Nadia Beugré Filles-Pétroles

Thanks to their effrontery and their dance, Christelle and Aya create a path for themselves beyond all norms and frameworks. An intense account of Abidjan youth, Filles-Pétroles builds up the portrait of these two young Ivorian women, which in turn echoes with the choreographer Nadia Beugré’s own path.

With her imposing outline and straight-talk, Christelle is fond of her nickname "big lorry". Aya is referred to as the "spiced-up Chinese girl", due to the rapidity of her movements and acrobatic feats. Just like the choreographer Nadia Beugré, the two young women grew up in the Derrière Rail area of downtown Abobo, in the north of Abidjan. With their non-conformist femininity and unabashed singularity, they had to make a place for themselves in Ivorian society by the sharpening of their weapons, the coupé-décalé and roukasskass dances. Their adolescence not far behind them, they go into showtime mode, haranguing the audience and sharing with them their dreams and stories in a way that is never devoid of humour. Some dough kneaded with their own hands – a memory of the galettes sold on the streets of their city – becomes the basis for their complicit games and metamorphoses. Christelle and Aya are two very talented Filles-Pétroles the existences of whom must certainly not be allowed to evaporate into thin air.