Night falls over the Nice hinterland. The stage is set up in the gardens of the Levens rural home, turning its back to the mountains. From time to time, the village bell chimes the hours, reminding spectators that while they have departed for Africa, it is only for the duration of a story. Hassane Kassi Kouyaté and his griots open the 17th Festival of Stories of the Alpes-Maritimes. In traditional costumes from Burkina Faso, they tell and sing “The Bambara Epic of Ségou.” A story punctuated by ancestral proverbs. The tale of a city by the river. With the stars, frogs, and night butterflies, you could very well picture yourself there.
Jihad Darwiche, former journalist, storyteller, and artistic director of the festival, shares: “It’s difficult to choose the storytellers. All year, our team listens to them. Out of 20/30 favorites, we ultimately have to keep only 6 or 7. Hassane Kassi Kouyaté is a favorite of our team; he has already come to this festival. This year, he wanted to tell stories with his griots: ‘alone you go fast, but together we go far’.” The storyteller and his musicians work hard on stage, conjuring marabouts from the shadows, eliciting laughter from the audience, slipping in a recipe for meat with honey. “The spirit of storytelling is conviviality,” reminds Antoine Véran, mayor of Levens.
“Without listening, the storyteller is nothing. Thank you for your ears”
It’s a Summer Evening. That is to say, one of the 600 free events supported by the General Council of Alpes-Maritimes. “We must bring quality cultural entertainment to the villages of the middle and upper Nice region,” explains Jean Buathier, president of the departmental media library. Also present at the festival’s opening performance, Dr. Alain Frère, vice-president of the General Council and mayor of Tourette-Levens, states: “It is interesting for the Francophonie to see that these storytellers of different origins and nationalities, bound by the desire to share stories from various cultures, all do so in French.“
End of the journey, end of the dream. The spectators stand to applaud and are then spontaneously invited to dance. Thus marks a successful first evening of storytelling.
