Laure Togola: Diversity On The Dancefloor

Beyond the Club: Women’s rights on the dance floor with music events producer Laure Togola

When culture and women’s rights activist Laure Togola got that call to onboard her as producer of Paris’ most complete rap and hip hop exhibition at the Philharmonie de Paris, she was on cloud nine - and hasn’t landed since. Post-covid, she joined fellow activist and DJ Sarah Gamrani to develop the creative laboratory Au-Delà du Club, a springboard for questions around women and the clubbing scene, with a just-launched fanzine Flashes.

Originally from Bordeaux, Laure’s always followed her instincts, which have kept her on the music track, and brought her to Paris in 2016. A bit of a Swiss army knife, she’s organised concerts on boats, in abandoned factories, apartments… you name it, she’s done it. “You have to always adapt your ambition to the venue, a challenge I love. I also learned that you mustn’t stop at one musical genre.” 

A sharp mind thirsty for soul-vibrating authenticity, Laure’s always had an affinity for rap and hip hop music, even if her career’s taken her to explore many different genres. “Today, I want to keep discovering artists and sounds I’ve never heard but that put a lot of energy out there.”

A DJ, curator, producer and editor, Laure juggles between jobs with more ease than most. But it wasn’t always the case. It’s by following her path, detaching herself from preconceived ideas, experimenting with different musical genres and learning about what is out there that Laure began to understand what she truly loved, what spoke to her most. 

“From school to jobs, I realised that I’d spent 20 years of my life in a world that wasn’t mine, a world where I didn’t have the codes. At SciencesPo and then HEC, I was surrounded by a cultural elite; it was far from the diversity of the real world and in the industry,” she says. “I just felt like I was never enough. But then I understood that actually, it’s just that I didn’t have the same codes, the same upbringing as most people in that environment. I was enough, just different.” 

Laure decided to apply her knowledge amassed in this elitist environment to working with artists that were from all walks of life and who expressed something with which she identified better. Through the events she works on, Laure wants to give the arts back to the people by taking them out of the elitist space of museums and institutions, daunting for many, and make them accessible. “I always wondered how it is that these institutions, which we are all paying for with our taxes, were made to feel inaccessible for so many.” It’s why working with collectives that have their feet firmly on the ground like B93 is so inspiring for her. They were able to bring together artists from all backgrounds and mediums for the launch show at Le Sample in Bagnolet, adding a new voice in the cultural space.

Speaking of new voices, Laure was brought on board as an events producer for Paris’ high-profile Philharmonie’s Hip Hop 360 exhibition for her fresh eyes and expertise, which ran for eight months in 2022 and was a huge hit. Post-covid, she then teamed up with DJ, actress and singer Sarah Gamrani and launched Au-Delà du Club (beyond the club), a creative laboratory through which they brought out the fanzine Flashes. Delving into the “minorisation” of women, how we are squished into a minority when we make up more than half of the world’s population, is full of eye-opening reflections on the notion of nightlife and the gender divide. “I always found it interesting how for instance, the dance floor is mapped out for men to be able to look at women; even security-wise, how bouncers are trained to look out for guys who are likely to have a fight but not the ones who are going to put something in women’s drinks…” 

Above all, Flashes is a venture that allows Laure to delve into issues and freedom of expression without barriers and do it on her own terms, with her own codes. It’s a reflection on how to get the nightlife space to evolve and what it’s going to take to make it more inclusive.

Flashes is available on Au-Delà du Club’s website. Stay up to date by checking out their Instagram.