Testimony. “It looks like she has a microphone, she’s so good! And the dog who sings with it!” Street singer, she captivates passers-by in Poitiers

His voice became familiar to its inhabitants. Aminta Sène has found, in the street, a permanent scene where she feels legitimate. She has been playing and singing in the historic district of Poitiers for almost ten years. After years of stubbornness and pitfalls, she released her first album.

An hour without rain. You must not miss the opportunity. “If I don’t get it, I’m going to cry.”she announces, an amused tone, and she disappears.

The one that her mother calls the cicada, which lives according to the winds, according to the generosity of passers-by. The weather is absolutely wintry, a dark gray, damp and cold. But like every day of the week, Aminta Sène will go and sing. In the street.

“I have no choice.” Because that’s what keeps her alive. RSA for rent, bills. The street concerts for the food, her tobacco, Easy’s kibbles, her Jack Russell who doesn’t give up on her. “I want to ensure that it is not the State that finances my personal needs.”

Because the 43-year-old lady is proud. Despite the poverty. “I don’t know if my life is difficult but it is not easy. And there are those who have it more difficult than me. I have a roof over my head and I got the heating back on Monday!” She stayed two years without being able to heat herself, the time to pay off an electricity debt.

And even with terrible weather, she will sing in the heart of the historic district of Poitiers. Don’t leave too many debts with your tobacconist who advances your tobacco paper.

But with a smile on his lips and in his heart. “The goal is for me to have fun so that people have fun too. When I sing, I pour out my soul and my heart.” And the reward comes in the form of coins, or even bills.

Because Aminta Sène catches the passerby with her deep and powerful voice, capable of drowning out the Christmas soundtrack from the speakers. You have to listen to him sing Tracy Chapman, Ben Harper. You have to hear him play his own creations, guitar in hand, Easy tied to his feet. Neither can do without her. “It looks like she has a microphone, she’s so good! And the dog who sings with it!”enthused a passing spectator one summer day. “Every time, I get goosebumps!”commented another.

Aminta is this round and androgynous silhouette which wanders through the pedestrian streets of the Poitou city to reach its favorite corners. Mixed race, French through her mother, Senegalese through her father. A black cap on his head, to protect his shaved head from the December frost, his guitar bag hanging on his back like a turtle’s shell. And Easy, always, who scampers alongside him with complete confidence.

A greeting to the homeless, a hello to the municipal police officers. This has been going on for ten years already. “I don’t know everyone but everyone knows me”she admits.

Aminta Sène has become the voice of the streets of Poitiers. “What I like is the transmission.” Passing on his passion for Music. According to the people who pass by. Especially children. “Some people ask their parents for a guitar after seeing me play.” If she had pursued higher education, she would have been a French or philosophy professor.

But it was music that conquered his life. It was written from a very young age. “At three years old, I received a small keyboard as a gift and my mother surprised me inventing a melody while playing with both hands.”

The singer almost had a great career, she opened for Superbus, Mathieu Boogaert, Pauline Croze. In this Parisian epic, a manager promised to make him sign a contract. She believed it, she waited. But nothing came. And the big fragile one twisted. “I almost died and returned to Poitiers. I was ashamed! It was the failure of my life. I was hospitalized to protect myself from myself.”

A descent into hell from which it would take five years to return. Thanks to Easy. “I didn’t touch a guitar or an instrument for five years, thinking I wasn’t part of this world. But while walking my dog, I sang. And I realized I no longer needed to take my medicine. I felt good, so I said to myself: “Too bad! I’m pissing everyone off a bit! I’m going to sing in the street and we’ll see.”

It was 2015. It was supposed to be temporary. Today, Aminta Sène has around fifty songs in her repertoire. She writes, plays and sings. A lot about time. The one who passes. “I’m a very anxious and insomniac person. It’s only when I sing that I feel like I’m immortal.” Music, as a control over life. Protection.

After a decade of playing a permanent gig in his hometown, here comes the paycheck. Aminta Sène has just released her first CD, “Juste à temps”, an EP of six tracks.

“It’s a gift! It’s been my dream since I was little! I dreamed of being Mickaël Jackson! Fortunately we meet people who save you and give you back your vitality!”

A meeting in the street with one of the members of the L’Orbe association which produces local artists. “Aminta is one of the first artists I met with such authenticityconfides Or Majician, who produced the record. He’s not someone who’s going to put on a mask. She will live her art literally. And it’s particularly inspiring to see a person following their dream for several years and getting back up despite the difficulties.”

A CD in the form of rediscovered legitimacy. The Poitou singer hopes that it will open the doors of festivals and concert halls for her.

Because if she regularly displays a pathological lack of confidence, as soon as it comes to music, concerts, lights, sound systems, Aminta Sène’s face comes alive with unshakeable determination.