Souleymane “Solo” Badolo was born in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. He started his professional career as a dancer for the DAMA, a traditional African dance company, and in 1993, he founded his own Burkina Faso-based troupe, Kongo Ba Téria, fusing traditional African and western contemporary dance aesthetics. Since moving to New York City in 2009, Badolo has created a number of works commissioned and presented by Danspace, New York Live Arts, Dance New Amsterdam, Jacob’s Pillow, The Apollo Theater, Harlem Stage, the 92nd Street Y, River to River Festival (R2R), and BAM. Solo’s choreography has twice earned him the prestigious Bessie award and in 2023, he was honored with the Creative Capital award which supports artists in the creation of groundbreaking new work. Solo has been an Assistant Professor of Dance at Bard College since 2017.