Ivory Coast’s ‘Real Boys’ address drug use, violence through dance
By Loucoumane Coulibaly and Media Coulibaly
ABIDJAN (Reuters) – On a dimly lit stage in Abidjan one member of the dance group lies immobile on the ground, legs splayed, whereas seven others dance round him in an intense hip-hop routine meant to warn concerning the risks of drug use and gang violence in Ivory Coast.
The “Actual Boys”, a male dance group based mostly in Abidjan, was fashioned in 2014 however needed to wait till this month for a breakthrough once they carried out their present “Ghetto” on the Abidjan Marketplace for Performing Arts (MASA), one among Africa’s oldest and largest inventive showcase occasions.
Now the group hopes to take its mixture of hip-hop, comedy and social messaging worldwide. Since MASA it has already obtained two affords to carry out internationally and hopes to signal a contract quickly, mentioned founder Alexandre Wilfried Awa.
“We had by no means imagined the Actual Boys at MASA. It have to be mentioned that it’s the grace of god,” mentioned Awa, who goes by the nickname “Pace Ivoire”.
MASA, based in 1993, is a method for African artists to realize publicity and sometimes results in worldwide contracts.
The Actual Boys began small. Their authentic aim was to win native dance competitions with quick choreographed routines.
Over time their imaginative and prescient turned greater, and so they started engaged on longer items which may attraction to a global viewers.
The group is made up of 10 males, aged 18 to 32.
“Our model is comedy. We attempt to put comedy within the dance actions. We do hip-hop as a result of the ‘coupe decale’ (a kind of music and dance) is finished all over the place in Ivory Coast, so to face out from all these teams we use comedy and hip-hop,” mentioned Awa.
However the dances additionally incorporate critical themes, and in a single they use knives to spotlight the hazards going through younger folks, he mentioned. The inspiration for his or her present “Ghetto” got here from observing folks on the streets of their neighbourhoods and suburbs of Abidjan.
“On this present they transmit an excellent message as a result of these days in Africa younger persons are very a lot centered on alcohol and cigarettes and that is what known as principally the ghetto,” mentioned Jean-Marc Kouassi, a member of the viewers at Actual Boys’ present at MASA. “Denouncing this behaviour, I feel it is an excellent message for Africa.”
(Reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly and Media Coulibaly; Writing by Nellie Peyton; Modifying by Susan Fenton)
