My first visit to West Africa was in Lomé, Togo, for the Professional Meetings of the All Star Battle International Festival 2026.
Conceived as a space for dialogue, cooperation, and exchange between dance professionals, festival organisers, and cultural practitioners from Africa and Europe, this encounter prompted an important conversation about the need to build the infrastructure that can support artists and present their work on their own terms.
I was mostly struck by the remarkable commitment of the artists. Choosing to pursue dance professionally in Togo, Benin, Chad, Madagascar, and many other parts of Africa seems to require enourmous courage and determination. The structures needed to sustain artistic careers are only beginning to be considered, and established routes towards Europe still seem to be often seen as the quickest path to employment and performance opportunities.
No one claimed to have simple answers, but the conversations felt essential. One thing, however, was beyond doubt: the dancers we encountered are deeply rooted in their own cultures and histories, drawing on traditional dance and breaking, and look at contemporary dance as a creative horizon. They are modern, unmistakably African movers, carrying the richness of their cultures into their artistic expression.
For them, in the South, it’s about building an infrastructure that will empower artistic independence, for us in the North, it’s about finding ways to include a continent that remains largely uninvited.
My heartfelt congratulations and thanks to the organisers for bringing this first encounter to life and for creating such a generous space for exchange.
Alexandre Iseli
