ABSTRACT
In the last few years the performing arts, both dance and drama, have enjoyed a new dynamism in Burkina Faso. The reasons for this springtime of the stage in this small sub-Saharan country can be traced to a few important developments. Two large international theatre festivals are organised every other year in Burkina Faso, in Ouagadougou. The FITD Festival International de Theatre pour le Developpement (FITD) and the FITMO. The Festival of Yeleen'ba Storytelling, created by Hassane Kouyate in 1997 and organised every other year at Bobo-Dioulasso, the country's second city, adds to the celebration of theatre in Burkina Faso. In 1997 the first prize went to La trilogie de Boulaye by Moussa Sanou, directed by Moussa Sanou, produced by Traces Theatre de Bobo-Dioulasso. The elements described below can be considered the main reasons behind the dynamism of the companies in the last four years and the principal cause of the arrival on the scene of professional dancers and actors.
