Talk:Les Ballets Africains

History
There seems to be some disagreement about the exact date of formation. This book says 1954 – and has a rather complete narrative about the formation, which makes it seems credible. While this rather less precise book has it as "about 1949". Which is reconcilable, perhaps, still differs from what appears to be the official date propagated by the company itself. 9Nak (talk) 19:07, 6 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Reading the indicated references between the lines, it seems to me, if we consider Fodeba to be the original (in particular, founding) member, then it seems that he got the idea of building a formal company in 1952, then travelled to Africa in 1953 to recruit performers, and finally began his tour in 1954. So, in that sense, LBA's own stated founding year of 1952 seems reasonable. 75.44.36.242 (talk) 06:15, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

KEITA Fodeba arrived in France in 1948. Being an anticolonialist activist, he was dismissed from his stipendium when he recorded then published his "minuit" poem in 1949. He was then supported by Aimé CESAIRE, Léolpold Sédar Senghor and the RDA Rally via, Felix HOUPHOUET and Gabriel D'ARBOUSSIER to exploit his artistic skills (cf GNAOULE OUPOH in La littérature ivoirienne, p.107). So, he brought KANTE Facelli from Senegal and founded the KEITA Fodéba orchestra which performed the audio track of the first anticolonialist movie "Afrique 50" from Claude VAUTHIER. In the meantime he founded a group called "ensemble guinéen"(http://www.memoire.celestins-lyon.org/index.php/Media/Programmes/Keita-Fodeba-et-son-ensemble-guineen_PRG_001) which quickly became "Le théatre africain de KEITA Fodeba" and toured in europe, then finally became "Les Ballets Africains de KEITA Fodéba" in 1952. As "Ballets Africains" effectively blowing up on the prestigious stage "Théatre de l'étoile" on Paris famous "Champs Elysées" (see http://www.quaibranly.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/Mediatheque/Mediatheque/PresenceAfricaine_Biblio_Chronologique_XXe_2partie.pdf). 197.214.77.18 (talk) 19:34, 16 November 2013 (UTC)