Night Life in Paris.. . La! La!

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 June 1927, Page 9

Night Life in Paris.. . La! La!

The Feiies Bergere and Sts Dazzling Ballets...

Many Strange Attractions Moulin 81eu...

WITHOUT knowing exactly -what it represented, I had been familiar with the term, “FoliesBergere” from the shadowy days of youth; so, being in Paris, the home of the ITolies, I decided to see for myself. This decision was not the result of curiosity only, but of skilful suggestion from Australian friends. Such remarks as: “Of course you have seen the Folies,” had the effect of giving me a guilty feeling of almost criminal negligence. I therefore paid a visit to the booking-office. The young man in charge received us with “nods and becks and wreathed smiles,” and in answer to our question regarding the price of seats, said firmly, “Eighty-five francs!” In a spasm of lightning calculation, I reduced this mentally to English coinage, discovered that it represented fourteen shillings and twopence, and said, even more firmly, that unless he could supply me with cheaper seats I should not book at all. At this announcement, he looked very serious, and the smiles were replaced by an expression of pitying contempt. We glared at each other, then I said, “What are the second seats" He was almost certain there

was none available, but he would make inquiries. He took up the telephone, and spoke in French for some minutes, and I shall always be convinced that there was nobody at the other end, but his varying expressions during his one-sided conversation were highly diverting. First grave disappointment, then tremulous hope; finally, utter joy, as he rang off and announced that ■ by a very good chance, there were four vacant chairs in the front row of the first balcony at fifty francs each; that is eight shillings and fourpence. More smiles from both parties and the seats were booked for the Saturday afternoon matinee. We rose to go, but as my friends were talking to the young man, I looked round at the posters with which the walls of the little office were covered, and one caused me to burst out laughing. It is a strange

thing that a middle-aged woman can never indulge in a sudden gust of laughter without causing her friends to look both shocked and alarmed. On this occasion they became silent and gazed at me with pain, bewilderment and apprehension. I pointed to the poster, and they, too, smiled, and the young man was so amused at my amusement that he gave me a bundle of small advertising folders, which are going to New Zealand by this mail.

The poster that had amused me contained the following announcements in letters fully six inches high: “Bold pictures! Splendid nudities! Poetical evocations! Suggestive danc ing! Foolish bursts of laughter' Biting satire! Charleston Black bottom! ”

Do you wonder at my laughter? Al) this was in three languages: English, French and Italian, and to one used to the circumspect announcements of our New Zealand posters this came as a shock. But I think it only fail to add that this poster did not allude to the Folies, but to the Moulin Bleu to which I have not yet been.

Then Saturday came and we went to the show, described by the man agement as a “Hyper-Revue!” The theatre is not characterised bj' that lavish ornamentation which 1 had expected still, it is quite comfortable On entering one finds oneself in a very large hall, at one end of which is‘a raised dais where a negro orchestra plays ragtime. At the other end is a fountain, and the space between is filled with small tables and chairs, where patrons take refresh ments. At each side of these tables is room for dancing. The ceiling is draped to represent a tent, and the galleries also are covered in. Not being familiar with music-halls, and having heard that the Folies was more than a little “broad.” these draped balconies gave me a sudden fear that the booking office man had tricked us by selling seats which were curtained off from the stage, so that we should not be shocked. But fear ing ridicule from my sophisticated friends, I kept my dark suspicion to myself, and it was just as well for the show was not held in that hall at all. We walked through it, ascended a flight of stairs and entered the the atre itself. There was no draping on the balconies here, and we seated ourselves with a sigh of relief Now the splendid orchestra began. There were about seventy players, and the instruments included two grand pianos. So began the most gc rgeous and dazzling show possible to imagine Certainly most of the girls wore little more than a girdle of diamonds, but their bodies and limbs were so won derfully painted and powdered that one ceased to think of them as girls, but as lovely little animated statues. Of course it is agreed that to the pure all things are embarrassing, but I found nothing embarrassing in this amazing riot of dazzling and almost unbelievable beauty. Before attempting to describe the utterly marvellous tableaux and staging, I must mention the star of the Folies, Josephine Baker, who is advertised as La Folie Noire. She Is a woman of dark blood, about the colour

of a Maori, beautifully formed and quite tall, and is regarded as the best exponent of the charleston in the world. Even in this ugly dance, she manages to be the personification of agile grace and lightning -agility She wore very short, green knickers with a bunch of long, scarlet ostrich feathers at the back, and save for this “costume” she was nude, but her bronze skin was a relief after the rosy whiteness of the hundreds of the other dancers. When the curtain rose tor the first jme, the beauty of the scene was truly amazing. This was “The Clock of Fetes." On a high platform toward the back of the stage stood four lovely girls, representing the four seasons, in front of the clock which was of millions of gold sequins. This revolved, and as each season appeared on the dial, hundreds of dancers characterising the different seasons danced wonderfully.

To describe all the wonders of the sixty different tableaux which were presented to our dazzled gaze, would make a very long screed, but “The Flight of the Dragonflies,” which impressed me most, may merit a short description. Right across the stage stood lines of gigantic ears of glittering, golden wheat. From among this appeared several beautiful girls wearing girdles of wheat made of gold. While they danced, you saw huge coloured flowers rising and unfolding be hind the lines of wheat, and inside the flowers were other lovely girls. As the petals opened more widely, girls representing dragonflies flew slowly down and kissed the girls in the flowers. These dragonfly girls were clad in rainbow scales, which shone with glittering iridescence, and so cleverly was the mechanism worked that they seemed to be actually flying on their gauze wings. As the brilliant coloured lights played on this exquisite scene, the beauty of it was almost unbearable.

Other beautiful tableaux and ballets were the Impressions of Spain, Italy, Egypt and India. But I think the most gorgeous of all was one in which a curtain wholly covered in large col oured sequins was unfolded. This dazzling curtain, which completely covered the back of the stage, formed the background of a pretty danceplay called the “Love-Marriage.” Another novelty was the “Sitting Ballet,” ih which the dancers, at intervals, sat on the floor and bent forward until their feather headdresses touched the floor. As the different powerful lights played on the sequin curtain, and changed it to scintillating rainbows, the beauty of the scene may be imagined In many of the ensembles the coryphees wore silver and golden fibre wigs which gave a very uncommon and beautiful effect. All I have described must be regarded only as a suggestion of the exquisite beauty o f this “HyperRevue.” The marvellous popularity of the show may be gathered from the fact that it runs here montl after month to crowded houses, and also from the notice at the beginning of the programme, warning anyone from imitating the costumes, settings or dances of the revue, and concluding with the words. “To copy is to steal.”