Julie Marie Myatt, David LeFort Nugent, Lina Patel, Jay Reiss, Sarah Ruhl, Octavio Solis, Lucy Thurber, Alice Tuan, Paula Vogel, Kathryn Walat, Anne Washburn, Marisa Wegrzyn, Robert Woodruff Artistic Administration Amy Boratko, Literary Manager Kay Perdue Meadows, Artistic Associate Tanya Dean, Artistic Coordinator Elliot B. Quick, Anne Seiwerath, Literary Associates Tara Rubin, C.S.A.; Merri Sugarman, C.S.A.; Eric Woodall, C.S.A.; Lindsay Levine; Kaitlin Shaw, Casting Ruth M. Feldman, Director of Education and Accessibility Services Teresa Mensz, Library Services Assistant Josie Brown, Senior Administrative Assistant to the Artistic Director and Associate Artistic Director Laurie Coppola, Senior Administrative Assistant for the Directing, Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism, Playwriting, and Stage Management Departments Mary Volk, Senior Administrative Assistant for the Design and Sound Design Departments

ADMINISTRATION

Karena Fiorenza Ingersoll, Jaeeun Joo, Associate Managing Directors Michael Bateman, Lico Whitfield, Assistant Managing Directors Yu Shen, Alyssa Simmons, Management Assistants Emalie Mayo, Senior Administrative Assistant to the Managing Director Reynaldi Lolong, Company Manager Xaq Webb, Assistant Company Manager Development and Alumni Affairs Deborah S. Berman, Director of Development and Alumni Affairs Barry Kaplan, Senior Staff Writer Susan C. Clark, Laura J. Eckelman, Elizabeth Elliott, Development Associates Belene Day, Senior Administrative Assistant to Development and Marketing & Communications Melissa Zimmerman, Development Assistant Finance and Information Technology Katherine D. BurgueĂąo, Director of Finance and Human Resources Denise Zaczek, Associate Director of Finance Cristal Coleman, Alex Grennan, Ashlie Russell, Business Office Specialists Randall Rode, Information Technology Director Daryl Brereton, Associate Information Technology Director Mara Hazzard-Wallingford, Director, Yale Tessitura Consortium Toni Ann Simiola, Senior Administrative Assistant to Business Office, Information Technology, Operations, and Tessitura Marketing, Communications, and Audience Services Anne Trites, Director of Marketing and Communications Steven Padla, Senior Associate Director of Communications Daniel Cress, Senior Associate Director of Marketing Rachel Smith, Associate Director of Marketing DeDe Jacobs-Komisar, Associate Director of Marketing Sarah Stevens-Morling, Online Communications and Advertising Manager Marguerite Elliott, Publications Manager Brittany Behrens, Marketing Assistant Kathleen Martin, Graphic Design and Production Assistant Fraver, Graphic Designer Joan Marcus, Production Photographer Janna J. Ellis, Associate Director of Audience Services and Tessitura Specialist

Laura Kirk, Assistant Audience Services Director Shane Quinn, Audience Services Assistant Tracy Baldini, Subscriptions Coordinator Evan Beck, Brittany Behrens, Amanda Bermudez, Amanda Culp, Courtney Engle, Gabriel Levey, Tiffany Lin, Emily Sanna, William Smith, Joanna Wilson, Box Office Assistants Operations Diane Galt, Director of Facility Operations Rich Abrams, Operations Associate Paul Catalano, Arts and Drama Zone Superintendent Krista J. MacLellan, 217 Park and 212 York Superintendent VonDeen Ricks, Senior Custodian Marcia Riley, Facility Steward Lucille Bochert, Norma Crimley, Donell D’Gioia, Ty Frost, Mark Roy, Custodians Theater Safety and Occupational Health William J. Reynolds, Director of Theater Safety and Occupational Health Jacob Thompson, Security Officer Ed Jooss, Audience Safety Officer Fred Geier, Customer Service and Safety Officer

PRODUCTION

Bronislaw J. Sammler, Production Supervisor James Mountcastle, Production Stage Manager Jonathan Reed, Senior Associate Production Supervisor Grace O’Brien, Senior Administrative Assistant to the Production Department Costumes Tom McAlister, Costume Shop Manager Robin Hirsch, Associate Costume Shop Manager Mary Zihal, Senior Draper Clarissa Wylie Youngberg, Draper Deborah Bloch, Senior First Hand Linda Kelley-Dodd, Costume Project Coordinator Denise O’Brien, Wig and Hair Design Barbara Bodine, Company Hairdresser Linda Wingerter, Costume Stock Manager Greta Schmitt, Assistant to the Costume Shop Manager

