Binge Dance Festival
Binge Dance Festival is a multicultural platform that provides opportunities for BIPOC emerging choreographers in New Orleans to create and present work through local, national, and international collaboration between artists of the African diaspora and Benin, West Africa.
"Throughout the entire process I felt that my well-being being as a performing and choreographic artist was always acknowledged and prioritized. The growing relationship between Dow-Dance Company and myself has gotten stronger as well and I’m forever grateful for each encounter whether it’s performing or engaging is discussions around the culture of black dance. What I absolutely love about this company is its authenticity sharing black stories by black performers in its vast casting of descendants from the diaspora"
-Ceylon Seiber ( Binge Dance Festival Choreographic Resident )
"Throughout the entire process I felt that my well-being being as a performing and choreographic artist was always acknowledged and prioritized. The growing relationship between Dow-Dance Company and myself has gotten stronger as well and I’m forever grateful for each encounter whether it’s performing or engaging is discussions around the culture of black dance. What I absolutely love about this company is its authenticity sharing black stories by black performers in its vast casting of descendants from the diaspora"
-Ceylon Seiber ( Binge Dance Festival Choreographic Resident )
2023 Choreographic Residents
Iman Keilah Marshall, a NOLA bred, Grammy winning, multi-hyphenate whose purpose and mission is to share her knowledge, gifts and experiences with the arts community in the city. She has graced the stages behind some of your favorite artists and can be seen in various episodic series or film. Owner of HEELED, Iman is constantly in pursuit of defining her purpose through the lives of those on the journey to self confidence/exploration and also through artist development/management, private instruction of choreography, stage performance and technique.
Lauren Ashlee Messina, M.F.A. (she/her) is a parent artist driven to pursue creativity, collaboration, and community primarily through the practice of dance. After receiving academic degrees from Belhaven University and additional dance training from the Ailey School Professional Division of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, where she received the Oprah Winfrey Foundation Scholarship Award, Messina further developed her performance and choreographic artistry in the Greater New Orleans area in collaboration with the Marigny Opera Ballet, KM Dance Project, the New Orleans Opera, and ELLEvate Dance Company. Additionally, her choreography has been performed at the New York Jazz Choreography Project, the 92nd Street Y, the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, and the Mississippi Museum of Art.
Lauren was a 2022 performing artist-in-residence at the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans and a proud participant in the Moving Toward Justice Open Workshop, a 2022 pilot program at Gibney Company. At a crossroads in her artistic journey, Lauren is also excited to pursue growing interests in filmmaking as part of NOVAC’s Community Cohort. She and her husband Andre Messina are recipients of a ‘22-‘23 Research & Development Grant from the Platforms Fund, administered through Antenna.
Lauren was a 2022 performing artist-in-residence at the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans and a proud participant in the Moving Toward Justice Open Workshop, a 2022 pilot program at Gibney Company. At a crossroads in her artistic journey, Lauren is also excited to pursue growing interests in filmmaking as part of NOVAC’s Community Cohort. She and her husband Andre Messina are recipients of a ‘22-‘23 Research & Development Grant from the Platforms Fund, administered through Antenna.
2023 West African Collaborators
Dance Company Dream Key’s – Arouna Guindo (Artistic Director of Dream Key’s,choreographer, sculptor) & Giovanni Dehoue (Dancer & Percussionist)
Structured as an NGO, the Dream Keys’ collective of urban dancers along with Arouna Guindo have been organizing for several years educational and artistic actions with children, teenagers and dancers in the form of classes, battles and events.
Along with multiple artistic and cultural involvement in the public space that Arouna Guindo organizes, he conceived in 2017 a type of intervention in the public space entitled Watchechemi#jeu. A mobile platform for cultural mediation, Watchechemi#jeu proposed dance performances and popular games in the form of various activities for street children or those in the care of NGO’s. Its purpose is to generate the creation of a playground accessible to all but particularly to children, to create emulation within the community or the group around physical and performative activity.
Along with their renowned work Chaos Elegant, a platform for the creation of experimental Hip-Hop, Arouna Guindo and the Dream Key’s Dance Company produce Battle All Style, a place for all Hip-Hop to convene to battle.
Florence Gnarigo (Choreographer)
After obtaining the Diploma of Technician in music, piano specialty, at the ESMA (Secondary School of Arts and Crafts) in Abomey-Calavi in 2016, she followed, for 4 years, a professional training in dance at the EDIT (School of International Dance of Irène TASSEMBEDO) in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.
At the same time, with Irène TASSEMBEDO's company, she took part in several festivals: FIDO at Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso from 2017 to 2021, Black Dance in Senegal in 2018, Carthage
Dance in Tunisia in 2019, Festival Connexion in Cotonou in Benin in 2019 and in 2021, MASA in Abidjan in Ivory Coast in 2020.
