In Burkina Faso, deaf dancers have a unique way to follow the rhythm and fulfill their dreams

BOBO-DIOULASSO, Burkina Faso (AP) — The music is turned all the way up, sending vibrations through the rubber-covered stage as Yaya Sanou translates the beat with his face and gestures for a small group gathered around in Burkina Faso’s western city of Bobo-Dioulasso.

The group of deaf and non-verbal dancers follow the rhythm and music through the vibrations and body gestures, part of a local technique created by Sanou to make it possible to follow music even without hearing it.

The Vibra-Signe technique has gained popularity in and outside Burkina Faso with its use by members of the Fientan dance company, which Sanou, a dance tutor and choreographer, founded a decade ago in Bobo-Dioulasso for deaf and hard-of-hearing dancers.

Vibra-Signe translates music into vibrations, touch and visual cues. Dancing barefoot, performers feel the percussion through the floor, while taps, signs, gestures and facial expressions communicate the tempo, transitions and emotional intensity of the choreography.

With Vibra-Signe, Fientan won a gold medal for dance creation at the 2023 Francophone Games in Congo’s capital of Kinshasa. The group has also performed its latest production, “Adepte de mon être,” which in English means “Devoted to my being,” in Germany and Ivory Coast.

In the West African nation, where government support is limited and resources are inadequate, Vibra-Signe has empowered the dancers and improved their social skills.

Even the group’s name is empowering, they say, as Fientan means “without disability” in the local Dioula language.

“This teaching method is an opportunity (for us) and also a solution to a problem … that gives young people the possibility to express themselves and to say what they want to say,” Adama Sanou, one of the dancers, said in sign language.

Sanou, the tutor, began his dance career many years ago on the streets of Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso's second-largest city, blending the traditional dances he learned at home with modern styles.

That was when he noticed that the children at the Institut des Jeunes Sourds du Faso, a local school for deaf children and others with disabilities, rarely socialize. He said he took it up as a challenge to hold dance classes for them.

He developed Vibra-Signe as his dance group became more popular, with children from within and outside Bobo-Dioulasso joining his sessions.

He explained it could take time to master the technique to follow the rhythm, vibrations and body movements, but that the result has been fulfilling for him and his students.

“With this project, we give these young people the possibility to express themselves and to say what they want to say,” he said.

There’s no recent data available on the number of deaf and hard-of-hearing people in Burkina Faso, but the 2019 census recorded about 46,500 people aged 2 or older who had significant difficulty hearing or could not hear at all.

The country of around 24 million people has adopted education programs and measures intended to improve living conditions for people with disabilities, including deaf and hard-of-hearing people. But rights advocates and experts say there are still shortages of teachers, sign-language interpreters and support services.

Although American Sign Language is taught in schools, it doesn't reflect the local languages spoken in homes. Moreover, many deaf children never get the chance to learn sign language until they enroll in school, sometimes not until they're 10 years old.

Burkina Faso's Institute of Social Sciences published a study showing that 58% of respondents have a “negative” perception of deafness because it is considered a “curse” or a “spiritual punishment.”

Vibra-Signe is a great way to improve inclusion for children with disabilities and could be modified to be integrated into other programs including education, said Philo Camara, a disability advocate in the country.

At the dance studio in Bobo-Dioulasso, members of Fientan have developed ways to identify themselves and communicate.

Souleymane Barro, a 24-year-old deaf dancer, introduces himself with a sign combining the “B” in Barro with the “S” in Souleymane. “As a deaf person, it is difficult to get ahead,” Barro said. “But I am working to become a professional and teach the younger ones to dance.”

Cultural and societal norms meant some of the children faced resistance from families when they talked about joining the dance group.

“When I suggested it to my father, he did not like it at first but I kept dancing,” said dancer Sanou, who is not related to trainer Yaya Sanou.

At a recent rehearsal, curious children drifted in, captivated by the dancers. The music played nonstop as the tutor communicated with his hands, face and body. The dancers repeated the movements, their eyes fixed on him.

Ouaramata Sanou, 26, once watched from the sidelines, but joining the group has opened up a new life, she said.

