Aguibou Bougobali SANOU – Dance/USA Artist Fellow

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Image Description: Against a backdrop of a soft, cloud-speckled sky blue, an African man with brown skin wears his hair in dreadlocks, neatly braided on the crown and cascading gracefully over his shoulders. He is Aguibou Bougobali SANOU — artist, dancer, choreographer, and dance professor. Dressed in a koko dunda shirt from Burkina Faso, featuring intricate black-and-white neuron-like patterns, he stands with his torso slightly twisted, his left shoulder subtly forward. His broad smile and joyful expression radiate warmth and approachability. Photo courtesy of Prestige Photography Company.

Aguibou Bougobali SANOU

he/him

Grinnell, Iowa | Oθaakiiwaki‧hina‧ki (Sauk) & Meškwahki·aša·hina (Fox)

Aguibou Bougobali SANOU is an Assistant Professor at Grinnell College’s Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies and a Ph.D. student in Dance at Texas Woman’s University. A multidisciplinary artist from Burkina Faso, he is a dancer, choreographer, musician, storyteller, and the founder of both the In-Out Dance and World Arts Festival and Arts Green Culture Factory, an ecological and creative space in Burkina Faso.

In 2018-2019, SANOU was awarded the Fulbright Scholarship, completing an artist residency at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Connecticut, where he developed a curriculum focused on African Traditional and Contemporary Dance. In 2016, he became a semi-finalist on Africa’s Got Talent.

SANOU’s choreographic style blends traditional Mandingo dances with Brazilian capoeira and theatrical forms, influenced by collaborations with European choreographers such as Salia Sanou, Carolyn Carlson, Luca G.M. Fusi, Taesang Lee, and Régine Chopinot. His work draws on sacred and secular traditions from Burkina Faso, creating a unique theatrical expression.

In 2025, SANOU was commissioned to choreograph and co-direct the opening and closing performances for the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO). He holds an MFA from the University of the Arts (UARTS) in Philadelphia in 2022.

SANOU has received international accolades, including the bronze medal for choreography at the 2013 Jeux de la Francophonie in France, second prize at the 2012 Semaine Nationale de la Culture in Burkina Faso, and the Laurel Medal award at the 2009 Delphic Game in Jeju, South Korea. His global presence spans performances and workshops in several countries. SANOU’s commitment to social change is evident in his rehabilitation dance program for Burkina Faso’s civil prison inmates, fostering reintegration through movement.

Learn more about Aguibou Bougobali SANOU:

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Image Description: Within the beginnings of a circular construction, a man lies on sandy ground, his neck resting on a red brick used as a pillow. He wears a vividly colored mask adorned with dozens of multicolored clothing buttons. His legs are bent slightly, knees and toes pointing toward the sky, heels grounded. His raised arms support five red bricks balanced on his abdomen. Next to him, seated on a curved wooden bench with a blue fabric backdrop, another man faces the reclining performer. He holds a kora — the 21-string harp-lute of the Mandé people — and appears to play music, creating an intimate, poetic dialogue between the sound of the instrument and the still, symbolic presence of the performer on the ground. Photo courtesy of artist.
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Image Description: A Rebours Choreography by Aguibou Bougobali SANOU (Compagnie Tamadia – Burkina Faso) Five masked dancers, dressed in black and white, embody the intersection of ritual heritage and contemporary creation. On the right, Reine Aminata SANOU stands in a sovereign posture with a butterfly mask and two staffs inspired by the Bobo Madarê buffalo. At the center, Karin Rose animates the scene with her violin, weaving music into movement. On the left, Korotimi Barro wears a contemporary mask crafted by twin brothers Hassane and Fousseni Ouattara of Bobo-Dioulasso, a symbol of joy and mischief. Behind them, Adama Fofana (Joli) and Pascal Kaboré wear respectively the Soumbo Bakoum (hornbill, Bwaba) and Soumbo Là (buffalo, Bwaba), masks invoking protection, purification, and the calming of spirits. Photo by Soly.

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