Tony Okuyeme 
Lagos-based Nigerian dancers and choreographers, Pearse Olufemi and Mr. Rasheed Ibrahim, are the recent recipients of the Best Contemporary Dance Piece award at the just concluded 21st Edition Festival of Theatre and Choreography (FESTHEC), held at the Grand-Popo, Benin Republic.
A Festival of socio-educational initiative, where selected artists from West-African countries such as Benin-Republic, Burkina-Faso, Niger, Mali, Guinee, Togo, and Nigeria, exhibited their artistic works thus contributing to the success of this exceptional event.
Under the direction of Jean-Louis Mahouto Kédagni, the FESTHEC festival promotes Beninese and African cultures providing a genuine artistic platform for exchange and sharing with the inhabitants of the commune and its surroundings.
It is committed to helping artists train, create, promote, and distribute their work to a wide range of audiences. Kédagni noted that this year’s edition of FESTHEC will be a favorable ground for exhibitions, and training will be the priority, if not the special feature.
“Because the government’s cultural classes initiative is already fertile ground that we intend to support so that the government’s objective is truly achieved,” said Kédagni, while also indicating his desire to see this noble government dream come true.
According to Kédagni, this year’s Festival of Theatre and Choreography include reading, theatrical performances, and other activities at Agoué, where the festival headquarters are located. Olufemi was explicitly intent on showcasing the new dance project with Ijolomo Dance Company titled:
“FEMME” a French word for ‘WomanMan’, questioning answers that stir us right in the face on issues surrounding the concept of man and woman which is fundamentally flawed in his opinion, equal rights are basic, and shouldn’t matter if you’re a mister or a miss.
“FEMME is a clapback dance piece in progress… that readdresses the perception of what a woman and man should be or not, while the reality is that, rather than focusing on the points where each gender lacks, we need to appreciate the good qualities in both and understand that discrimination at any level is unfair from either the socio-economic position or cultural identity.
According to Segun Adefila (choreographer) during the primitive era, women took charge in a lot of ways. Women were part of the chiefs in the palace.
