Filles-pétroles

The first performer is known as the Spicy Chinese, because of the speed of her acrobatic figures which follow one another like in an Asian gymnast’s routine. The second one proudly takes on the nickname of ‘Big Truck’, due to her body shape and size. Aya and Christelle live north of Abidjan, in a working-class district of Abobo called Derrière Rail. They are both dancers and experts in coupé décalé and roukasskass. But whereas men usually put themselves forward – relegating their female partners to the back of the stage, where their job consists mainly in swaying their hips – they have both succeeded in bringing their energy to the fore, and to defy stereotypes with their physicality. Their words, their stories, their humor, their daily lives – including the bread dough they knead during the show, just like the galettes they cook ‘over there’ – are the stuff of a joyful, dynamic duo in which their talent shines through. It’s the talent of a new generation of artists “from the margins”, whom Nadia Beugré went to meet before their gifts fade and evaporate like oil for lack of attention.

Nadia Beugré

Nadia Beugré grew up in Abobo, Côte-d’Ivoire, and she founded the Tché-Tché Company with Béatrice Kombé. She trained in Sénégal with Ecole des Sables and in France with the ex.er.ce program in the CCN de Montpellier. Ever since her first solo Quartiers Libres, she has created many pieces, like Legacy (2015) and L’Homme rare (2020). Her Company, Libr’Arts, based in Montpellier, is a production, dissemination and training structure which operates between France and Côte d’Ivoire.