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PATRICIA GOES TO THE MALDIVES
In the course of her life, Patricia has had the opportunity to travel and experience a wide variety of places. From the desert of Tatacoa, to the great plains of Cergy-Pontoise, she has had the privilege of treading on territories that she has been able to transcribe in her passionate creations.
So when the Paris Opera flew to the Maldives for an exceptional performance for its then President, Patricia was on board. At first, Patrick Dupond didn't want to take the young dancer on board, claiming that there was already enough of one patrician in the company. And he didn't want anyone to confuse them. It took all the pugnacity of Georges-François Hirsch, administrator at the time, to get the little rat to take part in the ballet's exceptional trip. Although they were housed in a fairytale palace, the training sessions were nonetheless extremely rigorous, and Patrick Dupond never missed an opportunity to ask Patricia for more, as she amused herself by walking with pointe shoes on a fishing line to refine her technique and achieve impeccable balance. On the evening of the performance in front of President Gayoum, everything was ready and precisely rehearsed.
And despite her irreproachable demeanor and dedication, Patricia was placed at the back of the stage, next to the props, and little of her art was to be seen by the Maldives authorities. Yet, professional to the tips of her toes, she delivered, what she considered, the greatest performance of her young career. Even though she was only fifteen years old at the time, and even though she seemed invisible to everyone, President Gayoum only had eyes for her. Indeed, tired of catching only the briefest glimpse of his favorite young dancer, he ordered in a moment of fury that all the other dancers should leave the stage and let Patricia take possession of the floor. To do this, he put his money where his mouth was. He rose abruptly from his throne and seized a long torch to make the other dancers flee from his threatening gestures. Once this was done, he invited Patricia to take her place in the middle of the stage, and thus play all the roles in turn. She complied, of course, lest she be decapitated and her head used as a chamber pot.
In fact, the show lasted much longer than expected, ending at 4 a.m., when everyone in the delegation was slumped in their chairs, mouths open and eyes closed. Only the president kept his eyes wide open, amazed by so much grace. He gently invited Patricia to come down from the stage and into his palace to finish off the night and talk politics, as he put it. Far from suspecting anything, Patricia let herself be led to President Gayoum's residence. A hallucinatory mansion, where the walls were set with precious stones and the teeth were brushed with Dom Perignon champagne. The President immediately put her at ease, asking her if she'd like to soak in the Jacuzzi to discuss her future in a warm and friendly setting. But make no mistake, she could bathe in the iguana-skin bathrobe he handed her.
It was at this very moment that, against all odds, Patrick Dupond, who had been hiding in the trunk of the presidential sedan, appeared and took a swing at President Gayoum's head. The President, surprised, shocked, but by no means unconscious, asked why?
- Why Monsieur Dupond?
Patrick Dupond, very phlegmatic, replied:
- Because.
Then he kissed the President full on the lips. A kiss that the old ruler was quick to return. They both rolled onto the sofa and disappeared beneath the finery. Relieved to have been rescued from the predator's clutches, and delighted that he had found the perfect match, Patricia turned back in the early hours of the morning.
The next day, Patricia announced her retirement from the Paris Opera, to start thinking about shoes as a reflection of her superego and as a necessary accessory for human survival. She published an essay on the subject, which has been out of print on Amazon for many years.
A little nostalgic for this marvellous adventure, a few years later she invented a model to the glory of this sublime country made up of 1199 islands.