Idrissa Camara (dancer)

Occupation(s)Dancer and choreographer

EmployerBallet Nimba

Notable workSogay ("Sunrise"), 2012

Idrissa Camara
Occupation(s)	Dancer and choreographer
Employer	Ballet Nimba
Notable work	Sogay ("Sunrise"), 2012

Idrissa Camara is a dancer and choreographer originating from Guinea in West Africa. He has made the UK his home and is director of Ballet Nimba, an African dance theatre company that he founded in 2010. Camara is also a music recording artist, having produced an album titled Sogay with his company's musicians, and more recently he has turned his hand to filmmaking, producing the short documentary Fare Ta.

Ballet Nimba features traditional and contemporary West-African dance and music, with a strong presence in the Black Dance Sector. Camara was named as one of the top 10 people to meet at the 2010 Decibel Performing Arts Showcase, Arts Council England's biggest bi-annual event promoting diversity and equality in the Arts.^[1] In 2013, Camara was awarded a Trailblazer Fellowship from the Association of Dance of the African Diaspora.^[2] These 2013–14 trailblazer bursaries were given "in recognition of creative spark, ambition and leadership potential".

In 2012, Ballet Nimba became recording artists with their first album, Saiyama, and performed on the world stage, headlining festivals in the UK and in Europe. Their album was digitally released in 2013.^[3] They were asked to attend the Trac Cymru programme for International Development in 2013 and subsequently were successful in being picked for the WOMEX legacy tour for October 2013.^[4]

In 2014, Ballet Nimba produced the company's first film, a documentary film by Camara, which was first screened at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff at the Wales Dance Platform Event. The film had its North American premiere at the Silicon Valley African Film Festival,^[5] where it won the award for Best Documentary Short.