Assane Konte
Assane Konte, a national of Senegal, West Africa, is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director, Choreographer, and Costume Designer for KanKouran West African Dance Company. He began his dance training at age 12 and studied with many prominent traditional dancers and musicians throughout West Africa. His career as a professional dancer began at age 15 with the “Ballet Africaine de Diebel Gueye” of Dakar, Senegal. In 1978, following a tour in Cote d’Ivoire, where he worked and performed as a guest consultant for a locally based dance company, Mr. Konte came to the United States to pursue a career as an independent performer and worked with numerous dance companies as a musical arranger and choreographer.
In 1983, along with his childhood friend, Abdou Kounta, a master drummer also from Senegal, Mr. Konte founded the KanKouran West African Dance Company and assumed the role of Artistic Director. Since that time, his lifelong dedication to preserving and sharing Africa’s rich culture through dance and music has made him a goodwill ambassador, promoting cross-cultural appreciation and understanding in the many performance venues in which he and the company appear. For his tireless work, innovative choreography, and outstanding contribution to the community, Mr. Konte has been the recipient of many prestigious awards, including most recently being named a Dance/USA Fellow in 2020.
Through his careful and meticulous choreography, Mr. Konte has elevated U.S.-based African dance to the highest professional level. Although Mr. Konte choreographs primarily for his own company, his ingenious creativity and meticulous attention to detail is always in demand at home and abroad. Consequently, he conducts annual programs in Poland, Hawaii, Japan, and St. Croix. Mr. Konte has held faculty positions in the dance departments of several prestigious universities in the Washington, D.C. area, including American University and George Mason University, and presently serves on the faculty at Howard University.
To his credit, KanKouran’s success is perhaps best judged by its longevity and by the large number of company and community members who are involved in diverse academic, professional, and entrepreneurial pursuits, and who credit KanKouran with instilling within them the discipline, pride, and commitment to self and community which have made their life pursuits meaningful as well as successful.