Until 1977, while working in his studio, Malick Sidibé continued numerous reports on the leisure activities of young people in the brand new Malian state following independence. Evenings, surprise parties, parties where we dance, where we show off our clothes, bars, youth clubs where we listen to pop music, rock and roll, soul music records, up to Sunday outings on the banks of the Niger River. Malick Sidibé, who was part of all these festive moments, remembers: “At that time there were two types of dancers: the zazous, well-off, often from civil servant families, who ordered their costumes from Saint-Germain des-Prés, and the yéyés, less rich, without protocol, who danced in popular balls, we called dust balls. I had the privilege of photographing people in motion, who were not paying attention to me. I never danced, but these young people breathed life and made me forget my worries. » The number and quality of these reports, more than a thousand, make this work an exceptional document on Mali at that time. The “photographic ritual” is always the same. As soon as the reports were completed - and Malick Sidibé could do two or three per evening - the photographer went by bike to his laboratory to develop the films, make small contacts which he then stuck on administrative-type cardboard folders, taking care to mention a number for each image, the date, and the name of the group organizing the evening. These shirts were then displayed at the studio door and allowed customers to place orders with the photographer. If the form is sometimes approximate at its beginnings, very quickly Malick Sidibé will gain confidence and give a sensitive account of this new freedom which was then blowing over Bamako.