A documentary on the youth transmission of the African choreographer

The documentary traces the journey of this pioneer through his art. Nevertheless, her school in Senegal and his commitment to a free and rooted creation. For example,

“If it’s good, it’s good. Nevertheless, If it’s not good, it’s you.“Germaine Acogny, dancer, choreographer and Franco-Senegalese dance teacher, is also a poet. For example, In the documentary Germaine Acogny: the essence of dance which will be released in theaters Wednesday July 16. The German filmmaker Greta-Marie Becker retraces the journey of the African dancer with images documentary youth transmission african choreographer of performances of shows and interviews, and immerses herself in one of the courses organized by Acogny in her School of Sables, in Senegal.

Acogny technique is “Take the essence of traditional West African dances. and instill in European techniques to make a modern day dance“, summarizes the pope of dance. Bodies, nature, sensations and energies dictate movements.

These are the movements that several teachers. educated by the dancer, try to teach students from around the world in Senegal. The Sable School is an ecosystem, a haven of art and freedom lost in the middle of sand. Created under the impetus of Germaine Acogny. her husband, Helmut Vogt, the institution was a small revolution in the late 1990s, bringing life, water and electricity to its deserted places.

More than twenty-five years later. hundreds of young dancers always come to seek, under the eyes of the icon, the techniques and documentary youth transmission african choreographer sources of inspirations to improve their dances, and get closer to the purity of the movements of Germaine Acogny. The dance school is a place of prosperity, self -discovery and energies that surround us. Creation is at the center of everything. and the students are many artists, all driven by the energy of the ancestors who has permeated land and hearts.

Wherever she goes, Germaine Acogny is acclaimed, congratulated and awarded. In Venice, in 2021, she received a golden lion from dance. In 2023, she won the Grand Prix of the Academy of Fine Arts in choreography. She inspires and has become an influential voice over the decades of the African continent. With a certain modesty. the documentary shows this international fame through interviews with relatives, directors and colleagues who praise all its qualities both human and artistic. A richness and a beauty of the soul sublimely told by breathtaking, documentary youth transmission african choreographer luminous and simple images.

For the artist, art is above all a space of joy, of happiness. However, the documentary does not look away at the threats that await artistic creation. The Sabble School almost closed in 2018, for lack of funding. Alongside it, a port is currently under construction. The art, and the freedom that accompanies it, is in danger.

And to fight, dance can be a tool. “It’s a peaceful weapon, a constructive fight. I continue to fight“says the artist who for over forty years has made his art a symbol of peace. reconciliation.

Genre : Documentary
Realization : Greta-Marie Becker
With : Germaine Acogny
Pays : Germany. France and Senegal
Duration : 1h28
Sortie : July 16, 2025
Distributer : Shellac
Synopsis : By drawing his inspiration from traditional West African dances, Germaine Acogny has established itself, over his fifty years of career, as one of the major figures of contemporary dance, but also as one of the most important artists on the continent. In Senegal. where she founded her school of sands, she applied daily, at more than 80 years old, to form a new generation of dancers from all over Africa and called to take over.