In December 1949, women in the Ivorian Grand Bassam protested peacefully against colonial rule and for their husbands and brothers to be set free from political captivity. Their ever-growing group marched 30 kilometres while engaging in the “Adjanou”, a ritual which involves the key elements of song, dance and exposure of the female body.

Legacy is an artistic translation of this political form, transferring an extremely physical kind of protest into a dance performance. It also refers to many other heroines whose stories fed Nadia Beugré’s research, such as the Ghanaian Queen Pokou, a model of determination and courage, who, according to legend, sacrificed her son save her people persecuted and forced into exodus in the 18th century.

More simply, Legacy was born from the desire to put on stage the idea of “the woman on the march”, not to defend her own interests, but to put herself at the service of a cause, a conviction, a people...

In each performance, the dancers Nadia Beugré and Hanna Hedman and the bass player Manou Gallo join forces with ten to twelve amateur women from the host city. They present themselves running, sweating and talking together, giving rise to a powerful space of female solidarity.

Legacy thereby becomes an homage to the countless women who fight for rights, freedoms and human dignity around the world – their own as well as that of their families and communities.

Each performance is preceded by a two-to-three-day workshop with ten to fifteen women.