Properties Brian Cookson, Properties Master David P. Schrader, Properties Craftsperson Jennifer McClure, Properties Assistant Bill Batschelet, Properties Stock Manager Scenery Colin Buckhurst, Don Harvey, Technical Directors Alan Hendrickson, Electro Mechanical Laboratory Supervisor Eric Sparks, Shop Foreman Matt Gaffney, Sharon Reinhart, Master Shop Carpenters Brandon Fuller, Ryan Gardner, Shop Carpenters C. Nikki Mills, Kenyth X. Thomason, Jacqueline Deniz Young, Assistants to the Technical Director Sound Josh Loar, Sound Supervisor Paul Bozzi, Staff Sound Engineer Jacob Riley, Jennifer Timms, Assistants to the Sound Supervisor Projections Erich Bolton, Projection Supervisor Micah Stieglitz, Head Projection Technician Stage Operations Janet Cunningham, Stage Carpenter Kate Begley Baker, Properties Runner Elizabeth Bolster, Wardrobe Supervisor Charles Harbert, Sound Operator

FOR THIS PRODUCTION

Shaminda Amarakoon, Associate Production Supervisor Delilah Dylan Dominguez, Benjamin Ehrenreich, Emily Erdman, Ted Griffith, Allison Jackson, Eric C. Lin, Matt Otto, Robert Shearin, Karen Walcott, Crew Virgil Blanc, Sarah Krasnow, Translators Melissa Zimmerman, House Manager SPECIAL THANKS Kevin Bitterman, Parker Emerson

Electrics Donald W. Titus, Lighting Supervisor Jason Wells, Linda Young, Head Electricians Emily Erdman, Assistant to the Lighting Supervisor Painting Ru-Jun Wang, Scenic Charge Angie Meninger, Scenic Artist Keri Kriston, Assistant Scenic Artist Allison Jackson, Nathan Jasunas, Assistants to the Painting Supervisor

Engagement Féminin: An Evening of West African Contemporary Dance November 3 to 5, 2011 Iseman Theater, 1156 Chapel Street

YALEREP.ORG

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE world premiere

belleville

by amy herzog directed by anne kauffman

OcTObER 21 TO nOvEmbER 12 yalerep.org

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE

a doctor in spite of himself

by moliÈre adapted by christopher bayes and steven epp directed by christopher bayes a co-production with berkeley repertory theatre

nOvEmbER 26 TO dEcEmbER 17 yalerep.org YALE ScHOOL OF dRAmA

cymbeline

by william shakespeare directed by louisa proske

dEcEmbER 10 TO 16 drama.yale.edu

For tickets or more information, call 203.432.1234

The World Performance Project at Yale and Yale Theater Studies present:

THINK JAM: Improvisation Across Disciplines An improvised jam session with dancers, musicians, poets, and scholars, in which disciplines collide and co-mingle.

Saturday, November 5, 2-4 PM Iseman Theater, 1156 Chapel Street Free and openbytothethe public Co-sponsored World Performance Project at Yale and Theater Studies • Free and open to the public

Photo by David Barreda

THINK JAM features...

Elizabeth Alexander, Abigail Sena Atsugah, Michelle Bach-Coulibaly, Rachel Bernsen, Jessica Berson, Charlie Burnham, Emily Coates, Elin Diamond, Abraham Gomez-Delgado, Val Jeanty, Salamata Kobré, Auguste Ouédraogo, Mariam Palé, Joseph Roach, and Salimata Wologem

...and is in dialogue with ENGAGEMENT FÉMININ: An Evening of West African Contemporary Dance Created and performed by Art’ Dév/Compagnie Auguste-Bienvenue November 3-5 at 8 PM at the Iseman Theater, 1156 Chapel Street

ALSO THIS SEASON

SPECTRAL SCRIABIN ETERI ANDJAPARIDZE, PIANO / JENNIFER TIPTON, LIGHTING

TWO PERFORMANCES ONLY! FEBRUARY 10 & 11 AT 8PM UNIVERSITY THEATRE 222 YORK STREET

PHOTO BY CHRIS LEE

NEVA WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY GUILLERMO CALDERÓN PERFORMED BY TEATRO EN EL BLANCO

TWO PERFORMANCES ONLY! MARCH 23 & 24 AT 8PM YALE REPERTORY THEATRE 1120 CHAPEL STREET

203.432.1234 PHOTO BY VALENTINA NEWMAN

yalerep.org/noboundaries