Director Talk: Flamboyants! with Florient Jousse

This fall, Réunionese cross-disciplinary theater and performance group Tilawcis Collective travels to Chicago to present Flamboyants!: a major multilingual musical-theater performance connecting Réunion Island, New Orleans, and Puerto Rico.

Join us for a special evening with director Florient Jousse, who’ll take us behind the scenes of this ambitious project that blends documentary theater, music, and performance to weave a vibrant dialogue between territories shaped by shared histories of colonization, slavery, and cultural resistance.

After the talk, guests will have the opportunity to continue the conversation with Florient over a complimentary beverage: Louisiana-based Abita Amber Lager, Réunionese tamarind syrup, or Puerto Rican Kola Champagne!

Doors at 6:00 pm. Program at 6:30. Please enter via 54 W Chicago Ave. Non-alcoholic options will be available.

About Flamboyants!

Born from a meeting between theater director and actor Florient Jousse and Big Chief Juan Pardo—an iconic leader of New Orleans’ Mardi Gras Indians—Flamboyants! is the result of an original artistic collaboration linking several Creole territories separated by thousands of miles yet connected through shared historical experiences.

The project began when Florient Jousse discovered the world of the Mardi Gras Indians during an exhibition at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris. Fascinated by this unique Afro-Creole tradition, he traveled to Louisiana, where he met Big Chief Juan Pardo. Their conversations sparked a powerful realization: despite the geographical distance, New Orleans and Reunion Island share a collective memory shaped by colonization, slavery, and the many forms of cultural resistance that emerged in response. Soon, a third territory joined this artistic dialogue: Puerto Rico, whose musical and popular traditions resonate with these same historical legacies. 

Blending live performance with documentary storytelling, Flamboyants! brings together personal narratives, music, and theatrical performance. On stage, the powerful voices of Marién Torres López and Ivelisse Díaz bring the rhythms of Puerto Rican bomba to life, while Reunionese musicians Frédéric Madia et Zélito Déliron puisent dans la tradition du maloya. 

Performed in five languages—Louisiana Creole, Réunion Creole, French, English, and Spanish—the production celebrates the creativity of Creole communities and the vital role the arts play in preserving, transmitting, and continually reinventing collective memory.

About the Director

Florient Jousse initially trained at the École Supérieure des Comédiens par Alternance (ESCA) in Asnières-sur-Seine. He then joined various theater companies, leading him to perform at venues such as the Théâtre National de Chaillot, to be in residence at La Chartreuse de Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, and to participate in the Festival d’Avignon nine times. In 2020, he founded the Compagnie Tilawcis in La Réunion. He became an associated artist at the Théâtre les Bambous, a conventionally subsidized venue, and later at the Centre Dramatique National de l’Océan Indien. He was a recipient of the European program Archipels.eu, which allowed him to tour his first play, Frénésies, across seven U.S. states.

Getting Here

The Alliance Française de Chicago is one block from the CTA Red line stop at Chicago Avenue. Best bus routes are the 22 on Clark and the 66 on Chicago Avenue. A Divvy station is located in front of the 54 W Chicago Ave entrance.

Parking Information

$10 for 12 hours at 100 W Chestnut St. Validation is available at reception.

Photography Notice

Please be advised that students, members, and attendees at cultural events or programs may be photographed, and these images may be used for marketing purposes.