IWSO flautist, Amelie Le Grand, reveals the inspiration behind the BOLÉRO girl in the saxophone … When I heard that the theme of our concert, BOLÉRO, would centre around ‘les années folles’, I was immediately inspired to create an artwork for the poster. Having just come back from six months in France, where I happily played the ‘flaneur’ that Gershwin embodies in An American in Paris, I envisaged the Haussmann apartments and the cobbled streets of Montmartre, the area in Paris that was home to the most prolific jazz clubs of the 1920s.
The best evening that I spent in Paris unfolded in an underground jazz club in the Latin quarter which dated back to 1949. As I climbed down the incredibly narrow stone staircase into a packed, cavernous underground room, I felt like I was stepping back in time. People were swing dancing and the saxophone was blaring! I captured two famous jazz-era clubs, Le Chat Noir and Le Grand Ecart, in the background of my painting.
Along with the streets of Montmartre, I was inspired by the posters of the time. I love the art deco style used in posters for Le Chat Noir, Le Grand Revue and of course, Le Moulin Rouge. I borrowed from the art deco style posters in the layout of the image, with the circle and the typography, and for the colour scheme.
The idea for the flapper girl in the saxophone is a riff on various art deco illustrations of cabaret girls sitting in champagne glasses. I thought, given the prominence of the saxophone in Boléro and An American in Paris, it seemed an important element to feature, as well as a fun twist on an iconic art deco theme. I’m excited to see the vibe that I imagined in the artwork come through in the music we play at our concert on 26 April!
By Amelie Le Grand
