Claire Motte – Opera de Paris (DANSEUSES)
2 Rue de Meaux, 75019 Paris, France

Claire Motte was a French ballerina, choreographer and dance teacher. After studying under Carlotta Zambelli, she entered the Paris Opera Ballet when she was 14. Rising quickly through the ranks, she was named a danseuse étoile in December 1960. As a result of her outstanding technique, leading choreographers including George Balanchine and Serge Lifar sought to include her in their ballets. She was frequently a partner of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. In parallel, Motte taught dance and in 1977 was appointed professor at the Paris Opera and at the Conservatoire de Paris. Four years after she had left the stage, in 1983 Rudolf Nureyev appointed her ballet master for Swan Lake.

Roland Lobligeois (Contrebasse)
96 Bd de la Villette, 75019 Paris, France

From the town of Rabastens (Tarn) Roland Lobligeois was an accomplished violinist and saxophonist, who also played in a clarinet duo with Guy Lafitte in the clubs of Toulouse during the 1940s. In 1956 he switched to double bass and played until 1960 in the big band of saxophonist Alix Combelle. He recorded with trumpeters Bill Coleman, “Buck” Clayton and Cat Anderson. In March 1969 he recorded for the Black and Blue label with singer and saxophonist Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, and went on to become the house bassist for the label. This gave him the opportunity to record with American musicians passing through France, including Jay McShann, Budd Johnson, Charlie Shavers, Sonny Thompson, Helen Humes, Al Casey, Milt Buckner, Illinois Jacquet, Panama Francis and Eddie Chamblee. He played for seventeen years at the Furstenberg, a Parisian club, with pianist André Persiani and drummer Roger Paraboschi.

Émile Carrara (Accordeon)
7 Rue Henri Turot, 75019 Paris, France

Born in the 19th arrondissement, Émile Carrara was a composer, accordionist and bandleader who wrote the music for the classic chanson Mon amant de Saint-Jean. A song he dedicated to his fiancée Suzanne (later his wife) to mark their impending nuptials. From a family of Italian emigrants, he performed in many of Paris’ best orchestras: at the Moulin Rouge from 1933 to 1935, at La Coupole from 1935 to 1936, and at Maxim’s from 1937 to 1938. He wrote around 500 songs including Le P’tit bal de la rue d’Lappe, On danse à la Villette and Ma rue for Damia.

Freddy Carrara (Accordeon)
99 Av. Simon Bolivar, 75019 Paris, France

The younger brother of the famous accordionists Albert and Émile, Freddy Carrara was also a bandleader and a master of the same instrument. He released a handful of albums and EPs. Perhaps the greatest gifts he gave to the French songbook and the nation’s musical identity were his compositions. In the 1960s and 70s these were recorded and performed by Louis Pasteury, Charles Verstraete, Georgette Plana, Miguel de Málaga, Georges Arvanitas and of course his brother Émile Carrara.

Jacques Demeure (REALISATEURS DE TELEVISION)
36 Av. Mathurin Moreau, 75019 Paris, France

Television director and film critic Jacques Demeure began writing for the film journal Positif in 1952, the same year it was founded. He continued to write for the journal until 1989. The magazine was famously associated with the non-Communist left, and Demeure’s guiding hand was partly responsible for this direction. He worked at ORTF (Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française), then at Antenne 2, where he notably directed 21 episodes of Portrait Souvenir between 1961-1965.

Jean Lallier (REALISATEURS DE TELEVISION)
36 Av. Mathurin Moreau, 75019 Paris, France

A pioneer of scientific programs on television, Jean Lallier was first a cameraman then an assistant director (notably on the news magazine Cinq Columns à la Une) and director, before launching into production. A lifelong defender of public television, his great passion was scientific broadcasts, which he developed at RTF in 1962. In twenty years, he developed two socio-scientific programmes, Visa pour l’avenir and Portrait de l’univers, and an astronomy magazine, Voyages dans le cosmos, on TF1 and Antenne 2. After a short stint in the documentary programming unit of Antenne 2 in 1981, he joined TF1 in 1982 and was responsible for programme management. He was general secretary of the CGT union of television directors, then leader of the CFDT union of directors.

Daniel Grojnowski (poète)
6 Rue Georges Lardennois, 75019 Paris, France

Daniel Grojnowski is a writer and historian of French literature, specialist in Jules Laforgue, the literary form of photographic invention and, more generally, the modernity of laughter and visual culture in the 19th and 20th centuries. He is professor emeritus at the University of Paris VII. He is the publisher of the complete works of Jules Laforgue at L’Âge d’homme. In 1989 he created the “Littérature” collection published by Macula.

Tony Rallo (Guitare)
7 Rue Rémy de Gourmont, 75019 Paris, France

Best known in the UK for his 1979 hit disco single Holdin’ On, Tony Rallo first made a name for himself in 1960s Paris. As the sixties turned into seventies he worked as a guitarist with Joe Rossi, Michel Delpech, Jeanne Moreau, and Pierre Vassiliu. Parallel to his career as a musician he worked more and more as a conductor and bandleader, directing recordings for Les Guitars Unlimited, François De Roubaix, Elsa Martinelli and Daniel Beretta. In 1976 he wrote and directed Catherine Ferry’s entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, her performance of Un, Deux, Trois secured second place for France. Rallo was the conductor of many of Dalida’s recordings.

Ramón Mendizábal (CHEFS D’ORCHESTRES)
83 Rue Georges Lardennois, 75019 Paris, France

Basque accordionist, composer and conductor Ramon Mendizabal fronted one of the most famous Tango orchestras in Paris. He employed some of the great accordionists and bandoneon players of the age, including Gus Viseur and André Astier. Ramón Mendizábal and his orchestra also accompanied Marcel Azzola when he anonymously recorded his first records. He appeared in the 1972 film Last Tango in Paris, playing a role true to type, the singer in a tango orchestra.

See an object relating to Ramón Mendizábal HERE.

Phenix Jazz
17 Rue Manin, 75019 Paris, France

Accordionist Raymond Crouet was the leader of the Phenix Jazz band, based in Rue Manin. He was one of the many artists to perform at the Belleville Gala, held in the town hall on Place Gambetta. Other stars appearing at the event were Raymond Souplex and Gabriello, the singer Suzy Solidor, and fellow accordionist Max Bergès.