Didę by Marcel Gbeffa (Benin) and Sarah Trouche (France)

Didę is a contemporary dance performance that immerses you in the mystical universe of Gèlèdé tradition, where each dancer becomes a messenger of transfigured feminine energy. This choreographic creation by Marcel Gbeffa transcends the boundaries of time and space by blending respect for Beninese traditions with aesthetic innovation. Masks, created by artist Sarah Trouche and carved by Sébastian Boko, transform into contemporary sculptures that come to life with palpable intensity through the dancers’ movements. Didę is a true celebration of African culture, an opportunity to rediscover contemporary dance through an original lens while honoring the intangible and spiritual heritage of traditional Beninese dance.

Didę is an evening-length work for five dancers and 21 mahogany masks that invites us into a sincere and frank encounter with the place where the intimate and the political are entangled, where feelings are expressed and oppressions are incorporated, in whose folds lodge social conditions, confrontations between traditions, identity divisions, and emancipation—the human body.

The Chicago premiere of Didę is supported by Albertine Dance (formely FUSED), a program of Villa Albertine and Albertine Foundation, and is part of a U.S. tour in partnership with Lehigh University’s Zoellner Arts Center and The Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College, State University of New York.