The world premiere in Johannesburg presented a powerful contemporary dance double bill, pairing two significant works. The programme featured Bantu, a new ensemble piece by South Africa’s master choreographer Gregory Maqoma, alongside Joséphine, a poignant solo choreographed and performed by legendary Senegalese-French dancer Germaine Acogny.
Joséphine honours the life and spirit of Joséphine Baker, with costumes by Paloma that further shape the work’s visual and symbolic language.
The event was supported by Chanel, reflecting the House’s ongoing commitment to the arts and its creative partnership with Germaine Acogny.
Here, Germaine speaks to YourLuxury Africa about the ideas behind Joséphine.
YLA: Joséphine pays tribute to the life and spirit of Joséphine Baker. What drew you to her story as material for dance?
Germaine: Joséphine Baker was a member of the French Resistance, and above all, she fought against racism. In her own country, she was not accepted. When she came to Europe, she gained what I would call half freedom. She played with clichés, with the bananas, in order to be accepted.
She liberated the bodies of white women, and there was her generosity. She raised 12 children from different countries in Africa and even Europe. That generosity ruined her financially.
I remember when Vony Sarfati asked me to be Joséphine. I read her story, everything she lived through, even with her relationship with her own mother, and especially her funeral. I watched her difficult life over and over again. A woman said, “She is dead, but she is eternal.” That moved me deeply.
I said she would live inside me, because we have many connections. I do not like hatred; I prefer love to overcome hatred. I was also lucky enough to meet her in 1973, on my first trip to Vienna. To see this great woman, immense in talent, asking me to sign autographs next to her, I was stunned by her humility. That humility has always stayed with me. And I say: to be great, you must be humble.
YLA: Which part of Joséphine Baker’s legacy do you most want the audience to feel, beyond what history books usually convey?
Germaine: I come back to South Africa when I am 82 years old, and some people tell me that I gave them an opening to dance, that they, Black people, could also dance. I see the freedom that I gave.
I see Gregory. He is creating new work — he has created a work. I was overjoyed.
I see people here, Black and white, who surprise me. They tell me that I gave them the freedom to dance and to create. I no longer remember the places, but I feel where I am. I think of Joséphine. She was so opposed to apartheid, and as she said: “No Jews, no dogs, no Blacks.”
Here, I represent her. She is in my body. I will present her on stage. She is two, we are together, with the strength to say that we are equal, and that apartheid is truly behind us. The banana is what I will crush.
YLA: This is a solo work that you choreograph and perform yourself. What does it demand of you physically and emotionally?
Germaine: I was lucky to surround myself with people who helped me go beyond myself: Alessandra, Michael, and the lighting designer Fabiana, Enrico, and the musical creation by Fabrice Bouillon-Laforest. I had this idea, and they helped me bring it out and make it live.
Physically, I wanted to represent the resistance through the Amazons of Benin. These warriors cut themselves in order to fight men or the enemy.
I made sure that all my nationalities could live together. I was born in Benin, I lived in Senegal. I used the Amazons. When I play with the children, it is a children’s game from Senegal. When I arrived there, I did not speak the same language, and people called me the madwoman.
On this stage, I enjoy myself. I am Senegalese, and also the bougarabou, an instrument of three or four drums played by one man.
In this piece, I am Joséphine, I am Germaine, I am Senegalese, I am Beninese, I am American, I am the world. It vibrates inside me and gives me extraordinary energy.
Physically, in the morning, I do my exercises. I stretch right, I stretch left, I have my knees. But once I am on stage, I have this gift. I believe I am inhabited, and all my pain disappears.
People tell me I have a presence. Maurice Bé used to say: “Put her behind a pole, you will still see her.” I have this strength and this presence. It comes naturally, but I work physically to maintain it. I do not exceed my limits, but I am lucky to still have a body — one I hope to keep for a long time.
YLA: In what way is this creation a tribute, and how is it also a dialogue with the present?
Germaine: The past is important. You must know your history and know where you come from. You need roots. Without roots, you cannot grow. If you do not know where you come from, you do not know where to go.
It is the past, but it is also the present, because racism still exists. It is up to us, Africans, to change the way others look at us, and not place ourselves below them.
In Paris, through Joséphine, I turn racism back against them. It is symbolised by the banana that white people throw at Black people. Here, the banana, I do not throw it. I crush it. I crush it to say that white people are not more than us.
We will crush this racism and go all the way. Young people must take over. They must continue to fight, do better than us, but they must know history. When they know history, they are rooted. They can go elsewhere, but remain rooted.
YLA: Paloma created the costumes for Joséphine. How did the costume help shape the movement, the choreographic language, or the character on stage?
Germaine: Before Paloma and Chanel met us, we discussed what I wanted. I did not want to be naked, but I wanted something that looked as if I were naked. They created an extraordinary skin-tight bodysuit, perfectly coloured.
I wanted Joséphine to be seen as a mother and a warrior. The fabrics are remarkable. What charmed me was the dressing gown — so much in the image of Joséphine Baker. I wanted a dressing gown like the one Joséphine had, to be with the children and to talk. I found their work extraordinary.
For the beginning, I wanted a dress that paid tribute to Joséphine’s funeral. I had seen a Chanel model in Tokyo at an exhibition and said I would like that dress. They took the photo and recreated the model with flowers on the back. It is sublime.
The warrior was more difficult. We showed them a photo of a warrior from Benin, the Amazons of Benin. They adapted it very well. Of course, I cannot have a breast cut off like the Amazons, so they truly adapted it. It was a real collaboration.
The fabric allowed me to dance with fluidity. A very beautiful collaboration. The costumes are essential to help the audience understand what I wanted.
