Konami is a street dance that enjoys great popularity in the Ivory Coast and stands for the combination of football and Coupé Décalé. With a piece about this unique dance, the two Ivorian dancers Annick Chocco and Carlos Martinez from the transnational ensemble La Fleur are returning to Palermo for the third time. Together with a group of local dancers, with whom they began developing the piece last year, they will present a brilliant performance about football, dance and showbiz and the entanglements of power, money and corruption.
In their new play, which premiered at the FFT Düsseldorf on 26 April this year and is now being shown in Italy for the first time, La Fleur tells the story of cultural transfer and migration between Africa and Europe. The ensemble gathered impressions at this year’s Africa Cup in the Ivory Coast and spoke to young Africans in Abidjan, Palermo, Frankfurt and Lyon who want to pursue a professional football career. The performers Annick Choco, Carlos Martinez and the musician Timor Litzenberger, directed by Monika Gintersdorfer, report on how the dream of success and fame fuelled by pop culture encourages young players to make the journey to Europe, where clubs pay higher wages. They talk about footballers, dancers and musicians who help each other gain more visibility by showing each other at performances or by a singer praising the qualities of a footballer in a song or vocal animation. Through a series of dances, songs and videos they give insights into the reality of life of young African professional footballers between the continents.
The transnational group LA FLEUR was founded in 2016 by the German theater maker Monika Gintersdorfer and the Ivorian choreographer Franck Edmond Yao. LA FLEUR brings together performers from different contexts and generations as a free, transnational ensemble. Its members come from urban dance, acting, fashion, visual arts, and pop music, and its defining members include urban dancers and showbiz stars. Annick Choco and Carlos Martinez have been permanent members of LA FLEUR for many years.
Credits: La Fleur. Directed by: Monika Gintersdorfer. Costumes: Bobwear. Film: Éric Tagbo. Production: High Expectations, Gregor Zoch. Performers: Annick Choco, Carlos Martinez, Timor Litzenberger. Funded by Stiftung Fußball & Kultur EURO 2024 gGmbH. Photo credits: Roberto Boccaccino
