Turquoise pants, colorful jacket, iridescent banana, wooden beads around the neck, yellow cap and glasses, 4:25 p.m. at the Lebru clock, Fémi The Scorpion’s hoverboard slides into Place de la Révolution. The Instagrammer followed by 500,000 subscribers just communicated through a story, an ephemeral message, which must be captured on the fly. We relayed it. The audience is initially sparse. Some early fans, Sylvie, Béa… Catherine is there for the prospect of dancing. There are around thirty of them at first… Fémi pairs his phone with the speakers placed on the floor, off we go. We follow him. In rhythm and smiles, it’s automatic.
It’s simple
Enigmatic too. This young Beninese broke through during confinement, ambiance designer, choreographer at the Opéra Garnier in Paris, dancer, singer, Fémi Akhano was also a gymnast and tightrope walker. The scorpion, his stage and street name, is a nod to his signature figure, a dance step on his fingertips. Impressive. He is also feline, agile. This agility is not only flexibility and skill, it is joy. As a child, he was forbidden to dance, there were no acrobats in the family, he says on TV. Macumba, I give you, Let me dance sings Dalida in the speakers… Today Fémi leads the dance, brings the dance to the streets of the cities. “People are rarely together, even at the show they are not together, I thought of making them dance, in Paris, and I do a tour on weekends especially, it’s so simple, it corresponds to a need” he said. You just have to notice. No complicated choreography, no, just rhythmic steps, outstretched hands, rounds… He is told to move from the Place de la Révolution to the Place Pasteur, less cluttered with the reliefs of the music festival.
A sun
The dancers multiply, the men dare this time. Stayin’alive , Gimme gimme, gimme , would a few clouds have the presumption to end the party? “Fémi is a sun” says Muriel, she is right. The clouds are passing. The public wants more. Moment of grace, there is no longer any question of current events, of wars, of squabbles. With Fémi the grayness turns to brightness, so for a moment, just for a moment we believe it. We believe in the words that sing, in the inaccessible star, we believe of course that it brings us back to the wind. This bubble is authentic, light, funny, warm, joyful, alive. Short-lived. Fémi left on his funny little vehicle, with his big suitcase on wheels. He leaves behind him dozens of selfies, happy hearts, throbbing feet, happy hearts. Together, we all felt like we had touched happiness before it fled.
