Jenny Pennaz is the managing director of Contempo Physical Dance.

Contempo Physical Dance is preparing to premiere a new work by Senegalese-French choreographer Patrick Acogny this weekend, following his international choreographic residency with the Knight Arts grantee. Acogny’s work, “Cool Play,” is a result of collaborative efforts from across the world.

A native of Brazil, Marciano Silva Dos Santos founded Contempo Physical Dance in St. Paul, Minn. with the hope of sharing his rigorous approach to highly physical choreographic works and distinct Brazilian-imbued movement. In 2014, Contempo invited Acogny to complete an international choreographic residency at the dance company; the work created during that time was influenced by traditional gatherings in Senegal, and explores individual performances and interactions in a social setting. French composer Fabrice Bouillon-LaForest–a longtime collaborator of the Acogny family who has previously composed for artists such as Nora Chipaumire and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar–created the sound score for “Cool Play.”

Dancer Gemma Isaacson.

The process of working with Acogny during his tenure at Contempo was “an incredibly rich and fulfilling experience, physically, mentally and artistically,” says dancer Gemma Isaacson. “A huge part of his creative process involved us [the dancers] manipulating traditional West African phrase work that he provided. This was a very satisfying endeavor, because he didn’t give many rules or structure to manipulating the phrases. I took this opportunity to stretch myself to see how far I could go creatively. It was a safe space to explore far and wide, and I think he got a kick out of some of the stuff we came up with.”

Contempo’s performers are not highly versed in West African movement, but Isaacson says she feels a growing relationship with this movement after having worked with Acogny, “in part because Patrick gave a strong foundation to work from, as well as the space to explore our individuality within the form.”

According to Isaacson, “‘Cool Play’ is unlike any of Contempo Physical Dance’s other works, and I am excited to share this other side of our company with our audiences. We have established ourselves as the keepers of Marciano’s Afro-Brazilian contemporary style in the Minnesota community, but we’ve got something different up our sleeves to share this time around.”

“Cool Play ”will premiere Feb. 26-27 at 7:30 p.m. at The O’Shaughnessy. Tickets are available online or by calling 651-690-6700.