Djibril Sall (b. 1994) is a performer, choreographer, and writer based in New York City and Berlin. Originally born in Dakar, Senegal and emigrating to Memphis, TN at five years old, their work is informed by their life as a first-generation queer migrant and their experience with adolescent cancer. Even after they started life in America, West Africa never left their household; the steaming spices of mafé, Islam, and Pulaar ensured that they were strongly exposed to Senegalese sensibilities. However, being black in America has a way of complicating identities so that new, divergent cultures are formed in perpetually discordant rhythms. Through their work, Djibril hopes to complicate the idea of a singular narrative that is prescribed to the African diaspora.
They received their BA in Dance from Wesleyan University with a focus on Performance Studies, Queer Studies, and Critical Race Studies. They are an avid student on the production of trauma and the habits that facilitate its continued existence as intergenerational trauma. At the moment they are concerned with how the path to utopia for many communities living on the margins is rooted in closing deep wounds and navigating the ruptures that arise in the process of healing these traumas. The access word into their current project is “chemotherapy,” a rumination about understanding at a young age that one day they will die and how this knowledge has affected their life in terms of priorities and life philosophy.
They have worked with organizations serving the needs of underrepresented communities such as Girls Inc. of NYC and BUFU (By Us For Us). Additionally, they have presented talks at The New School in New York City, Sophiensaele in Berlin, and Dansens Hus in Oslo. In 2019, they received the danceWEB Scholarship in Vienna.
