For the third edition of "Dansons Maintenant !" (Let's Dance Now) programmed from January 31 to February 8, 2015 in Cotonou, Benin, the  Foudation Zinsou has commissioned Julie Dossavi to produce a 20-minute solo on the theme of  African music from the 1950s to the 1980s. It is an opportunity for her to return back to her ancestors' land, where she had not been for 20 years, and to immerse herself in the music that rocked her entire childhood.
  The arrival in Benin is "dazzling", "pure emotion", the shock "at all levels: rediscovering the smells, the red earth, the dances, the music, the family..." "I I felt so strong. I arrived like a heroine who has not seen her country for a long time but whose energy increases tenfold when she hears this music. The transformation was working”. Merging the figure of the childish comics Super Juju and Juju music, a music style popular in Nigeria since the 1950s, Julie Dossavi forged the character of Juju, as a mirror of herself: a heroine "has been" whose music comes tenfold the powers and take her to another time. “I am the JuJu, a super heroine. Like most superheroes, my character is shy, solitary, introverted, and doesn't exist in the eyes of others, too different... but once transformed, this superheroine dares everything, the world belongs to her, power and strength fill and shape his body”.
  The solo will later be developed into a one-hour duet version with the artist Yvan Talbot, and will tour in France, notably in Avignon.

Performed  Saturday 7Th February 2015,  Théâtre de Verdure de l’Institut Français de Cotonou, during the Event organized by Fondation Zinsou and entilted « Dansons Maintenant ! ».

Source : Dossier de présentation La Juju, Cie Julie Dossavi, Interview Julie Dossavi – 2th May 2022.

Born in France in 1968, of Beninese origin, Julie Dossavi studied jazz dance. In 1990, she graduated in physical education and sports, with contemporary dance option. Admitted to the CNDC in Angers, she joined the company of Jean François Duroure. In 1992, she was a dancer, assistant and rehearsalist for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Albertville, directed by Philippe Decouflé.
At the same time, with her evolution in the movement of contemporary dance, she enlists for the promotion of voguing in nightclubs, connects clips, jingles and fashion shows.
From 1999, Julie Dossavi multiplies international exchanges. Performer for the Cie Salia ni Seydou, Kader Attou, Kettly Noël, she created the Compagnie Julie Dossavi in ​​Poitiers in 2003 and developed a contemporary dance "very personal, hybrid and robust, sensual and plastic, all in vibrations of forms and rhythms". . An enlightened actress, she composes intimate shows around the status of women and the phenomenon of double culture. Invited by the event" Le Vif du Sujet", in 2004, she asked Daniel Larrieu to compose a solo for her :  "A chaque vent le papillon se déplace sur le saule", presented at the Montpellier Danse and Paris summer quarter festivals. In 2012, she presented Cross & Share at the Rencontres chorégraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis, where she explored a third way, that of co-composition, co-writing. It dealed with a principle of shared creation of authors, choreographers, musicians and directors: Thomas Lebrun, Serge Aimé Coulibaly, Hamid Ben Mahi and Michel Schweizer. Julie Dossavi is associated artist with Treize Arches - Scène conventionnée de Brive Arts Croisées / Ecritures d'aujourd'hui from 2013 to 2015. She was in residence at the Théâtre d'Angoulême national scene from 2007 to 2011 and ""artiste en partage"" at the Choreographic center of la Rochelle from 2011 to 2013. She directed contemporary dancers from the Cairo Opera, leaded stages in Cameroon, London, and Marrakech.
Source: Fondation Zinsou, "Dansons Maintenant"! 2011. Le Journal, The Festival Daily news, n°9, February 8, 2015, Fondation Zinsou.

Fondation Zinsou has recorded all the performances given during the festival "Dansons Maintenant !" "that was organized in 2011, 2012 and 2015 in Cotonou, Benin. Interviews of dancers and choreographers invited for the festival were also realized.

These recordings and interviews have been uploaded on Numeridanse as a courtesy with the aim of making them reachable by many people as possible, taking into account their scientific nature and their contribution to the dissemination and promotion of contemporary African art, more particularly  the field of contemporary African dance.

Directed by Marie-Cécile Zinsou, the Zinsou Foundation opened its doors in June 2005 in Cotonou, Benin. A pioneer in West Africa, it works to promote contemporary art in Africa. Platform and exhibition center for contemporary African artists particularly Benin artists, in the Ouidah Museum and in the Lab, at Cotonou, the Foundation also acts for the promotion of education and social development through cultural and educational activities aimed in particular at young audiences,  with the major challenge of free accessibility . In 2011, the Zinsou Foundation exhibited Antoine Tempé's dance photographs and invited choreographers to create a work in situ, in resonance with the images of exposed bodies. The  success of this event entitled “Dansons Maintenant !", (Let's Dance Now!) convinces the Foundation to organize a second edition, in 2012, dedicated solely to dance, around the theme of urbanity. In 2015, a third edition took place, in conjunction with the “African Records” exhibition devoted to African music and photography from the 1950s, 1970s and 1980s, which provided the motive for new co-productions of performances. The three editions of "Dansons Maintenant ! " 2011, 2012 and 2015 have all been recorded on video  (shows, restitutions of workshops, interview) and make an archive collection of 120 videos. 

The extracts from the Archive collection of "Dansons Maintenant !" have been made available free of charge by the Zinsou Foundation.

  The deposit of the video archives of "Dansons maintenant !", belonging to Fondation Zinsou was made possible thanks to the Centre National de la Danse Research award in dance, granted in 2021 to Dr Anne Décoret-Ahiha for her research project "Consolidation of the African choreographic field: focus on Benin" and with the kind permission of the artists.