Friday, July 19, 2002 | 9:09 a.m.
"La Femme," performed in the renamed and redecorated MGM Grand's La Femme Theatre, is the only true representation of Paris' famed Crazy Horse.
The late Alain Bernardin, an amateur artist and full-time antique dealer, founded the Crazy Horse in 1951 with the idea of combining color and various light styles to celebrate the female body as an art form.
His children have carefully preserved and presented their father's vision, "The Art of the Nude."
"La Femme" is the class of this genre. The comparison would be classical music vs. the claptrap that is rap and what passes for popular music today.
The production began with a short historical film, interesting and nicely done, followed by a military precision number featuring the 12 dancers. Yes, the dancers are topless, but it's not the in-your-face approach of its current competition. There was another short film of the women disrobing to go onstage.
Psykko Tico was featured in "Rotor Variations," an acro-dance within a ring that rotated onstage. Very artistic, this was really a feature number. There were two others. "Vestal's Desire" utilized five dancers in a harem theme. Next came "Lecon d'Erotisme," starring Crispy Suzette in black on a couch, the first erotic sequence, sexy but slightly overdone.
Five dancers were featured in "Classico Loco," quick movements with a touch of humor. By this point, one should have become aware that each scene has a different look, color and feeling. The Quiddlers were the second featured variety act, two men with puppet figures, "Micro-Jackson" and an ape. Real European music hall humor, once available here, now sadly missing.
"Pardon ... My French," an ensemble number featuring five dancers, was another infinite variation of the female form as art. Vera Cardamome lip-synced the lyrics of "But I'm A Good Girl," using two onstage panels to demonstrate otherwise. All the dancers participated in an adagio, utilizing stage turntables and travelers. Very inventive.
"Cuando Mi Amor Quebro Mi Corazon" saluted the Argentine tango as a strong solo feature piece by Zula Zazou. "See Through Peek-A-Boo" was another five-dancer effort, the only scene in black and white, sans other colors, and was at its sexiest when the dancers were covered with filmy gowns.
Magician Stephane Vanol, a prestidigitator, utilized playing cards and worked at breakneck speed in a short but effective variety turn. "You Turn Me On" was an extended closer identifying all 12 dancers. I came away reminded that all the great visual art that has survived has dealt with the beauty of the human form, male and female.
"La Femme" has accomplished this for the female form, artistically and with taste and simplicity plus entertainment values.
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