Choreographer Ousmane Sy, co-director of the Center chorégraphique national de Rennes et de Bretagne (CCNRB) and "
figure of the international hip-hop scene
", has died at the age of 40, the CCNRB announced on Sunday.
Ousmane Sy, who co-headed the CCNRB since January 2019 within the FAIR-E collective, died overnight from Saturday to Sunday, according to a press release.
According to franceinfo, he was the victim of a heart attack.
“
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 90s and won the "battle of the year" in 2001
", underlined the mayor (PS) of Rennes Nathalie Appéré, welcoming"
a precursor
"who"
succeeded in imposing and gaining recognition for the richness of hip-hop culture in contemporary dance
”.
"
Aesthetic research
"
Originally from Mali, Ousmane Sy had grown up in Antony, in the Hauts-de-Seine.
His style incorporated movements inspired by traditional African dance.
Winner of several “
battles
” - duels between rappers or hip-hop dancers - he had won the world championship “
Battle of the Year
” with the group
Wanted Posse.
He had won the “
Juste Debout
”
meeting four times
.
Read also: Hip-hop, the new El Dorado
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
”, underlined the CCNRB.
He had recently choreographed a creation entitled
Queen Blood
, presented at the Théâtre National de Bretagne in January 2020.
