Mudra Afrique

The Mudra Afrique (or, Centre Africain de Perfectionnement et de Recherche des Interprètes du Spectacle Mudra Afrique) was a contemporary dance school founded in Dakar, Senegal in 1977 by Léopold Sédar Senghor and Maurice Béjart, based on a Pan-African philosophy of uniting Africans through the commonalities in the different ways of artistic self-expression throughout the continent, thus creating a universal artistic culture that challenges the dominance of European dance and artistry. The school closed in 1983 but a significant number of its students went on to successful international careers., such as the Burkinabe choreographer, dancer, actor and artist Irene Tassembedo. Mudra Afrique played a crucial role in preparing the basis for contemporary African dance by training the first generation of “modern” African dancers according to international artistic standards.

The name of the school comes from the Sanskrit term “mudra” meaning “gesture” or “sign. The school, once located where the Court of Cassation in Dakar is currently housed, was founded in 1977 by Leopolod Sédar Senghor and Maurice Béjart and funded by Senegal and Belgium, with support from UNESCO.Germaine Acogny, a Senegalese dancer and choreographer originally from Benin, who is probably the best-known and most influential forerunner of contemporary dance in the West-African region, was appointed director of the school from its opening. Mudra Afrique, with an international student body, emphasized the Senghorian concepts of both enracinement and ouverture, rootedness and openness. The school was based on the premise that dance could be used to connect distinctly different African cultures. Students received training in African, contemporary, and classical dance, as well as in African drumming. They performed in Dakar but also in villages outside the capital. Acogny describes Mudra Afrique as “the sacred grove of modern time”, a place where Senghor’s Pan-African ambitions could live on in this space, which provided a platform for dancers from all over the continent and further afield to come to work, meet other artists, and be inspired.

Many non-Senegalese African dancers, who went on to found their own schools, attended Mudra Afrique, and so its multidisciplinary training greatly influenced dance across West Africa.

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