Julie Rose Wilde suggested that I be a sort of dancing Pied Piper around the most enchanting locations of Paris where I have the good fortune to live. A handful of us arrived on a Monday evening in summer at the elegant place de Trocadéro with its magnificent panorama of the Eiffel Tower, only to find it was thronged with tourists. So how could we shoot?
Suddenly divine intervention struck in the form of a thunderstorm, the fork lightning and torrential rain driving people to scurry away. A street vendor sold us an umbrella which hardly covered my hat, let alone the portable mini speakers that David had around his neck like a garland of garlic. A clap of thunder as loud as a fierce bomb preceded twenty minutes of hard rain. Then, to my bewilderment David instructed me to dance now, saying the rain was starting to ease off, but to my eyes still pouring! That’s why the umbrella is there; it wasn’t meant to be a prop and moreover the short-lived gale winds made it impossible to hold it upright.
Then the rain let up and the sun came out quite strongly. So serendipity! I was astonished to discover the gleaming skate rink effect created by redemption of the summer sun on the wet marble paving stones.
Next stop was place de la Concorde, where gleaming yellow and orange Ferrari muscle sports cars caught David’s eye. Gracefully, Keith joined in the dance there, followed by Thierry and Dora, for the arch. Oh! No! David, you want me to dance up there on the rim of the fountain? The teetering effect was thanks to my fear of falling in!
Jessica, a fellow Oriental dancer, was waiting for us at Paris’ most romantic spot, over the river Seine, with all the love locks, Le Pont des Arts, where the tradition is to throw the key into the swirling river after locking your heart to the one you love. This is where we danced on the benches and where the group mushroomed to include Matthieu, Catherine and François, David orchestrating some shape to the band as he shot, much to the pleasure of picnicking onlookers.
The refreshments were had at the Café Panis, a typical French bistro in the Latin Quarter, where we happily toasted success to Julie and Austin, the stars of the music over in Georgia.
The final call was at the awesome, and at this late hour, spooky Notre-Dame Cathedral. We had been tippling so the energy is all the more palpable in these scenes. Indeed afterwards, that night I just couldn’t sleep, drenched as I was in the euphoria of adrenalin. What a boost, good music, good friends and creativity brings.
The music was written and sung by Julie Rose Wilde, the video sequences in Paris were shot and edited by photographer in Paris David Henry, the dancing participants include Keith Sarver, Catherine Julian, François Rosny, Jessica Zhou, Matthieu Nevouet, and Thierry & Dora Sotot. Thanks all!
—Maria D’Arcy
This is a version of the video put together by Austin Smith for Julie’s Kickstarter campaign.
All images, video and text are © 2024, Maria D’Arcy, all rights reserved. Written permission is required for any use.