Crazy Horse fascinates as much as it intrigues. The famous Parisian cabaret opened its doors to us for an interview with one of its dancers: Santa Stiletto. Atmosphere behind the scenes, weight to respect, stage name… she tells us.
Last refuge of Parisian glamour, the Crazy Horse continues to attract stars on stage from Pamela Anderson to Conchita Wurst via Karol G. The legendary cabaret in the Champs-Élysées district also counts on its troupe of 35 dancers all year round to bring the magic of the place to life every evening for spectators who are always captivated. One of them, Santa Stiletto, told us about her job as a dancer at the Crazy. The opportunity to discover a little more behind the scenes…
It’s been a year and a half since the young woman joined the Crazy Horseafter four failed auditions, she who was before that “fan of this place“and that she finds, even today”very mysterious with backstage really full of surprises and wonders.” On stage, she becomes Santa Stiletto and explains that the stage name Crazy Girls was chosen for them after a few months of training! “It’s truly a tradition, initiated by Alain Bernardin (the founder of Crazy Horse, editor’s note)to choose the stage name, to baptize a girl. We have the right to refuse it if we don’t like it. They then found us a second one. But on the other hand, we are obliged to accept the second and we cannot return to the first. We know what we lose, but we don’t know what we gain“, she said.
For her part, she owes her name, which translates as the “saint of the stiletto heel”, to an imagined mix between her Italian origins, her empathetic side and… her passion for heels. “I realize today that I wear heels all the time. I never or very rarely wear flat shoes….“
Since she was a dancer at Crazy Horseshe discovers the rhythm and constraints of such a profession. If she needs to arrive”maximum one hour before the start of the show“and only takes”10 or 15 minutes to put on makeup“, she does not hide the fact that she must be very careful about her weight and her figure. “It is true that we are committed, in part, for our physique. We are weighed every week. Besides, we have an entry weight at Crazy Horse that we are not allowed to exceed, two kilos, whether more or less..” On the other hand, “there is no age limit. As long as the body follows.“
There is also the question of nudity on stage. But Santa Stiletto brushes aside this constraint. “I’m modest, but not with my body. My body is a work tool that I love and take care of. I feel good in my body. The nudity at Crazy Horse is really well done. We are dressed in light. There is a whole universe. The room is made to be like in a movie. People see a cinema screen“, she assures. The dancer also reminds future candidates “that it is a difficult and committed profession“. She also invites girls who dream of joining the cabaret to “ask yourself the right questions to know why you want to be at Crazy“.
Happy to have finally joined the troop, Santa Stiletto doesn’t talk about this unusual job – the salary remains secret – which she shares with the small handful of chosen ones. “I think it’s still important to say that, and it’s not negative, it’s still competition. We are in a place that we are all very much in love with. So that inevitably raises passion. Everyone also wants to make Crazy Horse their own, me first in fact..”
And the young woman wants to set the record straight: “Honestly, I can’t say we’re like family. But I can say that for me, and I think for a lot of girls, they’re like sisters. That is to say that even if sometimes there are disappointments, I tell myself that we are still doing something that is unique, that we are still a little unique in the world and that these remain my favorite people in the world too. I think we all love each other very much.”
