« I am curious to the bone – I find something fascinating in everything! But the common thread running through my rather uncommon life is stories.
I can tell you tales of children devoured by their mothers, of people who fall in love with trees, of little girls who face down lions, of women who shine brighter than the sun…
I’ll tell you any tale you like – as long as I like it, too !
You may notice as you listen that many of my stories have their roots in African traditions – sometimes they even sneak in behind my back! And of course they do – that’s the gift of my Gabonese and Guadeloupean family, and a childhood full of riddles, proverbs, ancestral tales from long ago… a life full of stories!
The tales in my performances are told through music and through silence, words and dance. They are opportunities to explore, to question, to laugh… every time I tell a story, it tells me something new. »
Sylvie Mombo
Sylvie Mombo has a DEA degree in Contemporary History and a DUT degree in Library Arts (Métiers du Livre et de la Lecture). She has pursued numerous career paths, from bookselling to dancing – each of which has led her back to the world of stories. Sylvie wrote and staged her first show in 1999. Titled “How Biviou Tells It,” this performance for young children mixes storytelling with music and dance (an art she has practiced since childhood).
Sylvie Mombo has drawn on her Gabonese and Guadeloupean background to build a wide-ranging and diverse repertoire that is rooted in African traditions. “I need them to tell the stories properly,” notes Sylvie. “They connect me to my childhood, my family – the first sources for my material.” These roots are the wellspring of a vast collection of stories as rich and complex as the world that surrounds us, which Sylvie explores with delight. Life and the ongoing conversation between humans and nature are recurring leitmotifs for her, a thread woven carefully and consciously through her work – and an infectious energy she shares with every audience !