L'expression+Française

__Famous French Expressionists__

__1. M.C. Solaar (Rapper)__  M.C. Solaar’s real name is Claude M'Barali. He was born March 5, 1969, in Dakar, Senegal. He is one of the most influential French rappers, and is known for his complexity, wordplay, lyricism, and philosophical inquiry. In 1990 M’Barali went to Paris in hopes of making it big in the music industry, which didn't take long, considering that his first single “Bouge de là”( “Take a hike” ) became a hit later in the year.

After “Bouge de là” went platinum, M.C. Solaar went on to support the famous American rap group De La Soul when they performed in Paris in 1991. At the end of 1991, Solaar released “Qui Sème le Vent Récolte le Tempo” which sold over 400,000 copies in France.

After the success of his first album, Solaar went on tour in Poland and Russia, and twelve countries in west Africa. In February 95, M.C. Solaar received an award for Best Male Singer of the Year at the 10th edition of the French “Victoires de la Musique” awards. Solaar’s career continued to evolve as time went by, and his fame continued to rise.

__2. Raymond Devos (Comedian)__

Raymond Devos, a Belgian comedian, was born in Mouscron, Belgium, close to the French border. When he was two, Devos and his parents moved to Tourcoing, France. Devos was very talented at captivating audiences and he developed a passion for it. During the Second World War, he was sent to Germany to work. On his return to France, he took acting and mime lessons at the Étienne Ducroux school., where he met Marcel Marceau in 1948. He was part of a burlesque trio.

Raymond’s interests showed how good he was at the french language. The fact that he could be witty with his comments on the spot spoke volumes of his character. Also, what he spent his time on.

Devos became most famous with his humor, quick-wit, puns, and heavy sarcasm. In 1950 Raymond’s career took off. He started doing his own writings and he started opening for people. His first opening act was for Maurice Chevalier. His act still consisted of juggling and the main clown things. Though he was a mime/juggler, he was more well-known for his abundance of knowledge with the french language.  Raymond preformed for the last time in 1999 in Olympia Theater in Paris.

__3. Le Mime Marceau (“Bip the Clown”) (Mime)__

 Marcel Marceau was born Marcel Mangel on March 22, 1923, to Ann Werzberg and Charles Mangel in Stratsbourg, France. At a young age, Marcel showed an interest in mimicking the movements of animals and people. His parents saw that their son had the potential to become a skilled mime, and encouraged him to work at it and become even better.

During the German occupation of France in WW II, Marcel had to put his passion on hold. His father was captured in 1944 and deported to Auschwitz, the infamous German concentration camp that very few people survived.

Marcel and his older brother, Alain, adopted the name Marceau in order to avoid capture by Nazi officials. During the war, Marcel served in the Allied army, and during the course of his military career he saved many children.

After he was demobilized in 1946, Marcel Marceau enrolled in Charles Dullin’s School of Dramatic Art, where he continued to study theater, particularly mime, with some of the greatest teachers, like Joshua Smith and Étienne Decroux.

After leaving Charles Dullin’s School of Dramatic Art, Marcel joined Jean-Louis Barrault’s company, where he was cast in the role of Arlequin in the pantomime Baptiste. Marcel received much acclaim for his performance in Baptiste, as well as his mimodrama, Praxitele and the Golden Fish, so much, in fact, that his career as a mime was assured. media type="youtube" key="1nEk5Uq2vQM" height="351" width="484" align="left" Marcel eventually left Jean-Lois Barrault’s company, and created his own character to play. Bip the Clown, as iconic as Charlie Chaplin’s “Little Tramp”, wore a battered top hat with a red flower, and a black and white striped pullover, to represent life’s fragility. Bip had a nearly endless amount of misadventures, with nearly anything, nearly anywhere.

Marcel Marceau was a world renowned mime, and received rave reviews regardless of where he performed, be it in France, America, or anywhere else.

Marcel also appeared in six different films, including Barbarella, Shanks, Mel Brooks Silent Movie (in which he ironically has the only audible speaking part), The Fantastic Night, Monsieur Vincent, and The Jodorwosky Constellation.

Along with being a talented mime and movie actor, Marcel also wrote quite a few books, including the Marcel Marceau counting and alphabet children’s books, as well as an art and poetry book called Le Ballade de Paris et de Monde (The Ballad of Paris and of the World) which he wrote in 1966.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Marcel Marceau died on September 22, 2007, at the age of 84, at the racetrack in Cahors, France, and is still considered one of the most famous mimes ever to have preformed.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">__4. Le Grand Corps Malade ( [Slam] Poet)__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Fabien Marsaud was born on July 31, 1977 in Le Blanc-Mesnil. While he was born there, he grew up in a neighboring village called Saint-Denis. Growing up, he was told by his mother to read much and often. Instead of reading, though, he found great excitement in listening to books being read to him. When he wasn’t listening to books, he was listening to rap, his favorite kind of music.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As a teenager, he decided to be what he loved. He wanted to become a physical education teacher. Fabien was working his way through his degree when, during the summer of 1997, he was injured in a diving accident while working at a children’s camp. He was left almost a paraplegic and underwent some serious physical therapy, where he learned how to walk again. Fabien still has a limp and has to walk with a cane, but at least he can walk.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Fabien was introduced to “slam poetry” by a childhood friend. Slam poetry is a poetry movement that started in the United States. It is poetry read aloud to a beat, rhythm, or instrumental music. Once Fabien learned of slam poetry, he decided to start creating his own poems and putting them to music. Fabien found himself a microphone use and chose his stage name immediately. He named himself Le Grand Corps Malade (roughly meaning “Tall Sick Boy” .)

