Of French and Congolese origin, Zab Maboungou is the artistic director of Zab Maboungou/Compagnie Danse Nyata Nyata, a Montreal-based contemporary dance company founded in 1987. Her company’s artistic vocation encompasses creation, research, and teaching. Zab learned her craft in childhood through contact with traditional dance and music groups in Congo-Brazzaville, in the heady days of post-independence cultural effervescence. Since then, she has never stopped broadening her knowledge of the musical forms and dances of Africa. As a performer, she has integrated various traditional and “trad-modern” formations and ballets (from Central, West and East Africa). She co-directed and facilitated the first large-scale Pan-African French-language choreographic workshop in 1997. A philosophy teacher and author, Zab published Heya Danse! Historique, poétique et didactique de la danse africaine in 2005. She is a sought-after speaker and a champion of diversity with a global understanding of the art of dance on and off stage. She has created more than 20 solo and group works in music and dance and is responsible for developing the LOKETO technique, drawing on the rhythmic foundations of African dances and musical forms. Zab has received numerous honours and awards internationally including the Governor General’s Award, being named Compagne de l’Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec, and was honoured at the MASA, Marché des Arts du Spectacle d’Abidjan, Ivory Coast.