About:
BIO & ARTIST STATEMENT
Djibril Sall, is a queer Senegalese performer, choreographer, and writer. Born in Dakar, he grew up in a working-class family in the Deep South of the United States of America and was educated at the ‘elite’ Wesleyan University. He describes himself in these terms to illustrate the range of privilege he holds as someone who worked from the peripheries of the Global South to someone who can now move unencumbered within and outside of the borders of the Global North. His work is situated at the intersection of (racialized) migration and belonging, where he questions the reasons that compel people to leave. This questioning includes his own migration background and his insights into (non)belonging and being in-between. "The central question he poses to himself and his audience is: How can trauma become a departure point for exploring pleasure, letting go, disclosure, and open-hearted connection?"
In Djibril’s practice, he translates his research material into choreographic scores by exploring points of connection between the physical body and the thematic topography of his subject. The initial phase of his artistic production is characterized by periods of research accumulation where he gathers references to contextualize the performance he creates. He draws the bulk of his themes from this information bank which he then translates into somatic production through affective abstraction, a cornerstone of jazz music and Africanist aesthetics in general. He says affective because so many of the themes of his work (race, migration, and [non]belonging) live within the liminal; concurrently being confined within and transgressing borders, giving it an inexplicable but deeply relational quality. It is first felt and then the subsequent effort to render it into the language of objective experience comprises the bulk of its creative and intellectual energy expenditures.
The somatic aspect of his choreographic practice leans heavily on improvisational jazz and the haiku mind. He uses the aesthetic principles from these two forms to explore the different dimensions of affective desire and yearning (for home, to leave, to belong, to be[seen]): improvisational jazz lends itself to polyrhythmic, intuitive freedom while the haiku mind lends itself to slow, repetitious mindfulness. However, both concepts embody an aspect of being in flow and achieving trance, that aesthetic of spiritual communion. To be in flow within jazz and other Africanist aesthetics is to surrender to the current and to let the input, the music, move you. When the haiku mind is translated into the somatic, mindfully focusing on moving is the discipline that leads one into the flow state. Together, this spectrum of meditation and communion becomes a flexible tool for movement production and affect exploration. He uses both tools as counterweights that naturally work together without friction.
Djibril was selected for inclusion in Tanz im August’s Interconnecting Ecology and Dance Series in 2023 and was furthermore an invited artist for Tanznacht’s 25-year anniversary. His most recent evening-length work, evening.haiku, premiered at Sophiensaele as a part of the 31st Tanztage Festival and was chosen for inclusion in the 2022 [8:Tension] Young Choreographers Series at ImPulsTanz International Vienna Dance Festival. Djibril has presented and performed works at Ballhaus Ost and radialsystem in Berlin and in various festivals and institutions including Stedelijk in Amsterdam, DARK MOFO in Australia, and Centre Pompidou in Paris. He has been invited to numerous places to talk about his work on queer and racial trauma, such as Mumok in Vienna, SAVVY Contemporary and Sophiensaele in Berlin, and Dansens Hus in Oslo. He was the 2024 Berlin Cultural Exchange Fellow at Cite International des Arts in Paris and the inaugural resident at Emerging Change Festival. He will is the upcoming Threading Resident at Sweat Variant in New York City where he will continue developing a new solo to be premiered at Sophiensaele in 2025.
EDUCATION
2016
Bachelor of Arts in Dance at Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conneticut).
CHOREOGRAPHY
2025
Upcoming in November: “Djam Leelii” at Sophiensaele in Berlin, Germany
2024
“Studio Showing: A Kendrick Lamar Medley” at uferstudios in Berlin, Germany. 40 minutes. Presented as part of residency with Emerging Change Festival
“A Liminal Jaunt: An Excursion Across Space and Through Time, Nothing More and Nothing Less” at SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin, Germany. 40 minutes.
“A Liminal Jaunt: An Excursion Across Space and Through Time, Nothing More and Nothing Less” at SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin, Germany. 40 minutes.
2023
“Interstitial Communion” at Tanz im August in Berlin, Germany. 15 minutes. Presented as a part of Dance and Ecologies series. Performerd an extended version of 35 minutes at Tanznacht’s 35th anniversary afterwards.
2022
“evening.haiku” premiered in January at Sophiensaele, Berlin, Germany. 45 minutes. Also presented at ImPulsTanz International Vienna Dance Festival in Vienna, Austria.
2021
“Songs for Captured Voices” at radialsystem in Berlin, Germany. Invited by Thea Reifler, Laure Heindl, Philipp Bergman.
2020
2019
“Go to Hell” at SomoS Berlin, Germany. 20 minutes. Commissioned for Vorspiel Dance Festival.
PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE
2023
“Flight of the Canaries” by Bishop Black at Ballhaus Naunynstrasse in Berlin, Germany
“Physis” by Moritz Majce at Uferstudios in Berlin, Germany
“From Throat Till Dawn” by Sorour Darabi at Trauma Bar und Kino in Berlin, Germany.
“Physis” by Moritz Majce at Uferstudios in Berlin, Germany
“From Throat Till Dawn” by Sorour Darabi at Trauma Bar und Kino in Berlin, Germany.
