Born in 1984 in Engbonda, DRC, Pepe Elmas Naswa trained in contemporary dance with the Diba Danse and Losanganya Dancing companies. From 2010 to 2016, he took part in a dozen workshops in Kinshasa run by Faustin Linyekula, Hildegard De Vuyst, Ula Sickle, Serge Aimé Coulibaly and others. He created the El-Urbaine collective, later renamed Pepenas. Pepe Elmas Naswa has produced several shows: 3 Faces performed in Gabon; Réalité, Fardeau ; and Face à Face with the dancer Brolly Zinga. Face à Face 2, performed in 2017 with André Kabangu and David Bakonese, wasd presented at Masdanza in Spain in October 2018.