Pline Mounzeo

Biography
Pline Mounzeo was born April 12, 1980 in Brazzaville, Congo growing up as a drummer for the church choir since age 11. At age 18, Mounzeo started playing music alongside his uncle Arsene Kimbembe. Mounzeos interest in his countrys traditional rhythm with the Ngoma drum developed quickly. Mounzeo continued to train and improve his drumming technique and began to share his talent all over Congo. He gave his first performances in Brazzaville and Pointe Noire, Congo. He began to contribute to Kongo culture and share the melodies of his country in Benin, Togo, Mali and Burkina Faso. Mounzeo then moved to Senegal where his professional drumming and modern contemporary dance career started to take off. In 2005, Mounzeo joined Senegalese dance company, Premier Temps, lead by Congolese choreographer Andreya Ouamba. The next year, the company won first place in Thtre de la Cits Sixth Edition of Choreographic Encounters of Africa and the Indian Ocean based in Paris, France. They went on tour to perform in theaters and festivals of seven African countries in 2007. Mounzeos rising professional career in modern contemporary dance inspired his desire to experience new cultures offered by several countries in Europe and in Africa. In 2008, he decided to discover the culture of the United States and took his music and knowledge of Congolese tradition to share with it. Since his time in the United States, he has performed and taught traditional Congolese drumming and dance at universities, music festivals and artist camps from California to New York and many states in between. He participates in UNC Hospitals Door-to-Door Healing Arts program that brings professional performing and visual artists to patients, staff and caregivers at UNC Hospitals. Travel between African and European countries and the United States inspired Mounzeos first album titled, Bou Nzenza, translated from the Kongo language to mean Foreign. It is being recorded in Chapel Hill, North Carolina by Double Decker Bus Music, Inc. and will be released December 2011 and available on iTunes and Amazon. Its about my life as a stranger in other countries, taking Congo with me as I go, says Mounzeo. Mounzeo now resides in Cary, North Carolina and performs locally.

Pline Mounzeo
Drummer | Dancer | Instructor | Choreographer | Recording Artist 919-520-0879 disciplineart@yahoo.fr
Pline Mounzeo is an international Congolese percussionist and contemporary modern dance performer. He has instructed numerous drumming workshops and is currently recording his first album titled Bou Nzenza, which means Foreign in the Kongo language.

Drummer

2011 2009 2008-2009 2008 2009 2006 2004 2002

Louden Nelson Community Center Kwanzaa Fest Bichini Bia Congo dance company Ethnic Arts Festival World Music Festival Opera de Lyon AFRIKAKEUR Festival Programmes du Centre Culturel Franais de Brazzaville 2001 Festival of Pan-African Music 2000 Festival of Writers 2008 Mdiathque du Bachut Makinu Bantu Dance Festival French Institute Alliance Franaise 2007 Sixth Edition of Choreographic Encounters of Africa and the Indian Ocean Tour Kunstfest Weimar Les Francophonies en Limousin Thtre des Asphodeles Festival Tout lMonde Dehors Kunstenfestivaldesarts

Venue / Event

Country

Santa Cruz, California USA Durham, North Carolina USA Ann Arbor, Michigan USA Chicago, Illinois USA Chicago, Illinois USA Lyon, France Dakar, Senegal Brazzaville, Congo Brazzaville, Congo Pointe-Noire, Congo Lyon, France Brazzasville, Congo New York City, New York USA Uganda, Burundi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Maurice, la Runion Weimar, Germany Limoges, France Lyon, France Lyon, France Brussels, Belgium

Dancer

Dancer cont.

2006 Espace Daniel Sorano Kunstenfestivaldesarts Sixth Edition of Choreographic Encounters of Africa and the Indian Ocean 2005 Blaise Senghor Cultural Center Kaay Fecc

Dakar, Senegal Brussels, Belgium Paris, France Dakar, Senegal Dakar, Senegal

Instructor
2011 Congolese Camp 2010 West African dance classes, Dreammaker Enterprise Production Company 2010 Guest teacher, Department of Music, Duke University 2009 - present Door to Door Healing Arts Program, UNC Health Care 2009 Duniya Drum & Dance Bantu Camp, Synergia Ranch Congolese Dance & Drum Festival, Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts Congolese Dance and Drum Workshops with Titos Sompa, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater 2008 Tulane University, annual dance conference Won na Won, annual drum & dance conference Maui, Hawaii USA Greensboro, North Carolina USA Durham, North Carolina USA Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA Minneapolis, Minnesota USA Albuquerque, New Mexico USA Oakland, California USA New York City, New York USA New Orleans, Louisiana USA Chicago, Illinois USA

Choreographer Recording Artist

2008 Partage des eaux 2007 Leopold Sedar Senghor in Serer Country

Dakar, Senegal Joal, Senegal

December 2011 Bou Nzenza Double Decker Bus Music, Inc.

Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA

Professional Development

2006 Completed 9th choreographic training module, Kaay Fecc Danse Bamako Dance Festival 2005 Kaay Fecc 2003 Kaay Fecc

Dakar, Senegal Bamako, Mali Dakar, Senegal Dakar, Senegal

PHOTOS