Balani Show: Dancing in Malian dust

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Children standing in a crowd, some holding up their hands as if dancing, wearing various colorful clothes. The background is dark and some faces are partially obscured, reminiscent of a lively Balani Show amid the swirling Malian dust.

The bodies sway to the extreme, causing the dust in an incessant whirlwind. Far, far from the city, the organic particles explode in all directions while arms and legs follow the frantic tempo. It is that at the Balani show, the bodies are possessed by the beat which increases to the rhythm of the wing beats of the butterflies at night, under the exalted eyes of the dancers with vibrating bodies.

We go due south, about 40 km from Bamako, perched in a rusty jeep, letting scroll before us …