Florence Gnarigo is a performer in Yiki Africa Boléro in 2020, as part of Benin in creation, for the benefit of cultural actors in Cotonou. She is in artistic residence at the Echangeur, National Choreographic Development Center of Château Thierry in France in September and October 2021 and presents there the short form of her solo "Etat de choc".
Today, while continuing to be a performer for various projects, she is also an author, choreographer and performer of the solo "Etat de choc", a show inspired by her experience, questioning the passage from life to death, natural or unexpected. , peaceful or violent, in reference to the emotion of mourning she felt in her story.
She is engaged as a performer in Vonvonli, creation of the choreographer Kossivi Sénamé Afiadegnigban in 2021, presented at the French Institute of Togo, then at the Ouagadougou International Dance Festival (FIDO) in 2022 and at the Franco-Nigerian Cultural Center Jean Rouch in Niamey .
She is also involved in events as a choreographer and dancer, particularly within the framework of the Forum Génération Egalité in June 2021 in Lomé, for a choreographed course during the opening of the Campus France space at the University of Kara or even during of the Night of Reading at the French Institute of Togo.
She also had to do a choreographic performance at the Marina Palace in Cotonou, seat of the Presidency of the Republic of Benin. On the occasion of the opening of the exhibition of the royal treasures of Benin "Art of Benin yesterday and today, from restitution to revelation".
She participates in the celebration of young African female creation at the French Institute of Togo as part of International Women's Rights Day where she presents a short version of her solo "State of shock".
Winner of the national choreographic competition of the French Institute of Benin 2022, Florence Gnarigo develops the creation "La danse des 7 tours", inspired by Laurent Gaudé's text "Le chant des sept tours" in "De Sang et de Lumière" (2019 ).
Engaged in the creation as much as in the transmission of her art, Florence Gnarigo created in 2022 an association, "Yissi Tim Pa", located in Natitingou, which aims to develop social inclusion through dance work and bodily expression.
Denise Ishola (Choreographer)
Denise ISHOLA has really begun to express her passion for dances Beninese traditions in the year 2000. It was not until 2001 that she took take the path of training and sharing in this area by joining the KINSSE group in which she spent two years of apprenticeship to released in 2003. Three years after this experience, she later joined the troupe of ballet & “The Chosen of Benin”; in 2006 with which she completed two years of serious and in-depth work in his profession of the future. It was only in 2008 that she joins the “WALO Company”; in which she has been involved to this day with by Rachelle AGBOSSOU and several other choreographers from the company. Her integration in this company was done in fact following a program
Initiation to contemporary dance and dance didactics (Léwé). Thereby introduced to contemporary dance, she made the choice to embrace this discipline by more of the traditional dances that she practiced before. His journey within of the company allowed him to deepen his research in the disciplines that she practices through her participation in several workshops and trainings organized by the company and its intervention in several creations such as ''Foliphonie Mobile'', ''Don't resign yourself'', ''Touch my body; don't touch my body''. In 2017, she intervened in the troupe of “As of Benin”; as a dancer actress, then in the National Ballet from 2017 to 2020 as a dancer. ISHOLA Denise is also a dance teacher in different schools. Of its research work, stand out is the choreography of pieces such as “Sans you I am me”; and “Dancer not whore”
Structured as an NGO, the Dream Keys’ collective of urban dancers along with Arouna Guindo have been organizing for several years educational and artistic actions with children, teenagers and dancers in the form of classes, battles and events.
Along with multiple artistic and cultural involvement in the public space that Arouna Guindo organizes, he conceived in 2017 a type of intervention in the public space entitled Watchechemi#jeu. A mobile platform for cultural mediation, Watchechemi#jeu proposed dance performances and popular games in the form of various activities for street children or those in the care of NGO’s. Its purpose is to generate the creation of a playground accessible to all but particularly to children, to create emulation within the community or the group around physical and performative activity.
Along with their renowned work Chaos Elegant, a platform for the creation of experimental Hip-Hop, Arouna Guindo and the Dream Key’s Dance Company produce Battle All Style, a place for all Hip-Hop to convene to battle.
Florence Gnarigo (Choreographer)
After obtaining the Diploma of Technician in music, piano specialty, at the ESMA (Secondary School of Arts and Crafts) in Abomey-Calavi in 2016, she followed, for 4 years, a professional training in dance at the EDIT (School of International Dance of Irène TASSEMBEDO) in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.
At the same time, with Irène TASSEMBEDO's company, she took part in several festivals: FIDO at Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso from 2017 to 2021, Black Dance in Senegal in 2018, Carthage
Dance in Tunisia in 2019, Festival Connexion in Cotonou in Benin in 2019 and in 2021, MASA in Abidjan in Ivory Coast in 2020.
Florence Gnarigo is a performer in Yiki Africa Boléro in 2020, as part of Benin in creation, for the benefit of cultural actors in Cotonou. She is in artistic residence at the Echangeur, National Choreographic Development Center of Château Thierry in France in September and October 2021 and presents there the short form of her solo "Etat de choc".
