Circus school inspires

JOURNEY: BRINGS HOPE FOR DISADVANTAGED YOUTH >>> Many Guineans have gone on to perform on stages around the world.

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ALLEZ OOP: Mamadou Saliou Diallo, top, Ibrahima Oulare, left, Alassane Toinnkara, right, and Mohamed Camara during practice.

(AFP)

In the heat of a warehouse-like building in Conakry, Guinea, five young men twirl, contort and juggle to the rhythm of percussions, defying the laws of gravity and distorting the anatomy of their bodies.

For several hours each day, they practise at one of west Africa's most renowned circus schools, the Fodeba Keita Acrobatic Arts Centre, which has trained hundreds of disadvantaged youths and showcased students around the world.

Some perform backflips while others work on trapeze tricks, practise precarious balance work or juggle. Contortionist Mohamed Fofana, whose seemingly impossible distortions make the heart race and the stomach turn, twists his head 180 degrees to face behind him.