The article examines the relationship between cultural performances (ritual fighting and its theatrical representation), social dynamics and international cooperation. It is the fruit of research work that was carried out last year in Senegal and Italy. The analysis that was realised concerns three subject fields: the connections between myth and ritual fighting in Senegal, from the emic perspective; the transformations of the ritual that have taken place over the last decades and the different ways in which it is practiced in urban and rural contexts, and its relations with political power and the media; the theatrical representation of the rite in the work of the “Takku Ligey Théâtre” company, in the ambit of the N.A.T. programme of international cooperation (Network for African Talents). The N.A.T. programme took place from 2012 to 2014 with the aim of supporting cooperation between Europe and Africa, through the performing arts (music, theatre and dance), and involved associations and institutions from four countries (Italy, Senegal, Mozambique and Cameroon).