BERTIN KASOLENE
CHOREOGRAPHER | DANCER | PERFORMER |ACTIVIST | MECHANICS
Co-founder of INUKA DANCE COMPAGNY and SPIRIT OF THE DANCE DRC
Framed in MAENDELEO Project
Co- founder and Coordinator of the NGUVU YA AFRICA Organization
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Photographer: Elie Mulenda
BERTIN KASOLENE is a young leader, artist, African contemporary dance choreographer, dancer, performer and activist, born in Goma town in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bertin co-founded SPIRIT OF DANCE DRC and INUKA DANCE COMPAGNY framed in MAENDELEO Project.
Congo is a place where young people’s future is sinking into a continuous hopelessness caused by many wars, violence against women and children, disease (such as Covid19, Ebola virus, etc.), tribalism, and unemployment among others. This situation has resulted in an increased number of orphans around the country.
In response to this, Bertin has initiated many diverse activities that inspire youth to be positive leaders for their communities. That is why he founded and coordinated the organization NGUVU YA AFRICA. NGUVU YA AFRICA promotes the social well-being of women using dance movement and contemporary dance as a therapeutic tool to give help for all the violence suffered by women in North Kivu.
Also, Bertin is the founder and coordinator of INUKA DANCE COMPAGNY and is responsible for the administration of the international Dance festival called HADISI URBAN FESTIVAL. He is a profoundly gifted artist, especially through dance. His work is original, relevant, and powerful. He is a role model for everyone around him. He has been working with street kids, the majority of whom were left orphaned at as early an age as 5 years and as old as 16 years. Bertin says, “The experience they go through to survive with no chances to access a quality education and mental health interventions leave them with no hope to have a better future”
Bertin feels called to address this social problem as an artist, dancer, young leader and survivor of social injustices and continuous oppressions in his community. He is resolved to work hard to see more young people accessing spaces that can help build their hope, self-knowledge and resilience. He believes that is the light for bringing hope to those street children especially to advocate for their rights through educational performing arts initiatives.
The Maendeleo Project is a project that aims at helping street boys through dance and life skills that promotes self-discovery. The project empowers these young people to discover their potential to create a positive change in their communities. Bertin has facilitated many workshops in the DRC as a dance choreographer and performer at Institute Francais hall of Goma and Bukavu, Yole Africa, and Cukudu Art Center.
Bertin has initiated many diverse activities that inspire youth to be positive leaders for their communities.
Photographer: Danny Hamisi
Photographer: Danny Hamisi
Bertin has been awarded a merit certificate as the best and youngest professional dance choreographer by EANT Festival in Kigali under the mentorship and guidance by many professors from different countries such as America, France, Cameroon, Kenya, and Togo.
Today Bertin is volunteering as the sport and entertainment manager and co-leading the NGUFU AFRICA project in Think Africa Program under COBURWAS International Youth Organization to Transform Africa (CIYOTA). Think Africa is an Intensive one-year English program that seeks to prepare young people for university and other professional life opportunities, and it is where Bertin is doing his gap away year.
Photos from: Sawasawa
Bertin has written to the Sacred Dance Guild: “The biggest achievement in life is when we are always ready to commit and acquire new knowledge in times of growing intellectually, mentally, socially, physically and spiritually.”
Bertin has writes that “recently spending three months at school in Senegal (Ecole Des Sables) was a special time and a good opportunity to embody new elements and techniques in dance, which helped me to grow, and become a special person as a dancer and teacher.”
He continues: While being a good student in terms of making the theories that I have been learning during classes into actions, I was also pushed to strengthen what I possess. That is why I have shared my knowledge with 17 fellow students from Benin, Malia, USA, Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya, Ivory Coast, and Senegal, shared my culture through the Congolese traditional dance.
However, being connected to the community is not just being born and living in Congo/ Goma and does not stop me from serving the world at large as a GLOBAL CITIZEN. Through the support of the Ecole Des Sables school, 40 children between the ages of 6 to 10 years-old of the Toubab Dialaw village in Senegal benefited from my master class, with the philosophy of strengthening their self-esteem, self-awareness, and self-confidence through the dance movement as the HOPE FOR THE POSITIVE TRANSFORMATION TO A BETTER WORLD.
Children from around the world have power but they lack the right person to guide them and help them discover who they really are and the potential they possess. I thought of doing the same program in Senegal as I am doing in Congo/Goma.
I have been certified by the school successfully and fully present in the first level of the program.
In conclusion being aware of the greatest power and abilities that I have and all that I learned at school, there will be so many discussions, conferences, dance trainings and master classes happening in my community in terms of giving back to the community and helping many young girls and boys in my place through NGUVU YA AFRICA and INUKA DANCE COMPAGNY;
YOUTH’S EXPRESSION, is a program that will be held in different places in Goma, putting girls and boys together discussing the problems and finding solutions as the HOPE for the positive change in the community, country, Africa, and the whole world.
CHILDREN PROGRAM is a program that will be held in different primary schools and some orphanages and especially to assist children who are in the street and putting them together on the same dance stage where LOVE AND PEACE will be our MOTTO. In addition, a dance festival for children is on the agenda as an urgency to promote all the youngest talent unseen by people around the children.
I am planning to implement these two projects in September, October and November so there will be more to share about them as they progress.
I am in Goma and ready to serve my community once more.
Thank you to the Sacred Dance Guild for always helping me to become a better person for myself and for many, it is through your leadership and guidance that I am growing and being able to transform the community, Africa and the whole World at a large as you are still doing.
Once more thank you so much.
With RESPECT and LOVE.
BERTIN KASOLENE
CHOREOGRAPHER | DANCER | PERFOMER |ACTIVIST | MECHANICS
Co-founder of INUKA DANCE COMPAGNY
and SPIRIT OF THE DANCE DRC
Framed in MAENDELEO Project
Co- founder and Coordinator of the NGUVU YA AFRICA Organization
D R Congo
Tel: +243994064983
Here are some YouTube links of my work with children and women in my community here.
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