From Malay Mail · · 3m
Biama: the dance that took over Abidjan
A street dance born by accident in a gaming room now pays for school supplies, fills festivals and has its own TV bulletin.
In brief
A street dance born by accident in a gaming room now pays for school supplies, fills festivals and has its own TV bulletin. Biama went from one improvised celebration on camera to a small economy: paid dancers, arrangers, clothing sellers and touring headliners. Originally reported by Malay Mail.
After class, the street fills
Every week in a working-class Abidjan neighbourhood, hundreds of young people gather to dance the biama: acrobatic twists, frenetic footwork and deliberately funny faces.
A country under 25
Nearly two thirds of Ivory Coast's population is younger than 25. The craze spread fast after biama grew out of the country's coupe-decale dance music a few years ago.
A sandy lot and plastic chairs
In Yopougon, where it started, organisers called biamasseurs run the outdoor events. The stage is a vacant patch of sand, with DJs following one another all evening.
Free to dance, pay to watch
From 5pm, teenagers arrive in bright jogging pants and T-shirts. Dancers take part for nothing; spectators pay 1,000 to 2,000 CFA francs, roughly RM6.90 to RM14.20.
Biama means fun
The word comes from Nouchi, Ivorian slang, says organiser Junior Koffi, who goes by God of War. Arrangers build the tracks by taking their cue from the dance steps.
“It's danced to different rhythms, from zouk to zouglou and afrobeat”
Dance with your eyes
Le Pere Rogodogo, one of the first organisers, says the comedy is the point. Nobody teaches the moves, dancers invent them on the spot and mug for the crowd.
“let their imagination run free to create their moves, dance with their eyes, pull faces”
Born in a gaming room
In 2021 a young man won some money in a video gaming room, jumped up and improvised. His friend filmed it. That dancer, Karl Guei or Kalomaman, now has two million TikTok subscribers.
Phones do the scouting
The weekly gatherings work as a springboard for beginners and a showcase for the good ones, with social media doing the rest. Neighbours sometimes complain about the late-night noise.
Tips buy school supplies
Four boys aged 15 to 17 who call themselves the Daltons rehearse in the street with Agbalais le Mystique. Evening tips go on clothes and schoolbooks in one of Africa's priciest cities.
From Yopougon to Europe
Dancer and singer Dydy Yeman has tens of millions of YouTube views and has performed across Africa and in Europe, playing to thousands at a festival in upmarket Cocody.
It has its own news show
A private channel runs a bulletin devoted to biama. Maimouna Tinta, 19, came to the festival to see if what's on TV was true, joining a crowd in face paint and fluorescent bracelets.
“Even when I'm sitting, my legs start moving”
A market, not a fad
Sociologist Stephane Babo thinks biama will last, because dancers get paid and sellers move clothing off the back of it. Arranger Elie-Michel Assie Diou has recorded some 50 artists in a few years.
“Beyond the passion... there's a whole economic side to it”
The takeaway
Biama went from one improvised celebration on camera to a small economy: paid dancers, arrangers, clothing sellers and touring headliners.