2022
“Temple of Love-To Hide” by Gaelle Choisne. Premiered at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin
2021
“REACHING” by Michele Rizzo. Premiered October at KW Berlin, Germany. Also performed at DARK MOFO Festival in Hobart, Australia and at Stedelijk Museum (Julidans Festival) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2020
“POST—LIMINALS” by Jeremy Shaw & Justin F Kennedy at Centre Pompidou in Paris, France. Also shown at Frankfurter Kunstverein, Museum of Old and New Art, MAC Montreal, The Polygon Gallery, Hamburger Bahnhof
2019
“Clash de Cartier” by Frank Willens at Cartier in
Munich, Germany.
“Unstable Nights” by Vladimir Miller, Claudia Hill, Roberto Martinez and Julian Weber at Impulstanz (mumok) in Vienna, Austria.
“Medusa Bionic Rise” by THE AGENCY( Yana Thönnes) at Radikal Jung Fest in Munich, Germany.
“Remain Calm” by Nile Koetting at Kunstverein Göttingen in Göttingen, Germany.
“Unstable Nights” by Vladimir Miller, Claudia Hill, Roberto Martinez and Julian Weber at Impulstanz (mumok) in Vienna, Austria.
“Medusa Bionic Rise” by THE AGENCY( Yana Thönnes) at Radikal Jung Fest in Munich, Germany.
“Remain Calm” by Nile Koetting at Kunstverein Göttingen in Göttingen, Germany.
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
2025
Upcoming in May: “Intentional Practices: Sustainable Art Practices in the Face of Desolation.” Speaker and Organizer at Afterhours in Paris, France.
“Sip & Speak.” Speaker, Co-Host, and Co-Moderator with Isabel Lewis at Sophiensaele in Berlin, Germany.
“Sip & Speak.” Speaker, Co-Host, and Co-Moderator with Isabel Lewis at Sophiensaele in Berlin, Germany.
2024
“Emerging Change Artist Talk.” Interviewee at Tanzfabrik. Berlin, Germany
“Between Riot and Choir: Choreographer Talk Series.” Interviewee at Savvy Contemporary. Berlin, Germany
“Between Riot and Choir: Choreographer Talk Series.” Interviewee at Savvy Contemporary. Berlin, Germany
2022
“Conversation Between 8:Tension Choreographers.” Speaker at ImPulsTanz in Vienna, Austria.
2021
“Conversation on Race as Performance in Central European Dance Contexts.” Producer and Moderator at
Flutgraben in Berlin, Germany.
2019
“The Work of Queer Utopia.”
Speaker at
Dansens Husin
Oslo, Norway.
“Race, Gender, and Identity Politics as Currency: Whose is it to Spend?” Panelist at
Dive Festivalin Berlin, Germany.
“Dance Ordinance.” Panelist at Dance of Urgency (frie_raum Q21 Exhibtion Space) in Vienna, Austria.
“It’s All About That Excess, Baby.” Speaker at Altes Finanzamt in Berlin, Germany.
“Politics of Love #5: Accountability.” Moderator and Producer at
Sophiensaele in Berlin, Germany.
“Discrimination in Hybrid Spaces.” Speaker at be’kech in Berlin, Germany
“Race, Gender, and Identity Politics as Currency: Whose is it to Spend?” Panelist at
Dive Festivalin Berlin, Germany.
“Dance Ordinance.” Panelist at Dance of Urgency (frie_raum Q21 Exhibtion Space) in Vienna, Austria.
“It’s All About That Excess, Baby.” Speaker at Altes Finanzamt in Berlin, Germany.
“Politics of Love #5: Accountability.” Moderator and Producer at
Sophiensaele in Berlin, Germany.
“Discrimination in Hybrid Spaces.” Speaker at be’kech in Berlin, Germany
2015
“What About Long Distance Relationships?” Co-produced and moderated with Yatta Zoker at Bluestockings New York City, New York.
PRIZES AND RESIDENCIES
2025
Sweat Variant: Threading Residency in New York City, NY
2024
Emerging Change Festival: Residency in Berlin, Germany
Haupstadtkulturfonds: Grant Recipient in Berlin, Germany
Cité Internationale des Arts Exchange Scholarship: Residency in Paris, France
Haupstadtkulturfonds: Grant Recipient in Berlin, Germany
Cité Internationale des Arts Exchange Scholarship: Residency in Paris, France
2022
DIS TANZ SOLO: Grant Recipient.
Nationales Performance Netz: Grant Recipient.
ImPulsTanz [8:Tension]: Young Choreographer’s Residency in Vienna, Austria.
FONDS DAKU #TakeCare Rechercheförderung: Grant Recipient.
Nationales Performance Netz: Grant Recipient.
ImPulsTanz [8:Tension]: Young Choreographer’s Residency in Vienna, Austria.
FONDS DAKU #TakeCare Rechercheförderung: Grant Recipient.
2021
Flutgraben: Performance Residency in Berlin, Germany.
Ausland: Residency in Berlin, Germany.
Ausland: Residency in Berlin, Germany.
2020
PRAXIS: Artist Residency in Oslo, Norway.
2019
ImPulsTanz danceWEB: Scholarship in Vienna, Austria.
2017
Loam: Artist in Residence in New York City, New York.
2015
Wesleyan Black Alumni Council Prize in Middletown, Connecticut.
DanceLink Fellowship in Middletown, Connecticut.
DanceLink Fellowship in Middletown, Connecticut.
2012
QuestBridge Scholarship: National Prize in the United States.