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"Yallah Danse!"Artist Series i
Artist Series - Yallah Danse! Winner of the FEDORA Education Prize 2025
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26 February 2026
Compagnie ECO's Yallah Danse!, winner of the FEDORA Education Prize 2025, embodies this conviction through an ambitious choreographic incubator connecting Algeria, France and Italy.
In our recent conversation with the project’s artistic team, Rosada Letizia Zangri, Educational Coordinator, Program Manager & Creative Assistant of Yallah Danse!, and Emilio Calcagno, Artistic Director of Yallah Danse!, their words revealed the depth of vision, resilience and humanity behind the initiative.
A Bridge Between Three Countries
The initiative was born from an artistic tour in Algeria and from a striking encounter with a vibrant generation of young dancers eager to explore contemporary dance. What began as masterclasses evolved into a far-reaching vision. As the artistic team explains:
“This project is important today because it is a bridge that can truly connect, on an artistic, human, geographical and even political level, the three countries.”
This notion of a “bridge” lies at the heart of Yallah Danse!. The project was conceived not only to transmit technique, but to create visibility and opportunity for young Algerian dancers, offering them a space where their talent could be recognised internationally while remaining deeply rooted in their own identities.
From Formation to Creation: An Incubator of Identities
Structured as a choreographic incubator, the programme unfolds over time. It begins with training, but its ambition reaches further, towards authorship and creation.
Rather than shaping dancers into a single aesthetic mould, the artistic direction focused on transmission through empowerment. Each participant’s cultural and artistic heritage was considered a strength, not something to erase. As they emphasise:
“Each dancer’s background is important to us… we simply gave them the keys to a dance we call contemporary dance.”
Urban dance, traditional forms, rhythmic sensibilities, all these influences coexist within contemporary vocabulary. The aim was never to standardise, but to open doors.
Over the course of two and a half years, the transformation has been profound. The dancers have not only refined their artistic language; they have experienced the realities of rehearsal discipline, touring life and stage performance. What has emerged is something that goes beyond technique.
At its essence, Yallah Danse! reminds us of something fundamental:
“Dance is a universal language.”
This conviction runs throughout the entire project. Beyond technique, beyond repertoire, beyond borders, the initiative has revealed itself as a deeply human journey, one rooted in encounter, trust and shared growth. In a context where many artistic initiatives remain short-lived, Yallah Danse! has endured over time, allowing relationships to deepen and artistic voices to mature. Through movement, the dancers come to know one another not through biography or background, but through presence, rhythm and gesture. It is in this sustained exchange that the project finds its strength.
International Recognition and Impact
The recognition of the FEDORA Education Prize arrived at a pivotal moment in the life of Yallah Danse!. After years of commitment, resilience and belief in a cross-border vision, the Prize came as a turning point.
As Rosada Letizia Zangri shares:
“The FEDORA Prize truly rekindled the light at the heart of the project.”
At a time when sustaining long-term educational initiatives can be particularly challenging, this recognition brought renewed strength and clarity of purpose. It restored momentum, reinforced confidence and offered the reassurance that the work undertaken, pedagogically, artistically and humanly, resonates beyond its immediate context.
For the pair, the FEDORA Education Prize affirmed the project’s relevance on an international scale. It confirmed that investing in transmission, intercultural dialogue and the empowerment of young artists is not only meaningful, but essential.
The FEDORA Education Prize is supported by the FEDORA Rolf Liebermann Fund in collaboration with RESEO, as part of the FEDORA Prizes Biennale, co-funded byt the Creative Europe programme of the European Commission.
© Compagnie ECO i
Yallah Danse!
Yallah Danse! is a cooperation project aimed at Algerian youth, focusing on training and creation within the dance sector, structured around the development of two pieces of choreography.
