Assayigah  is a highly qualified and experienced dancer, choreographer and teacher from Togo. He is also one of the few choreographers on the African continent to distance himself from the mimetic traditions he has himself researched and learned, and to approach African dance in a contemporary, personal way. His dazzling career has led him to teach alongside internationally-acclaimed instructors such as Germaine Acogny, Alphonse Tierou and Rose-Marie Guiraud, win a number of international awards, and to perform in over twenty countries.

Starting his training as a performer aged 13 at the  Ecole Expérimentale de Musique (School of Experimental Music) in Lomé, Assayigah went on to study Contemporary African Dance and Choreography to degree level with Rose-Marie Guiraud, at her Ecole de Danse et d’Echanges Culturels (School of Dance and Cultural Exchanges) in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, between 1981 and 1985. Fresh out of university, in 1985, he started his own school, the Ecole de Danse Chorégraphique Assayigah (EDCA - Assayigah School of Choreographic Dance), and performing company, called Ayigafrik. EDCA became a starting point for numerous Togolese dancers, performers and instructors, many of which now work abroad. The same year, he took the direction of the Ballet National du Togo (Togo National Ballet), with which he performed extensively, and went on to win the Gold Medal in Choreographic Arts at the first Jeux de la Francophonie (Games of the French-Speaking Countries) with his creation “Et la Femme Decouvrit l’Homme” (“And Woman Discovered Man”) in 1989 in Rabat, Morocco.

Since relocating to the UK in 2000, Assayigah has taught and participated in numerous workshops and community events, involving both children and adults, as well as performed in many venues and festivals. In 2004, he represented the United Kingdom in the International Dance Festival Competition in Seoul, Korea.

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