🇪🇺 TEEN European Digital Community: Madagascar Baobab from Dakar, Senegal

Madagascar Baobab

I am a Madagascar-born, Dakar-based performer and choreographer whose work is deeply anchored in the spiritual heritage and traditional rhythms of Madagascar. I weave ancestral Malagasy movement with contemporary research to create a unique performative language.

My journey as an interpreter is marked by excellence, from being a danceWEB scholar under Wim Vandekeybus at ImPulsTanz to performing for Chanel’s Métiers d’Art. I have collaborated with visionaries like Nora Chipaumire and Alesandra Seutin, and currently perform in Until the Beginnings with Mouvoir Company.

A recipient of the Prince Claus Seed Fund and the Solo Newcomer award in Cologne for my solo Beloved, I am more than a performer; I am a cultural builder. My true mission is giving back. For me, the stage is a sacred space where movement becomes a mission of transmission and cultural resilience.

The soil / the need

I was looking for ‘agency.’ Coming from a background in dance, I realized that while movement is powerful, there were moments when dance alone wasn’t enough to transmit the specific messages I wanted to share. I felt a need to understand the machinery behind the magic—to see how multidisciplinary art can truly sustain a community.

I approached theatre because I wanted to learn more and gain new tools .

The first seed

A performance I watched

Tell us about that first spark

Yes ,My ‘first spark’ happened during the ImPulsTanz Festival in Vienna. I remember sitting in the dark, watching a performance that defied all the categories I knew. Until that moment, I had always seen dance and theatre as separate worlds, but seeing them merge on stage opened my eyes to new ways of storytelling.

I realized that movement didn’t have to be ‘pretty’ to be powerful, and theatre didn’t have to be just ‘words’ to be understood. It was a specific moment of clarity: I saw how a performance could hold a mirror up to the audience and start a silent conversation. That was the moment theatre became essential to me—not just as an art form, but as a tool for connection. I didn’t just want to watch it anymore; I wanted to understand the energy that made that connection possible.

Roots (people & experiences that shaped your path)

The most important ‘root’ in my journey has been the process of creating my own dance solos. It was during these creations that I first began to feel the limits of pure movement and started integrating theatre as a vital tool.

I began experimenting with different personalities and character roles, using them as a ‘game’ within the choreography. This shifted my movement from being just aesthetic to being narrative. These moments of solo research taught me that a performer is more than a body; they are a vessel for different voices. Exploring these roles allowed me to see how theatre can add layers of meaning to a performance, turning a solo dance into a complex dialogue with the audience

The trunk (what keeps you in theatre)

What keeps me connected to theatre is a deep, intuitive necessity. Even though I have never formally ‘learned’ theatre in a traditional classroom, I have found that it is the only space where I can truly make sense of the world.

For me, theatre is a living laboratory. I stay because of the raw, unfiltered connection it allows me to have with an audience—a connection that goes beyond formal technique. My journey has been one of self-discovery and observation, fueled by the desire to bridge my background in dance with the power of theatrical storytelling. I keep going because I am hungry to turn my ‘self-taught’ instincts into a structured craft, and I believe that my unique perspective—coming from outside the traditional system—is exactly what allows me to bring fresh energy to the cultural scene

Branches (future / desire)

In the future, I see theatre not just as a career, but as a mission of cultural construction. In my country, we currently lack the infrastructure and the presence of theatre; it is an ’empty soil’ that I am determined to cultivate.

In the coming years, I hope theatre can give me the methodology and the leadership tools to return to my community and share what I have learned. My goal is to bridge the gap by teaching others and creating a space where performance can finally exist at home. I want to translate the ‘machinery’ I learn into a language that speaks to my people. For me, the future of theatre is about accessibility: I want to be the one who plants the first seeds of a theatrical movement in a place that has been waiting for its own stage.

Are you currently involved in cultural activities?

Yes, regularly

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? Why?

I would be a Madagascar Baobab. It is a tree defined by its resilience and its ability to thrive in challenging environments. Like the Baobab, I strive to be deeply rooted in my heritage while growing strong enough to withstand any climate.

The Baobab is not just a tree; it is a provider that gives fruit and sustains life around it. I see myself this way: someone who gathers knowledge and energy to then give back to my community. Just as the Baobab can live and flourish almost anywhere, I want to be an artist who can plant the seeds of theatre in ‘new soil,’ creating a lasting, tall-standing presence where there was once only empty space.

Contact

Email: Keziajonah785@gmail.com

Instagram: @Kezia_jonah

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