Saturday March 13, 2021, France 2 paid a last tribute to Patrick Dupond. In the show 1:15 p.m. on Saturday, Laurent Delahousse returned to the artist’s eventful journey through a report. In it, viewers discovered him teaching his art to students at his international dance school in Bordeaux. An academy founded with his partner Leila Da Rocha, who struggled to contain her emotion in front of the cameras. "He loved to transmit, he loved to teach. His method was simple: it was natural, being yourself in a studio to transmit. That's why I'm here today ", she confided. In memory of her husband, the choreographer said: "I want to continue this and make his star shine again and again."
It was alongside his partner that Patrick Dupond succumbed to a "lightning disease"at the age of 61, on Friday March 5, 2021. The couple met in 2004 when the dance icon sinks into alcoholism and is about to leave everything to go live in Japan. Leïla Da Rocha, who was then the director of a dance school in Soissons (Aisne), contacted him and they fell in love at first sight. "She knew how to find the words, I accepted a date. The interview was to last thirty minutes. At 3 in the morning, we couldn't leave each other ", explained Patrick Dupond to Paris Match. While he has only known men, he falls in love with the former dancer who divorces her companion at the time to live with him.
Marie-Claude Pietragalla, Chris Marques and Anthony Colette at the funeral of Patrick Dupond
It was she who announced the death of the dancer to our colleagues at AFP. "Patrick Dupond flew this morning to dance with the stars ", she declared. Leila Da Rocha was able to count on the support of several personalities during the funeral which took place on March 11, 2021 at the Saint-Roch church in Paris. Among them, his friend Marie-Claude Pietragalla whom he had named "prima ballerina", but also the singer Francis Lalanne, Nicoletta, Jack Lang and his comrades of Dance with the stars Chris Marques, Anthony Colette and Fauve Hautot.
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