Aya is 21 years old and lives in Abobo, a hot and partisan neighbourhood. She grew up in Abobo-la-guerre, Abobo-Bagdad during the years of conflict, Abobo-la-belle today...

One day, Aya entered dance as one jumps into the arena... Without a net.

The specificity of the movements she performed quickly earned her the nickname of “La Chinoise” (The China Girl). Coupé décalé, roukasskass, acrobatic figures are part of her daily life. She took up a space traditionally reserved for men, to claim a sexuality, to take (make?) her place and deconstruct an assigned femininity.

Aya always hangs out with Christelle, known as Gros Camion, because of her stoutness, a name she assumes with an irresistible glibness.

For Nadia Beugré, Aya and Christelle are wrestlers, echoing her own journey, while mirroring another generation in a city, Abidjan, both similar and transformed. They are thes burning girls who must not be allowed to die out...

A dialogue between women, generations and journeys, the duo has been built on long periods of wandering and exploration in Abobo, following Aya and Christelle's daily lives.

The research process has been accompanied by a series of workshops with six other female young dancers from Abidjan, with whom Nadia had begun a dialogue in 2021 as part of a Carte blanche at the Festival d'Automne in Paris. It marks the launch by the association Libr'Arts of a support programme for Ivorian young women artists and cultural professionals in Abidjan.

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