Irène Tassembedo was born in Burkino Faso, West Africa. Very early in her education she realized that African Dance is part of our present times contineously reinventing itself. She studied dance in Africa, USA and Europe developing a remarkable choreographic style. For many years she toured very successfully with her own company in the US, Europe and Africa. Performances took place in wellknown French theatres Grande Halle de la Villette and Theatre National de Bretagne among others. In 1998 she founded the Ballet National de Burkino Faso being the artistic director ever since. Her creation Mousso Ka Miriya of the Compagnie Irène Tassembedo was touring in France and abroad for the whole season. Since 1997 she has collaborated repeatedly with the director Matthias Langhoff. Irène has been engaged as an actress in numerous films and television productions in France.