with Circus Baobab, Guinea in acrobatics

Nervous arms push them back, but whatever, they try to assert themselves. Postponed again. You start again. Pushed back again. Finally they have no choice but to turn back. Packed in jeans, their muscular silhouettes step backstage. Her bare feet slapped the stage.

This brutal face-to-face encounter is one of many scenes inspired by the harshness of Guinean reality Her! (The water)the electrifying show given by the acrobats of Circus Baobab at La Scala in Provence, during the “Off” festival in Avignon, to Paris, Brazil and before Finland, Spain… A tour with devotional touches for the thirteen Guinean artists – including two women – who for a long time could not imagine crossing borders in this way, were acclaimed by an always convinced audience.

The hard everyday life of Conakry in acrobatics

Some of them, aged 18 to 32, spent their teenage years on the streets of Conakry, often cherishing the impossible dream of exile. ” As I fought, it came to mind says Bangaly Sylla, a tall guy in tight pants. At his side, under a Gucci-branded beret, his colleague Vichy adds: ” I lost a friend from college who took a canoe. Wanted and rejected, crosses of banishment Her! (The water) as in the scene described above, in which the borders of Europe are closed to the two candidates for another life. In general, the often hard everyday life of Conakry is the raw material for this hour of intensive and often breathtaking acrobatics. ” When the director, Yann Ecauvre, came to Guinea, he asked us what problems we were facingsays Vichy. He was told about water shortages, unemployment, corruption… »

The lack of water, an unbearable paradox for a country that owes its nickname “Water Tower of West Africa” ​​to its vast hydraulic reserves, gave the show its title: “yé” means “the water” in Soussou, the language of the people of the three main ethnic groups groups of the country. It is also the starting point. The curtain actually rises on a floor full of empty plastic bottles — the show’s only prop. Then, one after the other, the performers enter and circle one of the two acrobats who is holding a copy of the container that has become the Grail. Then the parade turns into a fight before the acrobat, carried by two colleagues, climbs to the top of a tower. Then two more human towers form on either side, but the audience doesn’t have time to appreciate the bravery as it all collapses in one slow motion.

humor and tenderness

This amazing sequence, where brotherhood meets hatred, should not make us forget that humor also plays a major role, even when describing the Guinean reality. As in the hilarious sequence of electric power absent from many Conakry neighborhoods. The troupe’s only contortionist, Amara Camara, embodies this by turning on herself while the rest of the group pretends to be watching a soccer game. Sports commentary follows the rhythm of the artist. Panting at first, they slow down, then suddenly stop. The contortionist, who has slowed down, stands motionless. Power failure! Football fans are outraged, Amara Camara spins the top again, the comments begin again … And so on.

In a melee, a pyramid, there is also the tenderness that arises when the thirteen artists sing the same name in chorus: Ngatou, the equivalent of a grandmother for all Conakry street acrobats. Before training at the beach, they always stopped at her house. “She had nothing, but always gave us something to eat.recalls Mohamed Kandelya, the leader of the troupe. He was a legend. “A legend who has passed away today, but also a family for those of the Baobab Circus dancers from whom it was taken.” Sometimes their parents kicked them out because, despite an old acrobatic tradition in Guinea, this job was not one of their offspring’s dream jobs counts. “My parents thought that the job I wanted to do would not do them any good”explains Vichy, who persistently secretly donned her stage outfits before the “shows” on the street.

The street, a favorite scene

For those who simply didn’t have family, Circus Baobab provided a home base thanks to its premises in the Dixinn area of ​​Conakry. This modest tin roof on yellowed walls is home to a hundred young people from humble backgrounds who are training to become professional artists. “The Circus Baobab is a social circus”, recalls Richard Djoudi, the producer of Yé! (The water). Since its inception in 1998, the force has been renewed after departures. This is currently the fourth action.

For its members, the street is no longer a living space, but remains a favorite setting. “The audience is more spontaneous there”, explains Bangaly Sylla. Mohamed Kandelya continues: “Sometimes we’re a little afraid of doing certain figures without a net, and when the street cries, it gives us strength. » With their colleagues from the Circus Baobab, they improvise on tour between two indoor shows on the city’s gravel. Passers-by could see it on the Place du Prado in Marseille or on the forecourt of the City Hall in Paris. And to encourage them, they shouted a lot.