Zab Maboungou

Zab Maboungou is a Montréal-based choreographer, dancer, instructor, philosopher, and writer whose practice connects contemporary choreography with Central African rhythmic knowledge. Born in Paris and raised in Congo-Brazzaville, Maboungou founded Zab Maboungou/Compagnie Danse Nyata-Nyata in Montréal in 1987, establishing the company as a site of both creative work and rigorous pedagogy.

In 2003, Maboungou established the PEFAPDA professional dance training program through her company, creating a structured environment for dancers to engage with her artistic vision. Her most distinctive contribution to contemporary dance is the LO.KE.TO rhythmic alignment method, which draws on the rhythm of Central African music and dance to create a compositional and pedagogical tool active in Canadian contemporary practice.

Maboungou's choreographic work engages deeply with rhythm, time, and weight. Her 2014 work *Mozongi* exemplifies this approach, built around time, weight, persistence, and polyrhythmic composition with live music and an original score by Maboungou herself. The work was documented in a National Film Board of Canada portrait directed by Carmine Pierre-Dufour, which follows her training and creative process, with Maboungou credited as both choreographer and soloist.

Her sustained contribution to dance pedagogy, choreography, and rhythmic research was recognized in 2021 with the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement in Dance. Through her company and method, Maboungou has made Central African rhythmic structures active and generative within contemporary dance practice.