The image of an elegant older woman at a dance evening organized at La Coupole, one of the most famous brasseries in Paris, stuck in the memory of photographer Julie Glassberg, then a young student, three decades ago.
The woman explained that, in addition to the fact that she loved to dance, it was a perfect place to meet lovers.
There the French author, collaborator among others of
The New York Times
,
Le Monde
or EL PAÍS, places the germ of
Stayin' alive
- surviving, like the legendary disco song by the Bee Gees -, an artistic project that goes out to meet a part of society hidden from the majority, that of the elderly who do not stop their lives because they have turned many years old, who continue dancing, working, playing sports, falling in love...
That first image in La Coupole gave direction to an interest that Glassberg had always felt in the social image that the elderly project, and that grew in contact with all the “extravagant, dynamic, very integrated” elderly people who crossed his path. all over the world.
Finally, everything ended up taking shape during the covid pandemic, when the elderly became the great focus of attention, crushed between the impulse to protect them and their need to continue living despite everything.
Thus, this work rebels against stereotypes and looks of fear and displeasure.
“Certainly, our envelope changes and transforms, but its beauty is only a matter of perception.
If the fire continues to burn, there is no reason to stop,” Glassberg writes.
This photographic work has been produced with the support of the
National Library of France
.
Brigitte, 66, a regular at the Duplex's evenings, preens herself before going out dancing.
she or for the first time at 15. she continues to do it several times a week.
5. Evening at the Roaljorero, in Monteux.1Julie Glassberg
Detail of the room of Gisèle, a 75-year-old woman who also regularly attends the Duplex.
Julie Glassberg
This is Gisèle.
She started going out dancing to forget her problems and she forgot them.
Julie Glassberg
Gisèle, a 75-year-old woman we met in the previous double page, kisses her new boyfriend on the Duplex dance floor.Julie Glassberg
Jean-Paul Duret was born 82 years ago and danced for the first time at Julie Glassberg
Jean-Paul Duret prepares to leave.
Julie Glassberg
Paul (78 years old) is a widower.
13 years ago he met Marceline at the Duplex.
Today they are still together.
“Isn't life great?
There are girls, there is music, there are drinks, what more do we want?,” he says.
Julie Glassberg
More dances in Chambly.
Julie Glassberg
A moment from the evenings of music and dance that the Parisian venue Duplex offers every Sunday and Monday from 2:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Julie Glassberg
Someone has brought their pet to the Chambly evening, up north.
from Paris.
Julie Glassberg
Claudine Touitou is a regular at the Chalet du Lac, Napoleon's former hunting lodge in the Bois de Vincennes.Julie Glassberg
At the Chez Gégène in Paris there is dancing on Sunday afternoons.
Julie Glassberg
Scene in the Le Manoir room, opened in Bailleul 70 years ago.Julie Glassberg
The Sensation Dance School in Paris also organizes evenings.
Julie Glassberg
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