Mohamed “Momo” Conte’s journey to Cirque Du Soleil’s ‘Twas the Night Before…
Mohamed “Momo” Conte moves across the main stage inside The Fox Theatre with the ease of an athlete and an artist. It’s only a rehearsal, but Conte prepares for his works as a hoop diver and acro-table acrobat for Cirque Du Soleil’s ‘Twas the Night Before… the way a defender for Atlanta United or receiver for the Atlanta Falcons may go through repetitions during their respective practices.
One of the routines that Conte and his fellow acrobats were rehearsing on Wednesday morning consisted of multiple hoop divers stacking on top of each other shoulders and then one after the other jumping off into a roll. On the base of that human totem pole was Conte. Dressed in a white t-shirt and grey athletic shorts, he resembles a free safety with his broad shoulders, muscular calves, and thighs. The costumed rehearsals will take place closer to opening night, so on this day multiple jumps, flips, rolls, back flips, and front flips could be seen as just practice. To be on stage inside of one of the most iconic theaters in the South, preparing to do what you love in front of sellout crowds is something Conte says he always dreamed of.
“I’m living my dream,” Conte, 26, said. “It feels great.”
Born and raised in Guinea Conakry, the capital city of Guinea in West Africa, Conte now lives in Montreal, Canada, but will be performing in Atlanta for the first time on Friday, Nov. 29. That’s when Cirque Du Soleil’s ‘Twas the Night Before… opens for a two week tour for the holidays. He has been performing with Cirque Du Soleil for the past three years
Conte said his love affair with acrobatics began when he was seven years old and was idolizing his uncle, who was an acrobat back home in Africa. “I was always hanging out with him and then I asked him to train me,” Conte remembered.
The training began with standard acrobatic moves like back-flips before it got more and more complex, Conte said. “I didn’t know where it was going to take me.” He explained that because of where he is from in Africa it is very difficult to become a professional acrobat or anything else for that matter.
At 12 years old he decided to drop out of school and dedicate all of his time to acrobatics. “I was just doing it because I love it,” Conte said. “I used to see Cirque Du Soleil on TV and I saw it in my dreams. I imagined that one day I would be on stage too.”
Today he is surrounded by performers living out their dreams. During the run-throughs Conte could be seen and heard encouraging his fellow acrobats.
“A lot of my friends are acrobats,” said Conte, while a broad smile made its way across his face during a break in rehearsal. Fluent in multiple languages, including his native Sousou and French, Conte used the latter often while communicating with his fellow hoop divers and acro-table acrobats. The relationship between him and his fellow acrobats has to be nearly symbiotic in order to complete the physical exchanges they go through show after show. And it needs to be because ‘Twas the Night Before… is like no other Cirque Du Soleil show, according to James Hadley, the writer of ‘Twas the Night Before…
“This show is a little bit different from a lot of our shows,” Hadley explained during rehearsal. “This show was created with a theater in mind.”
Cirque Du Soleil performances traditionally take place under tents similar to a circus. ‘Twas the Night Before… is a theater show and thus will include a six-person dance team, something that rarely takes place if ever for the brand’s traveling show. Hadley said the dancers will help tell the story alongside Conte and the acrobats. “It was fun putting this show together,” said Conte, who has been with Cirque Du Soleil since 2005. “This is the first Christmas show for Cirque, so we wanted it to be new and fresh.”
On Conte closing out the show with his multi-hoop routine, Hadley said that Conte was an “incredible acrobat” but also “a great performer.”
“He’s fantastic,” Hadley said. “He just stands out.”
That final routine of rehearsal on Wednesday was a run-through of the final act of the show. Conte was the first Cirque Du Soleil acrobat to dive through six hoops. The video went viral on social media. From being a little boy practicing flips on a beach in West Africa to starring on stage in Atlanta, “Momo” has come a long way.
“I think it is going to be great,” he said. These coming weeks are the first time Conte will perform in Atlanta. He has performed all over the world, including in Andorra and in Scotland. These coming weeks are the first time Conte will perform in Atlanta. “I think it is going to be great,” he said.
Asked what more he would like to accomplish during his career, Conte said he has dreams of pulling the strings one day.
“I want to one day create my own show, be a stage director, and be able to help people back home,” he said. “I want to help other people to have a chance to work with the biggest circus in the world.”
The biggest circus in the world is here in Atlanta and Mohamed “Momo” Conte is front and center living his dream.
