TOBAGO
How did you get your stage name?
“Tina” is because of my cat-like hair, kind of like Tina Turner. “Tobago” is a paradise island off the coast of the French Antilles and a nod to my Guadeloupean origins.
How did you get into dancing?
I don’t have a history with dancing, but I do have one with rhythmic gymnastics that I practiced from the age of five until I was twenty-six and which brought me to the French National Championships. That said, I always secretly dreamt of becoming a dancer, a passion I inherited from my mother who was a dance teacher. After my carreer as a gymnast I took an interest in Latin dances, such as Salsa and then quickly became a teacher myself, in addition to my day job as nurse. Then, when I turned twenty-eight, after years of self-doubt, I finally auditioned at Crazy Horse Paris. And here I am, a professional dancer!
What sort of a woman are you when you’re dancing on the Crazy Horse stage?
I was twenty-eight when I got here and had already grown and blossomed elsewhere. When I’m on stage, I unload my personal and emotional luggage and hand it over to Tina Tobago. All the different facets of woman that I am are expressed through her in a much more exuberant way.
Daniela by day and Tina by night: do you have a split personality?
They are both indissociable and yet very different. For example, I’ve always been very maternal and like taking care of others. These are inherent character traits I need for my job as a nurse, but as a cabaret dancer they’re not necessary. Working on my Tina Tobago character, I’ve been able to tone down certain aspects of my self and discover new ones. I have to be careful not to get lost, it’s all a question of balance.
What did you discover about yourself, as you became a cabaret dancer?
I discovered that I could trust my own gut feeling. I’ve actually always had this desire to be on stage, but my family was very strict about my studies, so I grew up with the ambition to be the best in gymnastics and at school and that left little room for artistic creativity. I don’t regret anything, my family drove me to become the person that I am today. But later on, faced with people who didn’t believe in me, I kept suppressing this dream. When I became a dancer at Crazy Horse Paris, I realized that all those doubts weren’t really my own and that my passion was real. It was like a new lease on life. At last, this whole other side of my personality was being taken into account and it made me a whole and happy person.
Which scene of the Totally Crazy! show do you think is the most amazing?
I have my own personal history with Lay Laser Lay. Those were the very first pictures I saw of the Crazy Horse show. I was about thirteen years old and seeing this woman wearing barely anything, but still so elegant and beautiful had a forbidden, yet fascinating, hold over me. This scene was secretly etched into my mind and, as chance would have it, was also my first solo performance at the Crazy Horse. To this very day, I still think it’s magical!
Discover Tina Tobago in video :Â
Photos : Emilie Messaoud, Antoine Poupel, Ricccardo Tinelli
Video : Paul-Henri Pesquet
