Mamadou Dahoué was born in the northern region of the Ivory Coast in the village of Ségula.  He became a member of the National Ballet of Côte d’Ivoire at the age of eighteen.  He has performed throughout Africa, Europe and the United States. More significantly, however, Mamadou was born into a historic family of dancers and craftspeople – indeed, it is his family, who is responsible for perpetuating the Zaouly masked dance tradition.  In addition to being a highly skilled concert artist, Mr. Dahoué is actually a “Mask”.  That means that Mr. Dahoué is spiritually enfranchised through the family heritage to perform highly respected and powerful traditional masked-dance roles, such as Zaouly, Flaly, and Djouanigbê.  In addition to his many responsibilities as a Mask, and his illustrious career with the National Ballet of Côte d’Ivoire, Mr. Dahoué also performed for nine years with Rosemarie Guiraud’s Les Guirivoires.  Mamadou has served as an adjunct professor at Medgar Evers College.  In 1999, Mr. Dahoué was the recipient of the “Agbedidi: African artist-in-residence program with the University of Florida and the New World School of the Arts.  Mamadou is currently serving as a teacher and lecturer in the Public School System. Mamadou’s performance experiences include BAM DanceAfrica 2005, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors and Family Concert at Carnegie Hall.  (back to KoSA index)