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Crazy Horse (cabaret)
Encyclopedia
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
ian cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
known for its stage shows performed by nude female dancers and for the diverse range of magic and variety 'turns' between each nude show. Its owners have helped to create related shows in other cities, and unrelated businesses have used the phrase "Crazy Horse" in their names.
The Paris Crazy Horse occupies former wine cellars (12 in all - knocked together) of an impressive Haussmanian
Haussmann's renovation of Paris
Haussmann's Renovation of Paris, or the Haussmann Plan, was a modernization program of Paris commissioned by Napoléon III and led by the Seine prefect, Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, between 1853 and 1870...
building at 12 Avenue George V (from King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
, in French "George Cinq").
Alain Bernardin opened it in 1951 and personally operated it for decades until his death by suicide in 1994. Many of the original waiters (their names stitched in large letters onto the back of their waistcoats) were also substantial shareholders in the original company.
The dancers are deliberately chosen to be indistinguishable on stage in height and in breast size and shape. , the enterprise remains a family business, now in the hands of Bernardin's three now grown-up children. Using the name "Le Crazy Horse de Paris" for the original, "Le Crazy Horse de Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
" for a similar but now-defunct show in that city, and Crazy Horse Paris for one in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
(formerly La Femme) at the MGM Grand
MGM Grand Las Vegas
The MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the third largest hotel in the world and largest hotel resort complex in the United States in front of The Venetian. The MGM Grand was the largest hotel in the world when it opened in...
.
Along with its dancers, the Crazy Horse has also been a popular venue for many other artists, including magicians, jugglers, and mimes. Bernardin explained that he loved magic because it corresponded with his vision: "[Magic] is a dream. There is no show that is more dreamlike than a magic show. And what we do with the girls is magic, too, because they aren't as beautiful as you see them onstage. It's the magic of lights and costumes. These are my dreams and fascinations that I put onstage."
Under new management, Crazy Horse has recently started featuring famous or prestigious artists stripping for a limited number of shows, such as Dita Von Teese
Dita Von Teese
Dita Von Teese is an American burlesque dancer, model, costume designer, author and actress.-Early life:...
, Carmen Electra
Carmen Electra
Tara Leigh Patrick , professionally known as Carmen Electra, is an American glamour model, actress, television personality, singer, and dancer...
, Aria Cascaval
Paradiso Girls
The Paradiso Girls were a girl group and the brainchild of Jimmy Iovine, an attempt to create a European spin–off of Iovine's other girl group The Pussycat Dolls. After forming in 2007, the group consisted of seven members but by 2008 this had dropped to five...
, Arielle Dombasle
Arielle Dombasle
Arielle Dombasle is a French-American singer, actress, director and model. Her breakthrough roles were in Éric Rohmer's Pauline at the Beach and Alain Robbe-Grillet's The Blue Villa...
or Pamela Anderson
Pamela Anderson
Pamela Denise Anderson is a Canadian-American actress, model, producer, author, activist, and former showgirl, known for her roles on the television series Home Improvement, Baywatch, and V.I.P. She was chosen as a Playmate of the Month for Playboy magazine in February 1990...
. They have also hired Philippe Decouflé
Philippe Decouflé
Philippe Decouflé is a French choreographer, dancer, mime artist, and theatre director. As a child he travelled extensively around Lebanon and Morocco, before learned his skills as a teenager at the Annie Fratellini Ecole du Cirque and the Marceau Mime School...
as choreographer
The Paradiso Girls have named their album Crazy Horse after the club, as one of their members Aria Cascaval
Paradiso Girls
The Paradiso Girls were a girl group and the brainchild of Jimmy Iovine, an attempt to create a European spin–off of Iovine's other girl group The Pussycat Dolls. After forming in 2007, the group consisted of seven members but by 2008 this had dropped to five...
worked here. It is also mentioned in the Motley Crue
Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. The group was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil...
song "Girls, Girls, Girls".
History
A branch opened in Clarke Quay, SingaporeClarke Quay
Clarke Quay is a historical riverside quay in Singapore, located within the Singapore River Planning Area. The quay is situated upstream from the mouth of the Singapore River and Boat Quay.-Etymology:...
in December 2005, but closed in February 2007 due to poor business.
Film history
In 1977, the club created and appeared in a documentary film, known as Crazy-Horse, Paris-France, or Crazy Horse de Paris .Crazy Horse-Le Show.A 2004 documentary on DVD format.
Crazy Horse,Paris.A 2009 documentary on DVD format. The video features Dita von Teese
Dita Von Teese
Dita Von Teese is an American burlesque dancer, model, costume designer, author and actress.-Early life:...
.
Other clubs
Other entertainments with varying degrees of resemblance and similar names, but unaffiliated with the original, include:- The Crazy HorseThe Crazy HorseThe Crazy Horse, named after the Parisian Crazy Horse , is a legendary cabaret on Rue de Phénicie in Beirut, Lebanon. It was an infamous nightclub during the 1960s and 1970s when it was both a bar and a brothel, and considered the most outrageous of Beirut’s bawdy nightlife establishments...
, Beirut, Lebanon - Crazy Horse TooCrazy Horse TooCrazy Horse Too was a strip club located at 2466 Industrial Road in Las Vegas, Nevada, Nevada on Industrial Road a few blocks west of the Las Vegas Strip. The club was patterned after the original Crazy Horse Saloon club on Paradise Road, which was owned by Jack Galardi .The club was owned by...
, Las Vegas - Crazy Horse, Myrtle Beach, South CarolinaMyrtle Beach, South CarolinaMyrtle Beach is a coastal city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is situated on the center of a large and continuous stretch of beach known as the Grand Strand in northeastern South Carolina. It is considered to be a major tourist destination in the...
- Crazy Horse Gentlemen's Club, San FranciscoSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
- Crazy Horse, Adelaide, Australia
- Crazy Horse, Gold Coast, Australia
- Crazy Horse, Winston-Salem, North CarolinaWinston-Salem, North CarolinaWinston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...
- Crazy Horse, Akron, OhioAkron, OhioAkron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
- Crazy Horse, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- Crazy Horse Too, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
- Crazy Horse Cabaret, Bronx, New York