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Fabien went to every open mic he could find. He started going to neighboring suburbs to use the open mic and then he started playing clubs including ‘Flow d’encre’ and ‘Le Cercle des poètes sans instru’. One of these clubs was a workshop and the other was a group of people who enjoy both music and poetry.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Fabien was discovered by comedian Jean Rachid, while on stage at a local bar. After that night in May, Fabien promised to be in touch. In September of 2005 Fabien got to preform in front of a specially chosen audience of celebrities. In 2006 he preformed as an opening act for Elie Semoun and comedian Edouard Baer.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‘Midi 20’ was Fabien’s debut album made in twelve days with a small group of musicians on a tight budget. After a week on the market, ‘Midi 20’ jumped all the way to number 8. It wound up at number 3 on the charts. ‘Midi 20’ went gold and sold over a million copies in that time. Pretty impressive for an unknown talent!

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">He continued on with his career which resulted in 2 consecutive sold out concerts. On May 15th and May 16th in Paris. Fabien went on to preform on 60 more occasions that year. All with a good turn-out.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In 2007 at the France’s ‘Victoires de la Musique’ awards Fabien went on to win 2 awards. They were “Best <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Album By a New Talent” and “Best Live Show by a New Talent.”

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Fabien released his second album with the same band from the first album. The band’s name is Feedback. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Extended his inner circle to Renaud’s pianist and Thomas Fersen’s accordionist.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When he wasn’t busy with his busy schedule, Fabien hosted slam workshops.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Fabien’s 3rd album (3e temps) is mostly about the issues in society and politics. When he had a child, he was inspired to write another poem with a famous musician.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">__5. Édith Piaf (Normal singer)__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Born December 19 1915, Édith Piaf was a poplar French singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> There are many stories of Édith's life, but most of her childhood is unknown. She was born Edith Giovanna Gassion in Bellevile, Paris. There is a tale that she was born on Rue de Belleville 72, but her birth certificate states that she was born in L’Hôpital Tenon.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">She was named after Edith Cavall ,who was a WW I British nurse who was executed for helping French soldiers escape from Germany. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Annetta Giovanna Mailard, Édith’s mother, was part French, Italian and Berber. Louis - Alphose Gassion, Édith’s father was a Norman street acrobat with a past in theatre. Édith’s parents abandoned her and she was sent to her grandmother’s. Before he enlisted in the French army to fight in WW I, her father took her to her grandmother, who owned a brothel in Normandy. At the brothel, prostitutes helped to look after Édith.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">From age three to seven Édith supposedly was blind due to keratitis. Some stories say that she recovered her sight due to her going on a pilgrimage to honor Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, who miraculously healed her. Her grandmother’s prostitutes pooled money for Édith to go on the trip. <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Édith later joined her father in his acrobatic street performances all over France. This is when she first sang in public.Later she separated from her father to go her own way as a street singer in Pigalle Ménilmontant.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In 1935, Édith was discovered in Paris by Louis Leplée, a night club owner whose club was visited by both upper and lower classes. He persuaded her to sing even though she was very nervous. Her nervous appearance combined with her height of 4’ 8’’ inspired her nickname, “ The Little Sparrow .” Leplée taught her to wear a black dress and the fundamentals of stage presence.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On 6 April 1936, Leplée was murdered and Piaf was questioned and accused as an accessory. Leplée had been killed by mobsters with previous ties to Piaf. A barrage of negative media attention now threatened her career. To rehabilitate her image, she recruited Raymond Asso, with whom she would become romantically involved. He changed her stage name to " Édith Piaf ", barred undesirable acquaintances from seeing her, and commissioned Monnot to write songs that reflected or alluded to Piaf's previous life on the streets.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In 1940, Édith co-starred in Jean Cocteau's successful one-act play Le Bel Indifférent. She began forming friendships with prominent people, including Maurice Chevalier and poet Jacques Borgeat. She wrote the lyrics of many of her songs and collaborated with composers on the tunes. In 1944, she discovered Yves Montand in Paris, made him part of her act, and became his mentor and lover.Within a year, he became one of the most famous singers in France, and she broke off their relationship when he had become almost as popular as she was.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">During this time she was in great demand and very successful in Paris as France's most popular entertainer. After the war, she became known internationally, touring Europe, the United States, and South America. In Paris, she gave Atahualpa Yupanqui, the most important Argentine musician of folklore, the opportunity to share the scene, making his debut in July 1950. She helped launch the career of Charles Aznavour in the early 1950s, taking him on tour with her in France and the United States and recording some of his songs. At first she met with little success with U.S. audiences, who regarded her as downcast. After a glowing review by a prominent New York critic her popularity grew, to the point where she eventually appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show eight times and at Carnegie Hall twice.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Édith Piaf's signature song "La vie en rose" was written in 1945 and was voted a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Bruno Coquatrix's famous Paris Olympia music hall is where Piaf achieved lasting fame, giving several series of concerts at the hall, the most famous venue in Paris, between January 1955 and October 1962. Excerpts from five of these concerts were issued on record and CD and have never been out of print. The 1961 concerts were promised by Piaf in an effort to save the venue from bankruptcy and where she debuted her song "Non, je ne regrette rien". In April 1963, Piaf recorded her last song, "L'homme de Berlin".

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