Etienne Cakpo is an award-winning professional dancer, choreographer and musician from Benin, West Africa. He teaches and performs traditional African dance from Benin as well as contemporary African dance styles, and has been building his dance and music repertoire for nearly thirty years. He directs Gansango Music & Dance, a performing arts group that works with public libraries, schools and independent arts agencies locally and nationally to make performance of dance and music from Africa available to a wide range of audiences, including young children. Etienne has received a number of awards for artistic excellence, including: two-time Recipient of Artist Trust/Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship for Excellence in Performing Arts (2013, 2006); danceWEB Europe’s 2007 Scholarship Program (2007); Dance Omi International Dance Collective residency award (2006); and UNESCO-Aschberg Bursury for Artists Award (2005- 2006).

Artist Support Program 2016: Produce an album of original music that fuses traditional rhythm, vocals and percussion from Africa with modern world music styles.

Exhibits

Education Projects