And here I am, in my dance attire but also in Marlène Dietrich’s suite at the Lancaster hotel in Paris, where she lived a few years, where she left her piano, to discuss dance. I recently inflicted a thousand stories documenting my dance practices on my community on Instagram, because I love dancing, I love Paris and I wanted to combine these two affections of mine by dancing in Paris.
It made me a bit upset that the dance videos on Instagram were only ever rehearsals or shows, as I believe that the art of dancing needs a background more mesmerizing than the studio and more accessible than a stage… Not everyone can be Fred Astaire, after all.
I’ve dabbled in sports a fair bit. My father introduced me to running at the tender age of six, and though crying and running don’t always mesh well, I am deeply grateful to him for the introduction. Engaging in physical activity may well detoxify your body but, above all, it clears your mind, and that’s priceless.
Enriched by a physical discipline that had pushed me to run competitively, I turned towards classical dancing, Pilates and horseback riding. Nowadays, my physical routine includes a bit of all that. My main sport, however, is called having two young kids at home, and believe me, there is very little resting time.
I couldn’t really imagine myself posting a video documenting me jogging, doing Pilates or running after two hyper kids, so I opted for the most cinematic option: democratized couple’s dancing in the streets.
I had never tried couple’s dancing.
What I understood pretty quickly is that couple’s dancing brings you back to your animal condition: contact, sensuality, femininity. It’s not always straightforward to come back to those basics and be in your body as a mental person.
What I didn’t understand quite so fast, however, is that dancing in a studio, shielded from the outsider’s gaze is very different to dancing in public, with a filming crew and passerbies filming you. It’s not always straightforward when you are a mental person with a thirst for control and perfection.
It’s a good life lesson: what I present you with here is totally perfectible (for my part, of course, the teacher having about 40 years of experience), but I am sure you will follow my lead a and forgive me.
Givenchy corset – Tulle skirt – JCrew flat shoes
At the Lancaster hotel in Paris
October 11, 2019
