Cover Image: Josephine Baker (cropped)
By Henri Manuel c.1920s
Image in public domain

This fall, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Josephine Baker's legendary performance in La Revue Nègre.

The theater describes Josephine as (translated from French) "a timeless icon who left her mark on this venue with her talent from the moment she first took to the stage exactly one hundred years ago, on October 2, 1925 .... With her irresistible smile and showmanship, she captivated Parisian audiences as much with her choreography as with her personality. A revue leader, singer, and actress, she was a true pioneer. She was also a heroine of the Resistance and a fierce civil rights activist." 

Josephine Baker
By Henri Manuel c.1920s
Image in public domain
Source: Wikimedia Comons

The gala performance is being produced by the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in collaboration with Les Grandes Voix (a prestigious concert and performance series that highlights some of the world’s most celebrated opera singers and classical vocalists).

South African soprano Pretty Yende will perform Josephine Baker's repertoire accompanied by dancer Precious Adams of the English National Ballet and Luan Pommier, the visually impaired Guadeloupean opera singer and pianist who performed the Paralympic Anthem at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (Watch the video of the opening ceremony, beginning at 17:58, HERE).

Pretty Yende
By Sylvain lasco 
CC BY-SA 4.0
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Pretty Yende grew up in Piet Retief, a small town in eastern South Africa. She was first introduced to opera as a teenager when she heard the "Flower Duet" from Delibes’ Lakmé in a British Airways commercial. Classically trained, she has been a prize-winning vocalist since 2009, when she took first prize in the opera and operetta categories of the Hans Gabor Belvedere competition.   Since that time, she has performed in most of the major theaters of the Western world, including the Opéra National de Paris.

Yende received a standing ovation for her January 17, 2013 début in Rossini's Le Comte Ory  at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She overcame tremendous odds to step in to the lead role of Adèle after only having one week to prepare for the performance. She sang at the coronation ceremony for King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey on May 6, 2023.

Precious Adams
By Swans for Relief
CC BY-SA 3.0
Source: Wikimedia Commons

A native of Canton, Michigan, Precious Adams is only the second Black dancer in the English National Ballet. She made her way to a solo ballerina position with the troupe via rigorous, top-level training at the National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto, the Princess Grace Academy of Classical Dance in Monte Carlo, and the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow.  In 2014, she won two prizes at the Prix de Lausanne international dance competition in Lausanne, Switzerland.

In a 2021 interview with Dancewear Central, Adams described herself as a dance advocate and role model for diversity in the arts and dance, a freelance model and dancer, and occasionally a dance teacher and mentor for young aspiring dancers and performing artists.  When asked about how she was dealing with the inability to perform during the Covid-19 pandemic, she responded that she enrolled in a computer programming course at the University of London with the thought of preparing herself for life after her career as a dancer: "I think it is so, so important to have a life outside dance. This profession is short, so developing who I was with less ballet in my life was important."

  Luan Pommier
Promo image for "Mèsi Pou Yo"

Luan Pommier is an Afro-French soprano (born in Sèvres) who won the Jury's Favorite Award at the 2020 "Voix des Outre-mer" competition at the Paris Opera.  She is also a pianist, composer, and arranger.  Despite suffering from Leber Congenital Amaurosis, a malady that has seriously diminished her vision since birth, her musical prowess became evident quite early - she reportedly hummed her first Ave Maria at just 8 months old and began teaching herself the piano at the age of 3! 

Pommier has won numerous awards for her performances and released her first single - Mèsi Pou Yo - in 2017.  In 2020, she received a presidential scholarship and enrolled at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston.  She actively participates in music and education projects, both as an artist and as an ambassador for social causes.  In an English-language Instagram post dated November 17, 2020, she describes her blindness as being "more like a source of strength ... it taught me about being and staying strong, over all judgement, discrimination and negative thoughts and energy."

Those wanting to see these three extraordinary women pay tribute to Josephine Baker at the Champs Elysées Theater should block Saturday, October 4, 2025 on the calendar as of today.

Orchestra and Category 1 seats for the gala are already sold out.  Remaining seats range in price from 10€ to 75€.  

Note that tickets are non-returnable and non-exchangeable – all purchases are final.

Purchase tickets by clicking HERE.