Latest news with #ThéâtreduChâtelet
LeMonde
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- LeMonde
French artist Nicole Croisille, voice of the famous 'Da ba da ba da' from the film 'A Man and A Woman,' dies
The singer, actress and dancer Nicole Croisille, best known for her performances in Un Homme et Une Femme (A Man and a Woman) died on June 4 at the age of 88. Born on October 9, 1936, in the wealthy Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, she was the only daughter of Jean Croisille, a tour guide, and Germaine Decorde. She grew up listening to Chopin and Liszt, played by her mother, an amateur pianist. Trained in classical dance from a young age, she dreamed of an artistic career, even though her father disapproved. "I always knew my place was on stage. That's where I feel best," she used to say. Discovering Sidney Bechet and the atmosphere of the jazz clubs in Saint-Germain-des-Prés as a teenager was a revelation. "I was born with jazz!" she enthused. "I feel this need for rhythm without knowing where it comes from." Croisille studied mime under Marcel Marceau and joined his company for a tour of South America in 1957, then traveled to the United States in 1960. Passionate about American musicals, she managed to land several contracts in North America. She was a revue leader in Reno, Nevada (1958), took part in the Folies-Bergère tour in New York (1964, and sang at the Playboy Club in Chicago (1960). Nicknamed "Soul Sister," Croisille tirelessly worked on her warm voice and sense of swing. In 1966, she met Claude Lelouch and Francis Lai, who invited her to perform the original soundtrack for the film Un homme et Une Femme as a duet with Pierre Barouh. The "Da ba da ba da" chorus instantly became famous and remains etched in collective memory to this day. Claude Lelouch, a loyal friend, also entrusted her with the songs for the films Vivre pour vivre (1967), Les Uns et les Autres (1981), and Itinéraire d'un enfant gâté (1988). Finding success at 40 In the 1970s, she achieved widespread acclaim. As a pop singer, she wanted to present the image of a free woman through her songs: "When success came, I was 40, and I could speak as a woman talking to women." In 1976 and again in 1978, powered by her voice and energy, she triumphed at L'Olympia, Paris's famous concert venue. A versatile performer, Croisille refused to confine herself to a single musical style and constantly alternated between pop, jazz – most notably with the album Jazzille in 1987 – and music hall. In 1992, on the stage of the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, as part of an American troupe, she played the title role in the musical Hello Dolly. "It's a childhood dream come true. When I was 10, I decided in my head: 'I want to be like Judy Garland.'" She also appeared in the musicals Follies (2013), Cabaret (2014) and Irma la Douce (2015), where she thrived in working as part of a troupe. Croisille also made several ventures into acting. She performed in theater productions such as Folle Amanda (1996), Coup de Soleil (1999) and Hard (2018), and appeared in films, including La Cage Dorée (The Gilded Cage, 2013) as well as on television. In 2005, she played an unlikeable character in the hit TV series Dolmen, which drew approximately 12 million viewers per episode in France. "Singing, dancing, and acting – that's the life I wanted to lead," she said. Croisille, discreet about her private life, opened up in 2006 with the publication of her autobiography written with Thierry Lecamp. The title summed up her life and 60-year career: Je n'ai pas vu passer le temps ("I Didn't See the Time Go By").
The Guardian
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Talent and tragedy: the astonishing life of Vaslav Nijinsky
It was 1912 in Paris when Vaslav Nijinsky nearly caused a riot. The dancer and choreographer was about 22 (his date of birth is disputed) and was unveiling a bold new type of ballet at the city's Théâtre du Châtelet. He had choreographed a 12-minute work called L'Après-midi d'un Faune (Afternoon of a Faun), in which a young faun meets and flirts with several nymphs. Robyn Hendricks and Callum Linnane. Photograph: Kate Longley The choreography featured angular and somewhat strange movements a world away from the classical ballet style favoured at the time, but it was the production's final scene that hit the crowd like a popped bottle. In it, Nijinsky, starring as the Faun, seemingly simulated masturbation through a skin-tight costume, mimicking a release right before the curtain dropped. Many members of the audience hissed, booed and gasped. Others applauded ferociously. Fights broke out between those who were either delighted or appalled by what they'd just seen. The following days, newspapers stoked moral outrage, and the artists of the French capital had to rally to Nijinsky's defence. More than a century later, Faun is considered one the first modern ballets, a work that changed dance forever. And its creator is regarded as perhaps the greatest male dancer of all time, known for his almost superhuman abilities and grace on stage. Faun should have been the breakthrough point of a glittering career, but just seven years later Nijinsky would dance for the final time in public. He spent much of the rest of his life institutionalised, and died in 1950, aged 60 or 61. The life story of Vaslav Nijinsky has all the makings of a Hollywood epic. It's a tale of great talent and great tragedy; one that features war, scandal, brushes with death and a cruel demise. There is a love affair between two men in a time long before the acceptance of homosexuality, and a later doomed marriage to a daughter of high society. Kevin Jackson and Adam Bull. Photograph: Kate Longley The Australian Ballet is telling Nijinsky's story of genius, fame and madness in a production that takes to the stage in late February. The acclaimed narrative ballet choreographer John Neumeier will unfurl the tale of Nijinsky's troubled family, ill-fated romances and transcendent performances, all set amidst the bohemian glamour of early 20th-century Paris. The production is a stirring, visually captivating and achingly beautiful look at Nijinsky's life. There is much ground to cover in the two-and-a-half-hour production. At about 20, Nijinsky kickstarted his career by joining the Ballets Russes, a new ballet company founded by Sergei Diaghilev. Their relationship would soon go beyond the professional. As Nijinsky's star swiftly rose, the pair became lovers. This was probably not Nijinsky's first relationship with a man; he had been introduced to a Russian nobleman at about 18 with the blessing of his mother, and a sexual trade in ballet dancers was common at the time. Yet four years later, Nijinsky married Hungarian woman Romola de Pulszky, the daughter of a politician – who had become spellbound after seeing Nijinsky perform, broke off her existing engagement and relentlessly pursued him, eventually securing a wedding in Buenos Aires in 1913. Callum Linnane. Photograph: Kate Longley But having parted ways with Diaghilev's dance company, Nijinsky found it increasingly stressful to try and manage his own tours, and his mental state began to deteriorate. In early 1919, he made what would be his final public performance, an improvised solo piece in Switzerland. The dance was, even for a dancer with a reputation for pushing the boundaries, a strange and perhaps unsettling one. On stage, Nijinsky stood still for a long while before performing a piece that seemed to traverse a rainbow of different emotions. Later that year, aged 29 or 30, Nijinsky would be diagnosed with schizophrenia and institutionalised, spending much of the remainder of his life in and out of treatment centres. He is remembered as one of ballet's finest ever dancers, a visionary who changed the art form forever. For Callum Linnane, who will dance as Nijinsky, this a deeply fulfilling ballet to perform. Linnane is reprising a role he played when the Australian Ballet first staged this production in 2016. 'I remember we performed it in three cities and it was a standing ovation in every show,' Linnane says. 'People were so transported by it. Ever since we finished, I've wanted the ballet to come back. It's just been nine years waiting for it, to be honest. So I can't wait.' Let yourself be carried away by the passion and complexity of Nijinsky – at Melbourne's Regent Theatre for one week only this February.
