She danced there sporting her famous belt of bananas and took to singing too. A year later, she was headlining revues at the Folies Bergère. A cabaret dancer, she performed a dance number named the ‘Danse Sauvage’. The young artiste swiftly won the hearts of Parisian audiences where jazz was all the rage. In 1925, her troupe performed in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. She moved to New York at the age of 18 where she performed in various productions including the Folies Bergère and the Revue Nègre. She first started dancing in small dance troupes before joining the Jones Family Band that performed from Washington to St. At the age of 13, she left home and worked as a waitress. Visit an online exhibition about Josephine Baker on the Musée de la Résistance websiteīorn on 3 June 1906 to Carrie McDonald and Eddie Carson, Baker grew up in a poor neighbourhood of St. The perfect embodiment of the role of women engaged in the struggle led by Free France, she received full honours from her adoptive homeland. The American-born music hall legend who was a member of the French Resistance and an anti-racist activist fought for every cause. Josephine Baker entered the Pantheon on 30 November 2021 at a ceremony presided over by the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
