Dorothée Munyaneza and Idio Chichava are the first winners of the Salavisa European Dance Award, a prize created by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in collaboration with another six European artistic institutions – ImPulsTanz – Vienna International Dance Festival (Austria), KVS (Belgium), Dansehallerne (Denmark), Maison de la Danse/Biennale de la Danse (France), Joint Adventures (Germany), and Sadler’s Wells (United Kingdom).

Chosen from a shortlist of five nominees, by a Jury of three independent experts – Mette Ingvartsen, Nayse López and Fu Kuen Tang – the winners will share the €150,000 prize and have the opportunity to showcase their work on the stages of the partner institutions.

The Jury felt that Dorothée Munyaneza and Idio Chichava stood out ‘for their particularly successful artistic approaches in recent works, as well as for the close link they maintain with their artistic contexts, communities and collaborators.’ The Jury stressed that the work of both Dorothée and Idio is ‘rooted not just in personal artistic interests, but also in a complex understanding of the world around them and the crucial role that dance can play in broader social discussions.’

Dorothée Munyaneza is a multifaceted artist. A singer, musician, dancer, actress, writer and choreographer, she rejects boundaries and uses music, song, text and movement to approach rupture as a dynamic force and create spaces of resonance and hope. Born in Rwanda, she studied Music and Social Sciences in London, after which she moved to Paris, where she worked with various choreographers. In 2013, she formed her own company, Kadidi. In the Jury’s opinion, Dorothée visits the places that hurt most, ‘connecting history, trauma, but also love and hope, with a deep comprehension of the body and its potential to tell stories and create emotional spaces.’

Idio Chichava is a dancer, choreographer and artistic director with the dance company Converge+, in Mozambique, the country to which he returned after a successful career in France. In his native land, he has promoted free dance tuition in local communities and invested in multidisciplinary productions and collaborative creations where everyone has space to explore their own inner world. The Jury regard Idio’s work as ‘a powerful affirmation of collective energy and the desire to create and coexist.’