Three classic and influential silent movies, with scores newly composed by Jean Hasse and Luke Styles, set the scene for the extraordinary story of Joséphine Baker.

The acclaimed ensemble Counterpoise set the colourful scene in 1920s Paris: a time of experimental cinema, Dadaism and lively nightclubs, also performing newly commissioned scores for these silent movie classics. The influential René Clair film Entr’acte features Picabia, Satie, Cocteau, Duchamp, Man Ray and Clair himself.

This performance tells the story, with text, visuals and movement, of the American-French dancer, singer and actress Joséphine Baker, notorious for her banana dance, but also a civil rights activist, champion of women’s rights, intrepid French Resistance fighter and “the most sensational woman anyone ever saw” (Hemingway).

Sponsored by Friends of Newbury Spring Festival