ADELE AQUARELLE

What is the story behind your stage name?

Adèle sounds very French, doesn’t it? It reflects my roots and evokes a natural sense of refinement. Aquarelle felt like an obvious choice because I am extremely creative, I can spend hours painting or crocheting. Aquarelle also evokes light and is a subtle reference to my real first name.

What is your history with dance?

I am French and come from Normandy, where I began dancing at the age of four. I studied modern jazz and contemporary dance until I was eighteen, before joining the Académie Internationale de la Danse in Paris. That was where my world truly opened up, as I was introduced to all kinds of dance, including cabaret.

The school helped students enter the professional world, which gave me the opportunity to gain experience both on stage and on television sets. It was also there that my cabaret teacher, Nahia Vigorosa, a former Crazy Horse Paris dancer, opened my eyes to my own femininity and encouraged me to audition. She was right.

When I was selected, I chose to leave the school which had been preparing me for a career in teaching, because I wanted to be a dancer, I wanted to be on stage. I felt as though destiny was calling me, and I answered.

How did your Crazy Horse Paris audition go?

The first time was more of a trial run and I was terrified. I went to the second audition with enormous confidence and unwavering determination. I felt that it was my moment, and yet I was not selected.

I had already signed a contract to work on a cruise that was departing a week later, but deep down I was certain that my future was at Crazy Horse Paris and that it was now or never.

The following day, I called Svetlana Konstantinova, the Stage and Production Director, and asked to see her. I told her, “If you take me, I will cancel the cruise.” She simply replied that she would call me back. Nothing had changed.

I went home, cancelled the cruise and waited. Three hours later, she called to tell me I had been accepted. In the space of three hours, I went from having nothing to having everything. I had never shown such audacity before!

What excites you most about this passionate profession?

I have always been extremely shy. Dance allows me to open myself up to the world and to understand myself a little better every day.

What kind of woman are you when you dance on the Crazy Horse Paris stage?

I feel powerful, enhanced by the lights and the costumes. On the Crazy Horse Paris stage, I feel a connection with the audience that you cannot experience when dancing behind a singer on a television set.

Here, the dancer is not there to enhance the show, she is the show. And the acts are constructed so beautifully that sensuality and femininity emerge naturally, as long as you remain true to yourself.

What would you like to convey to the audience when you dance on the Crazy Horse Paris stage?

It depends on the act and on the evening. What always guides me is the interpretation. Every interpretation can communicate different emotions.

But if I had to choose one message, it would be to remain true to yourself and show who you are. You need to draw inspiration from others to progress, but you should never copy them. We each have our own personality, and that is what makes the show unique and interesting.

In your opinion, what has created the magic of Crazy Horse Paris for the past seventy-five years?

Crazy Horse Paris makes me think of a museum devoted to the beauty and power of women. Women are celebrated and protected like works of art. Everything here is about subtlety and modernity.

There is also something mysterious about the venue. I believe it is this sense of mystery that has allowed it to endure through the years without ever growing old.

Can you tell us about the solo act Attitude, the act you were chosen to perform in the show The Dubai Edition?

Attitude captivated me the very first time I saw it, and it is an honor to perform it. The dancer moves through space inside her hoop, breaks away from it and then returns to it… She appears almost weightless; such is the freedom of her movements.

The act is also rooted in classical dance, which gives it an extraordinary sense of grace.