BOBO-DIOULASSO, Burkina Faso — Deaf and hard-of-hearing dancers in Burkina Faso are using a technique based on vibration and gesture to take part in music and dance performances.

Known as Vibra-Signe, the method enables dancers to follow rhythm through vibrations travelling across the floor, along with the body movements of instructor Yaya Sanou. Adama Sanou, who is deaf, recently took part in a session with colleagues at the headquarters of Au Déla de l’Handicap in Bobo-Dioulasso.

Adama Sanou said dance has become an important part of his life. “I really like dance, the repetition, the learning. Love (of dance) is what encourages me to keep dancing,” he said.

A method built around movement

Yaya Sanou developed Vibra-Signe and runs the dance group. He began teaching dance after observing that children and young people at the Institut des Jeunes Sourds du Faso spent little time socialising or taking part in sociocultural activities.

“I saw these children, these young people, they were always among themselves, they did nothing, they did not participate in socio-cultural activities,” Sanou said. He said the situation led him to propose dance lessons, adding that the positive changes he observed in the participants’ daily lives showed him there was a need for the activity.

Sanou began his own dance career in the streets of Bobo-Dioulasso’s Sarfalao neighbourhood, combining traditional dances learned at home with modern styles. He has said that mastering Vibra-Signe takes time and requires dancers to respond to rhythm, vibrations and body movements.

The technique has since gained recognition in Burkina Faso and beyond through its use by members of the Fientan dance organisation. The group won a gold medal for dance creation at the 2023 Francophone Games in Kinshasa using Vibra-Signe. Its production Adepte de mon être was also performed in Germany and Ivory Coast.

The dancers say the name Fientan means “without disability” in the local Dioula language. The source report says participation in dance has improved the dancers’ social skills and describes the activity as a means of empowerment.

Questions about inclusion

Sanou said the group’s performances examine how deaf people are viewed and how they can claim a place in society.

“What is their relationship, what is their place in this society? What is society’s attitude towards these people?” he said. He added that the performances ask how participants can assert themselves and regain the place they want in society.

Adama Sanou also described continuing to dance despite opposition from his father. “When (my father) refused to let me dance, I left him alone, and I continued to dance because I love it. Naturally with time, he let me continue,” he said.

Burkina Faso has adopted inclusive-education programmes and other measures intended to improve welfare and living conditions for people with disabilities, including deaf and hard-of-hearing people. However, rights advocates and experts say implementation remains limited.

The reported challenges include shortages of trained teachers and sign-language interpreters, as well as inadequate access to support services. The source report also says there is no recent national figure for the number of deaf and hard-of-hearing people in Burkina Faso.

Data from the 2019 census recorded about 46,500 people aged two or older with significant difficulty hearing or no hearing at all. Burkina Faso’s population was reported at around 24 million.

A study by the country’s Institute of Social Sciences found that 58% of respondents had a negative perception of deafness. The study reported that some viewed deafness as a curse or spiritual punishment, highlighting the social barriers faced by deaf people.

Against that background, the dancers’ work offers both a creative outlet and a public platform for challenging perceptions through performance.