Paris : The Crazy Horse with the french team

Since the World Cup kicked off, the girls of the Crazy Horse Saloon, a well-known Parisian cabaret, have been kitted out in red, white and blue. And to support the FRANCE team a special number entitled “Allez la FRANCE” has been added to their already highly colourful repertoire.

To the tune of Serge Gainsboug’s Marseillaise, the scantily clad “Crazy” girls, wearing only a rosette and a tricolour-coloured suspender belt, start up a victory march in front of a mesmerised international audience. Then, with red, white and blue pompoms, they form a large French flag with their own bodies.

This scene takes place very early on to set the mood: the Crazy Horse is international, but still French at heart. As Tara Carembole, a Slovakian dancer, explains: “We are very proud, and we are going to support FRANCE all we can, especially on Friday, because they will need us against ITALY.” The dancers come from many different backgrounds, but the French have their own personal favourites. However, during the matches without the Blues, each dancer goes back to supporting their national team. City Nebula, who is French, admits to also having a thing for certain Italians like Paolo MALDINI. When it comes to tipping a winner, these new football experts place FRANCE and BRAZIL on equal standing.

These dancers have no real interest in football the rest of the year round. But, since 10 June, three televisions in the wings have been showing the World Cup matches. “It’s lovely to see two teams fighting it out”, according to Mona Barocco. The same compliment could be made to the dancers, since the dance routines place as much emphasis on physical beauty as on physical endurance.

These charming supporters unfortunately don’t have much time to follow the matches, since they perform at the same time. “We only get to see a few minutes between each scene”, sighs City. Luckily, members of the audience from out of town, usually Brazilians and Mexicans, come along to the midnight performance after the matches to create a party atmosphere with the girls. The rapport between the different nationalities is perfect when they are there to have fun. “It makes for a good atmosphere in the saloon”, City adds. The saloon will certainly be lively on the night of the 12 July. “There’s no way we’re going to miss it!”, admitted the girls.