Choreographers' Note & Bios

There have been many, many versions of Le Sacre du Printemps over the past one hundred and ten years. Our work refers obliquely to that history while going our own way.

We began with images of mapping, inspired in particular by the Beinecke Library’s recent exhibition “The World in Maps 1400-1600.” It was clear in that collection that the one who created the map placed themselves at the center. We had the idea to create our own maps: instead of solipsism, isolation, and land seizure, we would map planetary connectivity and care. 

Our version tells the story of a community moving through time, marked by the passage of day into night, and the rhythms of unification dissolving into fracturing followed by restoration. The Chosen One saves the planet---or at least, attempts to. 

We have collaborated as choreographers since 2007, and come together with very different backgrounds: Lacina specializes in West African dance from traditional to contemporary manifestations. Emily is a former New York City Ballet dancer who veered into American postmodern dance. Sometimes you can tell who made what in the choreography, but often you might be surprised. After so many years of working together, we move more like each other than not. We have also drawn on the dancers’ distinctive qualities, and tried to offer them new challenges that will push them to grow as artists. Igor Stravinsky has provided the ultimate dance challenge with the intricate musical score, and has been our ever-present collaborator throughout this process.

Emily Coates
Choreographer

Lacina Coulibaly
Choreographer

Emily Coates has performed internationally with New York City Ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project, Twyla Tharp and Yvonne Rainer. Highlights include duets with Baryshnikov in works by Erick Hawkins, Mark Morris, and Karole Armitage; principal roles in ballets by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins; and performing in Rainer’s work for over twenty years. 

Her own choreographic projects weave together fragments of dance histories and other cultural relics of modernism, with special attention to highlighting overlooked or dismissed forms of knowledge. Her work has been commissioned and presented by the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Guggenheim Works & Process, Wadsworth Atheneum, Quick Center for the Arts, Hopkins Center for the Arts, University of Chicago, Performa Biennial (NYT Best Dance of 2019 with Yvonne Rainer) and Danspace Project (NYT Critic’s Pick 2017, Fall Dance to Watch 2018), among others, with funding and fellowships from the Sloan Foundation, Center for Ballet and the Arts, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and National Endowment for the Arts (with Kaatsbaan Cultural Park).

She is a Professor in the Practice and Director of Dance Studies in Theater, Dance and Performance Studies at Yale University, where she created the dance studies program. She holds a secondary appointment in the Directing Program at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. With physicist Sarah Demers, she co-authored Physics and Dance (Yale University Press, 2019). She majored in English at Yale ‘06 and holds an MA ‘11 and MPhil ‘17 in American Studies. She has collaborated with Lacina Coulibaly since 2007. 

emilycoates.art

Lacina Coulibaly was born in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. His professional dance career, deeply rooted in traditional African dances, later merged with contemporary influences to create a uniquely African choreographic expression.
In 1995, Lacina created the Cie Kongo Bâ Teria with Souleymane Badolo and Ousseni Sako. One of their Vin Nem (2001) toured the world and won international awards. Vin Nem toured more than 30 cities in Europe in 2002 and throughout the United States in 2004 on the Movement (R)Evolution tour. Coulibaly is a featured artist in the documentary Movement (R)evolution Africa, on the emergent experimental African dance scene. Lacina has toured in Africa, Europe, and the US collaborated and worked with Nora Chipuamire, Kota Yamakazi, Emily Coates, Daria Fain, Wendy Jehlen, Salia ni Seydou, Faso Danse Theatre, Urban Bush Women, etc.

He has taught in faculty and worked with universities like Brown University, Yale University, University of Florida, Cornell University, New School, UCLA, Sarah Lawrence College, Barnard College, and so on.
Coulibaly’s unique blend of traditional and modern influences results in dynamic intellectual and artistic processes that intrigue and inspire young artists and audiences. Lacina’s choreography often provokes questions about the (dis)integration of the traditional and the contemporary. He is currently on the faculty at Yale University and the director of Compagnie Hakilisigi.
 

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