LIBERTY
How did you get your stage name?
My name hails back to my oriental ancestry, “Laïla” meaning night in Arabic. “Liberty” refers to the fact that I think and do as I choose. It’s also a tribute to women’s freedom, especially in the Arab world.
How did you get into dancing?
I was born and raised in Lebanon. I was passionate about both dancing and horseback riding. I did both in such a way that I practically quit going to school. When I turned thirteen, I was touring in Peking, Bahrain and Milano with my contemporary dance troupe that got its inspiration from Lebanese folklore. When I turned fourteen I won the show jumping championship in Lebanon. After this championship for health reasons I decided to focus on my dancing. I had fallen in love with going on tour and the stage, I wanted to become a professional dancer. But in Lebanon, being an artist is not considered a real profession and so I came to live in France. I attended the Académie Internationale de la Danse in Paris while also taking lessons in dancing in heels with Nadine Timas, an extraordinary woman who will always remain one of my role models. She helped me find my way to Crazy Horse Paris.
What do you remember from when you started out at the Crazy Horse?
In 2017 I went to see the Crazy Horse show with my mother. The first act, after the opening act, was Crisis? What Crisis !?! I was blown away and I told my mother “Wow! I want to do that!” and she looked at me and replied “No way, daughter!” It’s an act where an extremely sexy business woman strips on stage… I think she was a bit worried! But I auditioned and passed and in August 2018, premiered. Funny thing is, Crisis? What Crisis!?! was the first solo performance I ever did for Crazy Horse Paris. But my mother kept on supporting the choices I made, as she’d always had. In September of 2019, I went on tour to Macao, Prague, Germany and Uruguay and fell totally crazy in love with life on the road!
Something amazing about yourself?
I’m multilingual! I fluently speak Arabic, Italian, French and English.
As a woman and dancer, what is your relationship with your own body?
I was very insecure when I started out at Crazy Horse Paris. Accepting my own body was a very decisive step in my life. One day, I told myself “I’ve got the body I’ll be stuck with all my life. If I don’t start accepting it, I’ll never be able to move forward.” What really helped me was to see the potential I had on stage. The way I viewed my body started changing from that moment on.
As a cabaret dancer, what values would you like to defend?
As both a dancer and also a free and liberated woman, I want to be a role-model for the younger generation of Middle Eastern women. I try to show them that they can take responsibility for their bodies and minds and assert themselves. If you don’t decide on your own what it is you want to do, no one will do it for you. It’s the same everywhere, but especially in the Middle East, where there’s still a lot of progress to be made. When I return to Lebanon, I give dance lessons, organise workshops and try to help women become more comfortable with their own bodies. It’s very important for me to defend these women’s causes. Whether you be Muslim, Christian, Jewish, whatever, we’re all the same and need to learn to be more supportive amongst women.
Which act of the Totally Crazy ! Show is dearest to your heart?
Well, as you might have guessed, it’s Crisis? What Crisis!?!, my first solo performance. It’s an act in which I go totally crazy ! I just love impersonating this incredible business woman who needs to let go of all the tensions accumulated during the day and keeps ramping up her show as she strips down her clothes.
Discover Laïla Liberty in video :
Photos : Riccardo Tinelli, Emilie Messaoud
Vidéo : Paul-Henri Pesquet
