Famu DANSE is a new dance company founded in 2017 by Daouda Keita. Daouda is an experienced dancer and choreographer, with a track record of dancing projects, as a dancer and as a lead choreographer. The Dance company shows the extraordinary capacity of the hearing impaired in expressing their own concerns, their own claims for inclusion and active participation on the stage. By doing so, attitudes towards them are changed at the level of their family, community and general public.

Famu DANSE works with Kuma Sô Théâtre, a theatre company founded in 2006 in Mopti by Lamine Diarra, whose vision is to develop a theatre that will raise awareness among the population regarding civil society and the role of individual citizen participation. AMASourds, the Malian association for the hearing impaired, is the main partner of the project.

” When the body speaks” is the Voice-funded project implemented by FAMU DANSE aiming to work with 50 young people from 3 special schools for the hearing impaired in Koutiala, Segou and Bamako over 24 months.  The involved youth receives vocational long-term training in dance and theatre, in three special schools for the young hearing impaired, during two full school years.

The project contributes to strengthening the participation of young marginalised men and women, in particular the hearing impaired, within the Malian civil society.  The overall objective is to promote the hearing impaired in all areas of society, through education, culture and sport.