Fast-paced dance takes off on streets in Ivory Coast

On the streets of a working-class Abidjan neighborhood, hundreds of young people gather every week after class to dance the biama, a high-tempo combo of acrobatic twists, frenetic footwork and funny facial expressions.

The craze has gripped Ivory Coast — where nearly two-thirds of the population is aged under 25 — since it evolved from the country’s popular coupe-decale dance music a few years ago.

In Yopougon, the district where it all began, so-called biamasseurs organize the outdoor events where one DJ after another takes to the stage, which is little more than a vacant sandy piece of ground with some plastic chairs for spectators.

Ivory Coast singer Dydy Yeman performs during a Biama concert in Abidjan on Aug. 29.

Photo: AFP

Dancers take part for free, while it costs between 1,000 and 2,000 CFA francs (between US$1.70 and US$3.50) to watch.

From 5pm, boys and girls in their teens don colorful sportswear of jogging pants and T-shirts to perform the high-energy moves of the quick-pace street dance.

“Biama means fun” in Nouchi, Ivorian slang, said 29-year-old Junior Koffi, known as “God of War,” who organizes the Wednesday evening events. “It’s danced to different rhythms, from zouk to zouglou and afrobeat.”

The music is often a mix of styles created by arrangers, who take their inspiration from the dance steps.

“It’s quite a funny dance,” said “le Pere Rogodogo” (“Father Rogodogo”), who was one of the first organizers of the regular street gatherings.

Young people “let their imagination run free to create their moves, dance with their eyes, pull faces,” he said.

Fans join Parfait Fidele Kposser, known as “Agbalais le Mystique” (“Agbalais the Mystic”) for dance practice in the street at the weekend.

On an afternoon last month, four boys aged 15 to 17, who call themselves the Daltons, worked on choreography with him as locals watched, some stopping to film.

With the tips they earn dancing in the evening they buy clothes and school supplies in a city with a cost of living that is one of the highest in Africa.

Biama was created by accident in 2021 in a video gaming room when a jubilant young man jumped up and started improvising dance moves to celebrate winning some money, filmed by his friend.

Today, Karl Guei, whose nickname is “Kalomaman,” has 2 million TikTok subscribers, according to culture journalist Toussaint Konan.

Since then, the dance has taken Abidjan, the country’s economic capital, and other cities by storm, with weekly events undeterred by the risk of the late-night noise disturbing nearby residents, who sometimes do complain.

They serve as a springboard for beginners and a showcase for the more accomplished whose rising fame and popularity is amplified by social media.

Videos by dancer and singer Dydy Yeman, one of the movement’s leading figures, have racked up tens of millions of views on YouTube.

The artist has already performed outside of Ivory Coast, elsewhere in Africa and in Europe, but his beginnings were humble.

He expressed “pride” in coming from Yopougon, the birthplace of biama, before going on stage in front of thousands at a festival in the fashionable neighborhood of Cocody, where entry prices were considerably higher at between 10,000 and 15,000 CFA francs.

The crowd, wearing fluorescent bracelets, their faces and T-shirts covered in paint, followed the steps led by Yeman and sang along to the lyrics of his songs.

“Even when I’m sitting, my legs start moving,” said Jean, 22, a first-year student.

Curiosity prompted Maimouna Tinta, 19, who has just graduated from high school, “to see if what’s on TV is true.”

Biama even has its own television program, a news bulletin about the dance broadcast on a private channel.

Sociologist Stephane Babo said the trend “fully deserves to exist” and might “last over time.”

“Beyond the passion ... there’s a whole economic side to it,” notably by creating jobs and even careers, Babo said.

“The dancers, during their performance, are paid after all,” he said, also pointing to other associated businesses such as the sale of clothing.

Arranger Elie-Michel Assie Diou sees “a market” in the biama movement’s success.

He said his studio had recorded more than 50 artists in just a few years.