If the pandemic has given the Gruss family and their famous show a hard time, they are indeed back on stage. A show which, on closer inspection, also holds thanks to its female artists. Focus.
Les Folies Gruss offers a new light show, but above all immersive. Why immersive? Because there is no barrier between artists and spectators. It is this concept that makes this show so unique and accessible to as many people as possible. If the various aerobatics, but also equestrian acts suggest that, as we are used to seeing, this could be a show where a distance is created between the stage and the visitors, it is not so. Les Folies Gruss opens up a proximity that is good and makes performing artists accessible, because it is an incredibly privileged encounter with them.
On this occasion, the editorial staff of aufeminin had the chance to discuss with the female artists of the Folies Gruss. This is not a trivial choice, because the presence of women in the show is at the very least important, even essential. From their relationship with horses, to their personal journeys and the way each evolves with the other members of the troupe by highlighting a transmission that makes the show universal… Les Folies Gruss, this time directed by Stephan Gruss and Gregory Antoine, is made up of inspiring and impressively talented women. The proof.
Gipsy Gruss, the essential pioneer
We do not present her anymore. Gipsy Gruss is the queen of the track and listening to her talk about her career shows the humility she shows. Emblematic figure of the Gruss family, Gipsy gives this show a special affection. For her, the succession is assured. “It was the children who had this idea for the spectator to go to the show, eat there and be able to talk with us.” And the result is there, since the feedback is very positive. “We see people watching the show, staying for six hours and coming back to see us. They feel like they’re coming into the family with a concept like this.” It was also an opportunity for Gipsy Gruss to let go. By entrusting the staging to Gregory Antoine, the Gruss family was able to have an outside look at their story and take a real step forward.
“We value the family much more, it is the children who have taken over the business. This amplifies the emotion of the show. I think it has an impact”she tells us before adding: “it was proposed that I do a number with my daughter (Maude Florees, editor’s note). During a painting, it’s me who brings her back on stage and there is really this idea of transmission, it works very well. Now I have fun with my daughter because she likes it a lot, I see that people even have tears in their eyes”she says.
Maud Florees, cavalry director
Indeed, the succession is assured. Maud Florees, the daughter of Gipsy and Alexis Gruss, is a cavalry director. “It’s a position that I had very young, at the age of 14 or 15, because I have always been passionate about horses and I have always been close to my father in his work. He often supported me”, she told aufeminin. Caring for the horses and ensuring that all the logistics go as smoothly as possible is Maud Florees’ main mission. This proximity between the artists, the horses and the spectators once on stage, it is to her that we owe it. This new show, on which the troupe has been working for almost two years now, is particularly close to Maud Florees, because it is the result of a passion passed on to her by her artist parents. “In this show, I reveal all the facets of the disciplines that I have learned all my life and on small paintings”she tells us.
“It’s a bunch of everything I’ve learned throughout my life. This is why this show particularly touches me.”, she confides. Indeed, the deans of the Gruss family seem to want to put future generations at the center by granting them total confidence. “There, in this one, my father is more erased and we feel that the place is left to our generation. Even if we have always been there and we have always participated, this time, I feel that there is a relay that has been made. It’s his choice, but it’s also ours.she assures.
Jeanne Gruss, in turn, takes over the family
No doubt, it is in all its splendor that this new show embodies the history of the family over several generations. At only 15 years old, Jeanne Gruss also already brings her stone to the building. Talent is ageless among the Gruss, especially when you grow up in an environment like this. “Given that I was born into this environment, it was obvious to be part of the show. I saw my whole family doing it, so I never asked myself the question”confides to us the granddaughter of Alexis Gruss who, for the first time, is making her debut on the track in acrobatics on horseback. “It’s pretty glorious, I was very happy to do that and it’s kind of like a dream, it’s exciting.”
Jeanne Gruss therefore does not regret having followed in the footsteps of her predecessors. Being on stage near such an audience, the teenager is already taking a liking to it. “Seeing the crowd, the lights and the adrenaline coming all of a sudden… It’s fabulous”, she enthuses with aufeminin. In the Gruss, talent is in the blood. There is definitely no escaping it and so much the better. Jeanne Gruss, like her aunt Maud who trained her a lot, followed in the footsteps of her dad Firmin Gruss. “When I was 9 or 10 years old, my father suggested that I start acrobatics on horseback… I really liked it”she explains. “For acrobatics and flexibility it’s my uncle Tony and everything on horseback is my father.”
Candice Parise, the new recruit of the Gruss family
And if the Gruss family seems to stick to its values of transmission, it is far from being exclusive. On the contrary, since the show welcomed a new member with open arms, the singer Candice Parise. After being noticed in The Voice, being coached by Florent Pagny, the artist now links his two passions: singing and horses. A golden opportunity for Candice Parise, delighted to have been “adopted” by the Gruss. “I really chose between singing and riding when I was young. (…) There, it’s a great experience because I’ll be with them for two and a half years. I have always dreamed of being on a horse show”, she tells us. Following a meeting with Djamel Temal, who works with the Gruss, this distant dream has therefore come closer. “He came to a showcase I was doing. While talking, I told him that I dreamed of working on a horse show. So he told me that the Gruss family was looking for a singer. I sent my file and they already had a singer for three days. But they called me back a year later, three weeks from rehearsals”she told us, delighted to be so well integrated into the Gruss.
“These are people who have a lot of rigor and value”she continued. “When you are dealing with athletes, it takes a completely different turn. They have this notion of absolute rigor by being happy to do what they do. I feel happy humanly, we are on the same wavelength. So, inevitably, the links were created naturally. “I was so happy to be there that I conveyed an energy similar to theirs on the track. So much so that in the opening song, this year, they wrote that they had adopted me… It was Stéphan Gruss, artistic director, who wrote that and it touched me a lot”she said, very touched by this attention.
Svetlana Gruss, the incarnate rigor of the Gruss family
She is the most discreet, at least that is how she defines herself. “I’m not someone who shows off his personality.” However, on stage the acrobat Svetlana Gruss is radiant. “I love the scene. I speak 200%. It’s my world. It’s so important to me. But it’s normal, it’s our job”she explained to us before adding: “As soon as I’m off stage, I’m different.” Svetlana joined the Gruss family eight years ago. It was there that she met her husband Firmin Gruss, the son of Alexis and Gipsy Gruss. Before that, she was a synchronized swimming champion. Trained in Russia from the age of 7, rigor is essential in the work of Svetlana Gruss who specialized in aerial acrobatics in France. “I was a top athlete and spent my whole life doing synchronized swimming in Russia. It was so hard that our coaches got into our heads that we were never strong enough, that we could always do better. (…) For them, it was never enough”she says.
But rest assured, if you go see Svetlana Gruss after the show, she won’t run away. Quite the contrary. She cherishes these privileged moments with the spectators. “With the public, I’m much more comfortable because when I see someone in front of me, I feel better. It’s a little easier to open. I’m with the families, the children, we take pictures and we don’t just talk about the show”, she tells us. Especially since the athlete is immensely grateful to the reception of the public. She feels that all that hard work pays off and that’s what ultimately makes her so comfortable on stage. His relationship to his passion and to the spectators perfectly represents the values of the Gruss family.. “People see it and tell us: they see that it’s based on sharing and love. (…) There, in fact, we wanted to bring the whole family together. (…) There is a mixture of generations and discipline.”
The Gruss family will be at the Folies Gruss Estivales in Béziers from July 9 to August 31, 2022. >>The ticket office is open on the site.