Compagnie Vivons was founded in 2016 by dancer, choreographer, and visual artist Smaïl Kanouté. With 

, the company explores Vodou philosophy through contemporary dance.

How do Afro-descendant communities today reconnect with original Vodou practices and reconcile with this part of their identity? Rooted in African animist traditions (widely practiced in Benin and Togo), Vodou culture spread to the Americas and the Caribbean through the transatlantic slave trade, where it evolved, adapted, and regenerated through contact with other cultures and shifting historical contexts. Beliefs remain the driving force of movement, and movement carries within it stories and lived moments, temporarily inscribed in dance as a channel of expression.

 proposes to trace the paths of this Vodou philosophy, its survivals and resurgences in dance, and what they reveal about our relationship to the world today, our connection to nature, and to a sacred dimension that is so often disenchanted.

Cie Vivons