NATOYAA – Dance

May 2024. Back from Africa, my mind was still imbued with the warmth of this African land that I love so much, the pulsations of an intense life, the rhythms that make the soul vibrate. Natoyaa, which means dance, was born from this incandescent breath. Red reigns supreme—fiery, visceral, vibrant. It is the fire of movement, the energy of life, the raw strength of resilience. It intertwines with golden bursts and glittery crackles, capturing the light of day and the depth of night. Each reflection, each crack, is a story that changes with the hours and the light. A zircon is embedded in the canvas—a stone of clarity and strength, it captures the light and makes it dance, like an echo of this living painting. I saw how dance was a vector of healing for children. Through each movement, they expressed what could not be said, released what weighed on their souls. Where we lived together, dance was omnipresent, spontaneous, instinctive, like a silent language of resilience and hope. It sprang forth naturally, like a vital force. I was deeply touched by this spontaneity, by this way of transforming pain into movement, into rhythm, into light. Discreetly, in the shadows of my work, small phosphorescent characters keep watch. Barely visible during the day, they light up in the darkness, like those forgotten street children, those who are neglected, abandoned. May we all watch over them, looking at this work and thinking of all the children in the world who should be protected.