Athena
Athena Lucie Assamba is a multi- and interdisciplinary artist, an emerging performer and choreographer in dance. Their practice is rooted in traditional and contemporary African dances and in Street Dances. Being of Cameroonian origin, their initiation into traditional Dance began in their homeland. Then in 2019, Athena discovered the street dance community more deeply, which allowed them to learn and practice different dance styles such as Waacking, Dancehall, as well as various African urban dances such as Ndombolo, Mbolé, and Afro house. In 2020, they joined the professional dance group Afrodomtl, where they collaborate with its members to provide support to dancers in their initiation and professional practice of African and Afro-descendant dances, with the aim of promoting diversity in the Montreal and Canadian dance scene.
In addition, Athena is an emerging choreographer and artistic director. In 2023, they created 2 dance pieces: BOSEMBO, a piece about vulnerability and acceptance to be free, and NkulNnam, an interdisciplinary piece that aims to be a study on spiritual freedom, moving from the village to the moon via the club. These pieces were presented at Open Body, Festival Phénoména, and Ausgang Plaza in Montreal, respectively. In 2024, they created a duo piece entitled African Celestial Beings, which highlights the art and spirituality of African masks and mask dancers, particularly among the Bamiléké people of western Cameroon. Parallel to creation, they are currently training at the Nyata Nyata center of philosopher Zab Maboungou, continuing to explore the ancestrality of movement in African dance by revisiting its foundations. They also trained at École des Sables in 2024.
As a multidisciplinary artist, they express their art through various mediums such as styling, music and singing, and movement. They describe their art as the product of the mysticism of the African essence: its spirituality, its culture, its imagination, and all its states of existence. Through their art, they explore ancestral and untransmitted knowledge.
A graduate in neuroscience, they explore different means of healing through movement and art.
Athena Lucie Assamba is a multi- and interdisciplinary artist, an emerging performer and choreographer in dance. Their practice is rooted in traditional and contemporary African dances and in Street Dances. Being of Cameroonian origin, their initiation into traditional Dance began in their homeland. Then in 2019, Athena discovered the street dance community more deeply, which allowed them to learn and practice different dance styles such as Waacking, Dancehall, as well as various African urban dances such as Ndombolo, Mbolé, and Afro house. In 2020, they joined the professional dance group Afrodomtl, where they collaborate with its members to provide support to dancers in their initiation and professional practice of African and Afro-descendant dances, with the aim of promoting diversity in the Montreal and Canadian dance scene.
In addition, Athena is an emerging choreographer and artistic director. In 2023, they created 2 dance pieces: BOSEMBO, a piece about vulnerability and acceptance to be free, and NkulNnam, an interdisciplinary piece that aims to be a study on spiritual freedom, moving from the village to the moon via the club. These pieces were presented at Open Body, Festival Phénoména, and Ausgang Plaza in Montreal, respectively. In 2024, they created a duo piece entitled African Celestial Beings, which highlights the art and spirituality of African masks and mask dancers, particularly among the Bamiléké people of western Cameroon. Parallel to creation, they are currently training at the Nyata Nyata center of philosopher Zab Maboungou, continuing to explore the ancestrality of movement in African dance by revisiting its foundations. They also trained at École des Sables in 2024.
As a multidisciplinary artist, they express their art through various mediums such as styling, music and singing, and movement. They describe their art as the product of the mysticism of the African essence: its spirituality, its culture, its imagination, and all its states of existence. Through their art, they explore ancestral and untransmitted knowledge.
A graduate in neuroscience, they explore different means of healing through movement and art.
