The kind of article I am going to propose is the kind of article you write while listening to « Mamma mia », compelled to make some breaks because your mouth is singing aloud. « This girl is on fire » would say Alicia Keys! (Alicia Keys-Girl On Fire). Let’s find out while this atmosphere is so crazy tonight.

A few minutes ago, at the heart of a music-hall field conversation : « Even the best Parisian would never be as good as the American one. You cannot challenge Broadway (New-York) and the West End (London). But Paris is okay, there is a level. Aicom Paris is a good school. You work during two years everyday and if you have a chance you can get a contract. You have to be noticed at school, not crush others but you have to be hard-working and not invisible. In France, we have the « intermittent status » which is a luck. If you have several contracts you can get the status and then the situation is okay but you have to hang on». These are the advice of Elena, the music-hall teacher of Aicom’s Monday English music-hall class to four of her students.

The four of them are interested in trying to access to the “Classe Elite”, an audition that allows to access to one year classes for free. It is a very selective contest. « Singing is not enough, you have to act too. They are looking for multidisciplinary profiles. Sometimes you are not dancing since you are kid but as you have the attitude, they feel that you have the potential and then you are admitted » explains Elena with enthusiasm.

« Once you are in this school, they are very efficient at making you a great singer. Each school has its speciality. So those who are generally noticed at auditions and who succeed in being on stage rapidly take private lessons as well. Aicom Paris enables to find a network. Every employer I met where linked to Aicom school, and also my boyfriend ! Which is something seldom because straight represent like 20 % of the students at school ! ».

The four girls are listening to the teacher and then quite contempt by the price of the project: 650 per month each year. All of them are more than 24 years-old: « I am looking for a job, how could I be at school each day and pay for it ! -You can train yourself during the week-ends. -Yes, but it is very expensive too ! -This year I follow three lessons, that’s an important budget! And they are always asking for diplomas. -Go to London ! There is no need for diplomas ! -Well imagine, you have to be sure to succeed to change all your life to go to London ».

Before going to the class, I did not think I would have such a panorama of the musical field with pertinent advice of the teacher as well as the perception of girls who really love musical. I also was surprised to see that Elena and the students succeeded in creating an inspiring choreography in one hour and a half. In the group of 18 students from around 18 to 30 years-old, some have been following the class for 4 or 5 years and some had just begun. Elena has to adapt to make something homogeneous.

Half an hour of choral training, ten minutes of singing while walking, fifty minutes to learn the choreography and ten minutes to mix everything: the rehearsal of an extract from « Money, money, money » (Mamma Mia) is ready. In a very fluid and great atmosphere, without pressure, the new ones and the advanced are singing, dancing together – and also laughing. It makes something very moving. And as, Mamma Mia is secretly my « besetting sin», I just could not help being breathtaken by what I saw and heard. Music and dance have something magical. For positive or negative reasons, “Money, money, money”, was definitely the theme tonight.

Alizée Le Diot