âPapa, why do you dance when you walk?â
When Adenâs 8-year-old daughter asks him this one morning in Paris, he is taken aback. The question is innocent, but the answer is not so simple. Unable to resist BĂ©aâs inquisitive spirit, he moves silkily between memories of his childhood: from his silent, mysterious mother and the
shanty roofs of his neighbourhood to the malicious attack that changed his life forever and the ensuing struggle that made him a man.
Anchoring his memories is a Djibouti on the cusp of independence; a land of shifting deserts and immense heat, French-from-France ex-pats, and one lonely and sick boy finding solace in books.
Why Do You Dance When You Walk? is a poignant and timeless story of the complexity of family, the value of poetry and freedom, and the ripple effect of the traumas that stalk our movement.