Today, while continuing to be a performer for various projects, she is also an author, choreographer and performer of the solo "Etat de choc", a show inspired by her experience, questioning the passage from life to death, natural or unexpected. , peaceful or violent, in reference to the emotion of mourning she felt in her story.
She is engaged as a performer in Vonvonli, creation of the choreographer Kossivi Sénamé Afiadegnigban in 2021, presented at the French Institute of Togo, then at the Ouagadougou International Dance Festival (FIDO) in 2022 and at the Franco-Nigerian Cultural Center Jean Rouch in Niamey .
She is also involved in events as a choreographer and dancer, particularly within the framework of the Forum Génération Egalité in June 2021 in Lomé, for a choreographed course during the opening of the Campus France space at the University of Kara or even during of the Night of Reading at the French Institute of Togo.
She also had to do a choreographic performance at the Marina Palace in Cotonou, seat of the Presidency of the Republic of Benin. On the occasion of the opening of the exhibition of the royal treasures of Benin "Art of Benin yesterday and today, from restitution to revelation".
She participates in the celebration of young African female creation at the French Institute of Togo as part of International Women's Rights Day where she presents a short version of her solo "State of shock".
Winner of the national choreographic competition of the French Institute of Benin 2022, Florence Gnarigo develops the creation "La danse des 7 tours", inspired by Laurent Gaudé's text "Le chant des sept tours" in "De Sang et de Lumière" (2019 ).
Engaged in the creation as much as in the transmission of her art, Florence Gnarigo created in 2022 an association, "Yissi Tim Pa", located in Natitingou, which aims to develop social inclusion through dance work and bodily expression.
Denise Ishola (Choreographer)
Denise ISHOLA has really begun to express her passion for dances Beninese traditions in the year 2000. It was not until 2001 that she took take the path of training and sharing in this area by joining the KINSSE group in which she spent two years of apprenticeship to released in 2003. Three years after this experience, she later joined the troupe of ballet & “The Chosen of Benin”; in 2006 with which she completed two years of serious and in-depth work in his profession of the future. It was only in 2008 that she joins the “WALO Company”; in which she has been involved to this day with by Rachelle AGBOSSOU and several other choreographers from the company. Her integration in this company was done in fact following a program
Initiation to contemporary dance and dance didactics (Léwé). Thereby introduced to contemporary dance, she made the choice to embrace this discipline by more of the traditional dances that she practiced before. His journey within of the company allowed him to deepen his research in the disciplines that she practices through her participation in several workshops and trainings organized by the company and its intervention in several creations such as ''Foliphonie Mobile'', ''Don't resign yourself'', ''Touch my body; don't touch my body''. In 2017, she intervened in the troupe of “As of Benin”; as a dancer actress, then in the National Ballet from 2017 to 2020 as a dancer. ISHOLA Denise is also a dance teacher in different schools. Of its research work, stand out is the choreography of pieces such as “Sans you I am me”; and “Dancer not whore”
2021 Choreographic Residents
Willnelda is a New Orleans native who immersed herself in New Orleans culture and has used it to create today’s show. Willnelda started dancing at 2 years old and began professional training at 14. She attends O. Perry Walker high school where she became a pioneer of all things dance. Willnelda quickly rose to leadership positions in the dance company as well as the dance team. Willnelda eventually went on to become a member of the New Orleans Saintsations where she would spend four beautiful years before retiring. Willnelda didn’t stop there. She started working for Schooling Talent which gave her the opportunity to dance back up for many artist like Miss Dawn Richard. Willnelda now owns three businesses, Fearless Training Co, NOLA Dance Institute, & KNWLA Productions. She spends her days as a school psychologist and her nights as a flexibility specialist and a professional dancer/choreographer. Willnelda wishes that she can inspire black women in Nola to never stop chasing their dreams and to create a space where black dancers can showcase their talents but most importantly have them be recognized.
Ceylon Seiber is a New Orleans born native, who found and began her creative artistry through the roots of the Crescent City. Graduating in the second class of NOCCA’s Academic Studio program and recently completing her BFA degree in Dance from Florida State University’s School of Dance, Ceylon has excelled in her dance education into becoming a professional performing artist. She has performed in works for Martha Graham’s Panorama Project, Jennifer Archibald, Scott Putman, Millicent Johnnie, Ann Carlson, and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. Back home in New Orleans, Ceylon has worked alongside with KMDP, Kesha Mckey Dance Project, as an apprentice with the company and offered the privilege to produce her first choreographic work, Redemption, for KMDP’s junior company for their annual CAC (Contemporary Arts Center) performance. Her creative work is based on always striving to speak up for the lost voices of those whose lives share similarities with her own and becoming part of that voice speaking highly on social justice issues that are problematic on a global and miniature scale.