Diadie Bathily
Diadié Bathily (pronounced JAH-jay bah-chee-LEE) is a master dancer and instructor native to
Ivory Coast, West Africa. He specializes in dances of Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso,
Senegal, and Ghana, but he is equally at home in traditional and contemporary dance. Diadié has
performed since the age of 4 years on stages in Africa, Europe, and the United States with various
dance companies, including Marie-Rose Guiraud's Les Guirivoires, Adama Drame, Wara Danse
(Diadié's company in the Cote d'Ivoire) and Diadié Bathily Dance (U.S). In 2003, Diadié
formed Afriky Lolo, an adult dance company, and Yelé, a children's dance company.
Diadié performs with as well as directs, choreographs, costumes, and stages all Afriky
Lolo and Yelé performances. Performers wear traditional West African costumes sewn
and/or created by Diadié who travels frequently to the Cote d'Ivoire and Mali to
obtain authentic cloth, beads, and masks. Diadié's young dance companies have performed
at a variety of cultural events, but their annual African Dance Celebration at COCA
(The Center of Contemporary Art) has become a much anticipated event and a St. Louis favorite.
This year Diadié took the annual show to new heights by weaving traditional
dances into a story written by him called "The Mask". Through dance, song, and drums
the story of how an important ceremonial mask is stolen from a village in West Africa,
and how it comes to be returned, is told. 
The excellence of Diadié's work has been acknowledged in the U.S. and abroad. Diadié has received numerous awards including the N'gowa Prize for Best Dancer and Dance Teacher of the Year in Cote d'Ivoire. On tour with Les Guirivoires he performed at the United Nations, and in the Certificate of African Dance awarded to Diadié, Ms. Giraud described him as "Un veritable artiste suivre pour le future de l'Art Traditionel et contemporain. Surtout dans le monde de la diaspora noire." Diadié has performed at the Katherine Dunham Center in East Saint Louis and was asked to dance at Miss Dunham's 90th birthday celebration.
In addition to performing and directing Afriky Lolo and Yele, Diadié continues to teach West African dance at COCA and at local universities, colleges, and dance studios. Whether performing, teaching, or directing Diadié's greatest joy comes from connecting the audience with West Africa through its dances, music, song, and stories. To learn more about Diadie, visit his website at www.afrikylolo.com. To learn about the classes he'll be teaching at bluesSHOUT!, visit our workshop page.