Dancing at the Louvre like Beyoncé and Jay-Z
Ahead of the Paris Olympics, the worldâs largest museum welcomes visitors for a very special warm-up
By Julia Webster Ayuso
âFor the next ten minutes, I want you to use as much of the space as you can,â says dancer and choreographer Salim Bagayoko, as we dance and clap our hands to the beat of the Jackson 5âs 1978 hit, Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground). Itâs 8 am and Iâm one of roughly 60 lucky people, split into two groups, attending his sold-out dance class. The space Bagayoko is talking about is the huge reception room known as the Salle des Cariatides which was used as a ballroom in the 16th and 17th centuries. Itâs also where Molière first performed some of his plays for King Louis XIV. Today, the roomâs primary purpose is to showcase a collection of Greek and Roman sculptures that are part of the largest museum on Earth: the Louvre.
Titled âCourez au Louvreâ (âRun in, or to, the Louvreâ) todayâs event offers museumgoers the unique experience of starting the day by dancing and exercising amongst works of art, in a crowd-free Louvre. The event, hosted by the museum in collaboration with dance company CCN de Créteil et du Val-de-Marne â EMKA, is part of the programming of the Cultural Olympiad, a series of events in the run-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics, and is taking place throughout May before the museum opens in the morning. The event has been dreamed up by dancer and choreographer Mehdi Kerkouche, a rising figure in contemporary dance who works across film, theater, and music. He has left us in the capable hands of instructors, each of whom is teaching a workshop in a different part of the museumâs Sully wing during the hour-long session.
![From left to right: Salim Bagayoko, Léo Bordessoule, Mehdi Kerkouche, Queensy Blazinâ, and Laure Dary at the Musée du Louvre © 2023 Musée du Louvre, Hanna Pallot](https://dza2a2ql7zktf.cloudfront.net/binaries-cdn/dqzqcuqf9/image/fetch/q_auto,dpr_2.0,c_fill,f_auto,w_1223/https://d2u3kfwd92fzu7.cloudfront.net/asset/cms/Mehdi_Kerkouche_au_mus_e_du_Louvre1__c__2023_mus_e_du_Louvre_Hann-1.jpg)
After Bagayoko has made us perform a series of dance moves, including hip bumps, a sassy runway-walk, and a Saturday Night Fever-style âdisco fingerâ, weâre warmed up and ready to move on to the next workshop. The mood amongst participants â a mixture of all ages â is decidedly giddy. As our team leader, dancer Jérémie Sibethal, hurries us to the next class, we jog through the empty Galerie des Antiques. There are giggles of incredulity. No one can quite believe weâre here, working out in leggings and running shoes at the break of dawn.
It feels instinctively wrong to run too fast â partly out of respect, and partly to have time to admire the artworks around us. But thereâs no time to waste. In less than an hour, visitors will be flooding through the doors and, across the museum, staff can be seen getting ready for their arrival. As we turn a corner into a room filled with ancient Greek sculptures, Sibethal makes an exception and grants us a moment to admire the Vénus de Milo, one of the Louvreâs most famous works, standing elegantly in a room of her own. The silence, and the absence of phones and selfie sticks, is a true luxury.
We jog through the Galerie dâAngoulême, home to the oriental antiquities collection, five adjoining rooms housing some of the oldest treasures in the Louvreâs collections, until we reach the impressive Cour Khorsabad which, under the glass pyramid, is bathed in the morning light. Here the remains of a gigantic city built at the end of the 8th century BCE in what is now northern Iraq, are integrated into the walls. The entrance is flanked by two large winged bulls, and engravings depict protective genii that once watched over King Sargon of Assyriaâs royal palace.
Weâve been instructed by Sibethal to dance as we enter this room, and as the beats emerging from it get progressively louder, itâs clear this might be a highlight of todayâs tour. Dancer and choreographer Queensy Blazinâ, co-founder of a womenâs Dancehall group, is waiting for us. âIâm so delighted to be here with you, isnât this beautiful?â she says, spreading her arms wide as she welcomes us into the majestic room. Thereâs a round of applause. âIs everybody ready?â
![âCourez au Louvreâ in Cour Khorsabad with Queensy Blazinâ, Musée du Louvre © Julien Benhamou](https://dza2a2ql7zktf.cloudfront.net/binaries-cdn/dqzqcuqf9/image/fetch/q_auto,dpr_2.0,c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,w_724/https://d2u3kfwd92fzu7.cloudfront.net/asset/cms/2_COUREZ_AU_LOUVRE__Julien_Benhamou_Z6I_8655-2.jpg)
![âCourez au Louvreâ in Cour Marly with Laure Dary, Musée du Louvre © Julien Benhamou](https://dza2a2ql7zktf.cloudfront.net/binaries-cdn/dqzqcuqf9/image/fetch/q_auto,dpr_2.0,c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,w_724/https://d2u3kfwd92fzu7.cloudfront.net/asset/cms/4_COUREZ_AU_LOUVRE__Julien_Benhamou_Z9Z1250-1.jpg)
Blazinâ teaches us some Dancehall moves such as a âWillie Bounceâ, which involves bouncing up and down to the beat whilst adding playful arm and hip movements, and âCut Dem Offâ, a jump forward combined with crossing your arms in a cutting gesture. As we put our heart and soul into our moves, shaking our hips and shoulders, Blazinâ reminds us that dancing here places us in the same privileged category as Beyoncé and Jay-Z, who chose the Louvre as the setting for their 2018 Apeshit music video, in which the couple appear alongside artworks including the Mona Lisa and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.
By the time we say goodbye to Blazinâ we need a moment to catch our breath, but weâre also sad this is already coming to an end. Itâs time for our final workshop: yoga. We step into the Cour Marly. Yoga instructor Laure Dary is sitting cross-legged atop a vast staircase leading up to a sculpture âgardenâ, showcasing French neoclassical masterpieces that once adorned the park of the Château de Marly, one of Louis XVIâs holiday residences near Versailles.
âWeâre going to start by simply taking a few deep breaths and stretching a little, because I know youâve been working hard,â says Dary, speaking softly over the calming music playing in the background. As she walks us through a series of cat-cow stretches, planks and downward-facing dogs, my gaze inevitably moves from one graceful statue to another, depicting horses and divinities that once stood amongst groves and fountains.WATCH NOWThe Carters, Apeshit, 2018. © 2018 Parkwood Entertainment LLC, under exclusive license to Sony Music Entertainment, and SC Enterprises, under exclusive license to Roc Nation
âI hate to hurry you but weâve got 30,000 people arriving in a few minutes,â says Sibethal, as our vinyasa flow comes to an end. As we make our way back through the empty halls to the locker area under the main pyramid, the clock strikes 9 and the spell is suddenly broken. Within seconds, tourists from around the world fill the museumâs treasured halls. Our privileged time is over and the remaining sessions are all booked up. âYour ticket gives you access to the Louvre for the rest of the day so you can come back later,â Sibethal reassures us. But from now on, it will be impossible to visit the museum without remembering the time we danced and jogged in these grand empty rooms. Admittedly, it may be difficult to share the Louvre with others now that weâve had it all to ourselves.
Credits and captions
âCourez au Louvreâ will take place until May 31, 2024. Learn more here.
Julia Wesbter Ayuso is a writer based in Paris. Her work has been featured in The Guardian, The New York Times, Time magazine and Monocle among others publications.
Caption for top image: âCourez au Louvreâ in Salle des Cariatides with Salim Bagayoko, Musée du Louvre © Julien Benhamou
Published on May 20, 2024.