TRACES
TRACES 2025: The Axis Syllabus© in Benin
Interweaving Wisdom XI Edition
Experience a unique cultural exchange through dance, music, ritual, and performance in Ouidah, Benin, from January 3rd to 19th, 2025.
About TRACES
Begun in 2012, TRACES is an annual movement education program based in Ouidah, Benin. It brings together local traditional, contemporary, hip hop and breakdancers with dance artists and musicians from around the world. TRACES is the fruit of twenty years of work by dancer, choreographer and pedagogue Francesca Pedullà and musician, pedagogue and Vodun priest Eric Acakpo.
TRACES focuses on:
- Transmitting knowledge collected in the Axis Syllabus for movement analysis
- Immersion in the traditional dances forms of Benin
- Creating contexts where ancient and contemporary practices can communicate with and enrich each other
- Maintaining the roles that dance and music have in conveying values and social wisdom
The program revolves around fundamental points:
- Perpetuating and granting access to Fon and Yoruba cultural heritage
- Providing keys for musicians and dance artists to embody, transform, and apply underlying principles of these cultures to their creative and pedagogical research
- Recognizing that cultural diversity and historical, political, and economic factors make this path challenging but not unattainable
TRACES offers a context of open research on dialogue and artistic exchange, viewing differences as a value and confronting culturally articulated ways of organizing and accessing knowledge.
Who Should Attend?
- Dance artists interested in West African culture and contemporary dance
- Musicians passionate about West African rhythms
- Researchers and practitioners of movement arts
- Anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of Yoruba and Fon cultural lineages
Program Highlights
- Dancing Bodies: Daily 3-hour dance training sessions
- Leaving Traces: Creative inquiry lab and final performance (by invitation only)
- Field Visits: Experience authentic Vodoun ceremonies
- Cultural Immersion: Engage with intact lineages of ritual practice
- Music Analysis: Discover the fundamental architecture of traditional rhythms
Two Participation Options
1. Dancing Bodies: Open to 35 people (20 residents in Africa, 15 from abroad). Fee for non-African residents: 950€
2. Leaving Traces: Open to 14 people by invitation only (8 residents in Africa, 6 from abroad). Fee for non-African residents: 1,050€
What’s Included
- Dance training and workshops
- Field visits to Vodoun ceremonies
- Accommodation (single room hotel for non-African residents)
- Lunch and dinner
- Airport transfer from/to Cotonou
Breakfast and local transport not included
Faculty
Led by experienced instructors including: Eric ACAKPO, Francesca PEDULLÀ, Frey FAUST, Richard ADOSSOU, Kerwin BARRINGTON. With musicians Eric ACAKPO, Aliou GUESSERE, and invited guests
2025 Schedule Highlights
- January 3rd: Welcoming and orientation circle
- January 4th-18th: Daily dance training and creative labs
- January 10th: Field Visit - Vodoun National Celebration
- January 18th: Final performance - "Leaving Traces Performative Evening"
- January 19th: Closure
Classes will be taught in French with English translation available if necessary
Why TRACES?
- Connect with the birthplace of Vodoun culture
- Study with master teachers and traditional practitioners
- Expand your artistic horizons through the Axis Syllabus methodology
- Contribute to cultural preservation and exchange
- Explore the intersection of ancient and contemporary performative practices
Location
Ouidah, Benin - A historic city crucial to Vodoun tradition and former center of the transatlantic slave trade
Organized by SONAGNON in collaboration with La Radice dei Viandanti ETS, Axis Syllabus Research Meshwork, and Le Grenier du Corps. Supported by the City Council of Ouidah and the Collectif des Acteurs Culturels de Ouidah (CACO). For more information, visit: SONAGNON.ORG