Diadié Bathily (pronounced JAH-jay bah-chee-LEE) is a master dancer, choreographer, and dance instructor from the countries of Côte d’Ivoire and Mali in West Africa. He specializes in dances of Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Senegal, and Ghana. He is equally at home in contemporary dance forms. He has performed since the age of four. He has danced on stages in Africa, Europe, and the United States with various dance companies, including Marie-Rose Guiraud’s Les Guirivoires, the renowned troupe of West African choreographer, dancer, and musician, Adama Dramé, and with his own troupe in Côte d’Ivoire, Wara Danse.
In 2002 and 2005, he presented his work as a guest choreographer at Washington University in St. Louis. He recently performed and gave workshops at Chicago’s Second Annual African Dance Conference in August 2004. As an instructor, he has taught master classes and workshops in Montbéliard, France, at the School of Dance at Florida State University, and at the University of the Arts and at Temple University in Philadelphia. He has also performed at the United Nations in New York, the Village Arts and Humanities in Philadelphia, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, and at various festivals and events in Albuquerque, Chicago, Des Moines, Philadelphia, and St. Louis.
In 2003, Diadié formed his own dance company, Afriky Lolo, as well as a parallel children’s company, Yelé. He performs with, directs, choreographs, costumes, and stages all performances for both companies. Performers wear traditional West African costumes sewn and/or created by Diadié who travels frequently to Côte d’Ivoire and Mali to find authentic cloth, beads, and masks for the companies’ performances. This summer, Afriky Lolo will perform in Los Angeles for AfricAlive, an HIV/AIDS fundraising event for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. And, in the fall, Afriky Lolo will travel to Alaska for another benefit performance. Back in St. Louis, the companies’ annual African Dance Celebration at COCA has become a much-anticipated summer event. This year Diadié took his annual show to new heights by weaving traditional dances into a story line of his own creation, The Mask. Through dance, song, and percussion, the story of how an important mask is stolen from a West African village, and how it comes to be returned, is told.
Diadié has received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the N’gowa Prize for “Best Dancer and Dance Teacher of the Year” in Côte d’Ivoire. Famed Ivoirian choreographer, Marie-Rose Guiraud, awarded him her Certificate of African Dance, describing him as “A true artist to watch for the future of traditional and contemporary art. Above all in the world of the Black Diaspora.” In the United States, Diadié performed at the Katherine Dunham Center in East Saint Louis for Katherine Dunham’s 90th birthday celebration. He is also schedule to perform for Ms. Dunham’s 97th birthday celebration on June 23, 2006 in Saint Louis. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has chronicled his work.
In all these venues, Diadié’s greatest joy comes from connecting students and audiences to West Africa through the region’s dances, music, songs, and stories.