Paris

A century ago, Josephine Baker thrilled Paris with her Revue Nègre: France discovered jazz and realized that people of color could also make art. The location was the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, where Nijinsky's "Sacre du Printemps" had already sparked a scandal. Now the new theater director, Baptiste Charroing, has entrusted Germaine Acogny, the grande dame of dance in West Africa, with a solo as a tribute to Baker, who died fifty years ago. And the 81-year-old choreographer, with a cult-like presence, draws a connection between her own origins and Baker's fight against racism and Hitler's occupation troops: The singer was a member of the Resistance, and Acogny ends her performance in uniform. She found choreographic support from Alesandra Seutin, and the delicate production is the work ...