REPORT – Step through the small door into the backstage of Paris’s most sensual cabaret to discover the well-kept secrets of the city’s famous temple of artistic nudity.
At the back of the room, a small hidden door lined with red velvet is the key to entering the backstage of the legendary Parisian cabaret. Only the captain of the Crazy Girls brigade, Enny Gmatic, knows this, as she pulls a lever to let you through to the other side of the stage. This is a privilege in an establishment that has cultivated secrecy for 72 years. More than just a mysterious convent, the Crazy Horse is a fortress that remained impenetrable until 2006. Upon her arrival, Andrée Deissenberg, the director general of Creation and Brands, began to slowly open the curtain and reveal – always sparingly – the well-kept secrets surrounding the divine creatures of Avenue George V.
The experience begins in the early evening, at precisely 6:30 pm, before the first show. Enny Gmatic, a Franco-English dancer dressed in a black uniform – a very short jacket with double gold buttons and fitted flared trousers with the obligatory stilettos – welcomes us at the powdery pink entrance of the cabaret with a broad smile highlighted by bright red lipstick. She already has her stage makeup on, but has not yet put on her fringe wig. Her natural curly hair bounces and her eyeliner-embellished eyes sparkle: our knowledgeable guide who has been part of the troupe for twelve years tells the grand story and little anecdotes of the house that she knows inside out.
Almost military protocol
She anticipates the questions that pique visitors’ curiosity. How is recruitment done? What are the measurements required? Who choreographs the dances? Enny Gmatic explains that the casting of the dancers – between 30 and 40 girls, depending on the seasons and tours abroad, are recruited from all over the world. French, American, Australian, English, but also…
