Souleymane Badolo

Souleymane ‘Solo’ Badolo was born in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. He started his professional career as a dancer for the DAMA, a traditional African dance company, and in 1993, he founded his own Burkina Faso-based troupe, Kongo Ba Téria, fusing traditional African and western contemporary dance aesthetics. Solo has danced with the world-renowned Salia ni Seydou, worked with French choreographers Elsa Wolliaston and Mathilde Monnier, performed with the National Ballet of Burkina, choreographed for a number of companies, and developed a program at The Center of Dance, Music and Theatre in Rome.

Since moving to New York in 2009, Solo premiered Yaado, a solo commissioned by Danspace Project for I Get Lost, Platform 2010, curated by Ralph Lemon. He has toured with company nora chipaumire’s lions will roar, swans will fly, angels will wrestle heaven, rains will break: gukurahundi, and collaborated with Chipaumire and master Ghanaian drummer Obo Addy on the creation of I Ka Nye (You Look Well), commissioned by Dance New Amsterdam with support from the Multi-Arts Production Fund. He has participated in DTW’s Studio Series, PARALLELS Platform 2012 (performing in work created for him by Reggie Wilson), Harlem Stage’s E-Moves Series, and Dance Under the Influence at the Museum of Art and Design. In 2011 he was nominated for a Bessie Award as Outstanding Emerging Choreographer. Currently, he is featured in Visible, an evening-length dance commissioned by Harlem Stage, choreographed by Chipaumire and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar of Urban Bush Women.

Solo teaches contemporary dance at Bennington College while pursuing a graduate degree in dance and performance.