In this Online Lecture the anthropologist, dancer and choreographer Léna Blou will talk about ‘Techni’ka’ and the concept ‘bigidi’, which she has developed and nourished by Gwoka aesthetics and contemporary movement. She coined the term Bigidi for the founding gesture that underpins the Caribbean musical-choreographic culture. It is a polysemous term referring to disequilibrium, swerving, feinting, the unpredictability of gesture, physical instability, and an inconsistent and unexpected body state. Bigidi provides keys to interpreting and understanding the technical nature and aesthetics of Caribbean dances, but also the heuristic, anthropological and philosophical aspects of Caribbean thinking, expressed in bodies referencing chaos, rupture, and adaptation. Léna Blou’s work is part of a growing pedagogy for modern Caribbean dance practice.

Léna Blou holds diplomas in jazz and contemporary dance, choreographic interpretation, and dance teaching. She founded the Center for Dance and Choreographic Studies (CEDC) in 1990 and the Compagnie Trilogie in 1995. She obtained a Masters in Caribbean Art and Cultural Promotion in 2015, and a PhD in 2021. In 2017, she founded Larel Bigidi’Art, a space for training, creation, and research. Since 2020, she has been developping her projects as part of Lafabri’k, a Laboratory of Dance and Expression through Movement. She was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 2008 and was made an Officer of the National Order of Merit in 2013. 

The Online Lecture is part of the accompanying program of the exhibition “Kenny Dunkan – BIDIM BLO!”
The talk will be in French and English, a translation to English will be available.

Please send a short e-mail to to receive the online link. Otherwise it is possible to meet at the basis reading room for a shared screening.