“Art is work erased by work.”
Firmin Gruss has a sense of the formula.
It's been two hours since this Sunday in February, dozens of stallions and a handful of acrobats paraded under the Folies Gruss marquee.
The four generations of this family of passionate workers prepare the afternoon show under the leadership of the dry-featured patriarch.
50 years ago, Alexis Gruss set up his troupe in Paris, for a show which was only supposed to last a few weeks.
Since then, success has never wavered and their immense pointed tent in the Bois de Boulogne is always full.
Since 2019, the Gruss have opened their morning rehearsals to spectators, and mix equestrian art with cabaret.
“We have given ourselves the means to keep these family values, it is something dear, which we defend,”
explains Firmin Gruss, under the proud eye of his father, who will celebrate his 80th birthday this year.