Ousmane Sy, choreographer and "figure of the hip-hop scene", is dead

Choreographer Ousmane Sy died on the night of December 26-27, 2020 (screenshot) -

The dance world is in mourning.

Choreographer Ousmane Sy died overnight from Saturday to Sunday, at the age of 40.

His death was announced in a press release from the Center chorégraphique national de Rennes et de Bretagne (CCNRB), of which he was the co-director since January 2019.

“He was a renowned and essential figure on the international hip-hop scene.

Under the pseudonym Babson, he joined the Wanted Posse collective in the 1990s and won the "Battle of the Year" in 2001 ", underlined the mayor of Rennes, the socialist Nathalie Appéré.

The councilor praised "a precursor" who "succeeded in imposing and having the richness of hip-hop culture recognized in contemporary dance".

"The conviction that identity is accomplished in the service of the entity"

Ousmane Sy “pursued through the choreographic gesture an aesthetic research influenced as much by the corps de ballet, as the freestyle spirit of hip-hop or the tactical combinations of eleven-a-side sport, crossed by the conviction that identity is achieved through service of the entity ”, also underlined the CCNRB.

He had recently choreographed a creation entitled

, presented at the Théâtre National de Bretagne in January 2020.

• Dance

• Hip-hop

• Reindeer

• Culture