Jolie Ngemi

Jolie Ngemi is a Congolese dancer, choreographer and musician, born in Kinshasa in 1989, based in Switzerland and working throughout Europe. Trained in contemporary dance and street dance, she has worked with Boris Charmatz (Danse de nuit, 10 000 gestes) after training briefly in PARTS in Brussels. She created her solo Identity n’a ngayi in 2018 and founded AUC Production as well as the BOSANGANI festival in Kinshasa. Her piece Nkisi has been coproduced by many European institutions. In 2025, she created MBOK’ELENGI and is currently touring internationally as well as working with other fellow artists over the world. 

Chakamadesu is a technique developed by the teacher, choreographer, performer and dancer Jolie Ngemi Reymond, and is based on her origins and all her influences, as well as on spirituality, physicality, voice and rhythm. She developed this unique style of intense and powerfultechnicality with improvisation, rhythm, speed and grounding that provides strength. Trance is also a part of chakamadesu, where people can travel in their memories, stories of their past, present and future, laughter, tears, liberation... Participants will be guided in a full sense of trust in the process of improvisation and transforming imagery already created in their minds into physicality, throughtrance. With chakamadesu we touch emotions and each participant is encouraged to develop their ownway of moving in space, using their own skills combined with Jolie’s propositions. Chakamadesu is an apprenticeship in many levels: physical, emotional, artistic, personal, and also as a group. Overall, chakamadesu is a way to surprising yourself while practicing how to move through space withfluidity, getting grounded, letting oneself give in to the dance, trance, and movements. At the end of the practice, everyone leaves the room with their own “chakamadesu Code”.