“Before, I watched people doing things, dancing, and I did nothing,” she said. “But now I dance, and I can travel.”

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Adama Sanoua, a deaf, non-speaking Burkinabé dancer and member of the Fientan Compagnie, participates in a physical training session, with part of the performance's set beside him in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Elia Borras)

Yaya Sanou, founder of the Association Au-delà de l'Handicap and artistic director of the Fientan Company in Bobo-Dioulasso Burkina Faso, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Elia Borras)

Members of the Fientan Compagnie take part in a physical training session at the headquarters of the Au-delà de l'Handicap Association in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Elia Borras)

Burkinabé dancer Ouaramata Sanou, with her colleagues, looks to Yaya Sanou, who gives them guidance in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Elia Borras)

Members of The Fientan Compagnie, a group of young deaf and non-speaking people, take part in a dance training, in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Elia Borras)

NEW DELHI (AP) — The Indian airline captain who helped thwart an apparent attempt to crash a FlyDubai flight described Friday how he fought for his life in the minutes after his co-pilot stabbed him and the plane began a steep descent.

Capt. Smit Machchhar, recovering in an Abu Dhabi hospital, told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a televised video call that he knew he had to get back on his feet to save his passengers.

“I had so many wounds. I had fallen down,” he said from the hospital, his head bandaged and tubes in his nose, before breaking down as he recalled the attack.

“I was fighting for my life. At one point, I realized that if I didn’t get up … then passengers would lose their lives,” he told Modi.

Machchhar, who is from Mumbai, was seriously injured in Wednesday’s attack but managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers to enter and restrain the attacker as the Boeing 737 descended sharply, witnesses and Israeli authorities said. He has been hailed as a hero, with world leaders saying he helped avert a disaster.

The flight, carrying 182 people from Dubai to Tel Aviv, was diverted to Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia for an emergency landing. FlyDubai said Wednesday that the jet was secured by on-duty crew members “who diverted and landed the aircraft safely.” A regional official said the crew members were pilots in training.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacker, an Omani national, was arrested in Saudi Arabia and was undergoing interrogation there. The motive for the attack was not immediately clear.

Modi told Machchhar his “courage, patience, and presence of mind” saved many lives.

Machchhar said his flying experience allowed him to sense the plane’s steep descent even after he was knocked down by the attacker.

“I have been flying planes for 17 years and serving as a captain for the last 11 years. I can sense exactly what is happening with the aircraft even with my eyes closed. When I was down, I could feel that the aircraft was plummeting,” he said.

Machchhar said that during those difficult moments, he recited the Hanuman Chalisa, a Hindu devotional hymn dedicated to Lord Hanuman, the monkey god, and traditionally recited as a prayer for strength and courage.

“Lord Hanuman gave me courage,” he told Modi.

Machchhar, who is married and has two children, has worked for FlyDubai for about four years, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before joining the airline, he spent 11 years with SpiceJet, an Indian low-cost carrier, where he served as a senior commander and line training captain. He logged more than 9,750 flying hours with SpiceJet.

Philip Kean, CEO of Mainland Air, the New Zealand flight school where Machchhar trained, said pilots are taught how to take over if a fellow crew member becomes incapacitated. But the training does not typically prepare them for a stabbing attack by a colleague, he told The Associated Press on Friday.

“I don’t think there’s much in the handbook for being stabbed,” Kean said.

“You’re friends and you’re flying together,” he said. “Nobody would expect … a person to have a go at you like that.”

Associated Press journalist Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report.

News media personnel film in the building where relatives of Smit Machchhar, an Indian pilot for Flydubai, previously lived in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

A teacher from Gurukul School of Art paints a portrait honoring Smit Machchhar, an Indian pilot with FlyDubai, in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026.(AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

This undated photo released on Israel's Foreign Ministry social media shows Indian Capt. Smit Machchhar in the cockpit of a plane in an unknown location. Machchhar was at the controls of a FlyDubai flight that was diverted to Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia for an emergency landing on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (Israel's Foreign Ministry via AP)