Yves Saint Laurent and the Music Hall
The costumes of Zizi Jeanmaire
As part of the Nuit européenne des Musées 2018, the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris will be exhibiting a special selection of seven costumes that the couturier designed for the dancer Zizi Jeanmaire.
These costumes—which represent veritable technical achievements featuring strass, paillettes, and colored feathers—will be displayed throughout each section of the museum from Friday, May 18 to Sunday, May 20.
As part of the Nuit européenne des musées 2018, admission to the museum will be free (no reservations) on Saturday, May 19, between 7 p.m. and midnight (last entry at 11.15 pm)
Teaser - Yves Saint Laurent et le music-hall
Yves Saint Laurent and the Music Hall
"Mademoiselle Jeanmaire shines. As soon as she appears on stage everything comes to life in fire and flames. It is the particular privilege of the queens of music hall: the mere outline of their silhouette sets the hall on fire, creates the mirage, the dream."
Renée Jeanmaire—better known as “Zizi” —revolutionized the world of music hall along with her husband, the choreographer Roland Petit. She managed to straddle the divide between ballet and music hall, switching between pointe shoes and high heels as she danced from the stage of the Opéra de Paris to the grand staircase of the Casino de Paris.
Jeanmaire and Petit’s first meeting with Yves Saint Laurent in Dior's workshops in 1956 led to a great friendship and numerous collaborations for the stage. Zizi Jeanmaire felt alive in the feathers, diamonds and strass costumes of Yves Saint Laurent, who completely reinvented his approach to designing when it came to the world of music hall.
