Explore Akan Art / The Weaving Bodies with Michel P. Kouakou

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | A presentation rooted in the vision and research of a global artist whose choreographic journey is intertwined with a nomadic life, weaving the past and present across diverse cultures. Delve into the exploration of the Akan tribe in West Africa and its positive, colorful impact on the region, as Michel Kouakou navigates through his own ancestral roots and the broader tapestry of human movement and expression.

Michel Kouakou, an accomplished choreographer and dancer from the Ivory Coast, is the visionary founder and director of Daara Dance, a transformative figure in the global dance community. He earned his MFA in Dance from Hollins University in 2015. Michel's accolades include the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Dance (2012), the Jerome Foundation Fellowship for dance research (2012), the New York Foundation for the Arts Artist Fellowship (2008), and the U.S.-Japan Fellowship (2008), which sponsored his six-month research endeavor in Tokyo and Kyoto.