Marcia Baila: The Story Behind a Mournful Dance

Last week, a devastating news caught me by surprise: Catherine Ringer, the remaining half of French duo Les Rita Mitsouko had died from an agressive cancer. Her longtime partner, on stage and in life, Fred Chichin had also been taken by a violent cancer in 2007. The news came just five days before the 40th anniversary of their most acclaimed album: The No Comprendo.

Ringer & Chichin left an indelible mark on the French alternative rock scene with their unique sound. Mixing a wide array of genres from new wave and punk rock, to funk, or ska, with hints of jazz or even rap, they definitely stuck out in the French musical landscape.

A Hit That Wasn’t Meant to Be

Their first success “Marcia Baila”, released in 1984, was a great example of their music. But that song was not supposed to be a success. The first single from their debut album picked by the national radios, “Restez avec moi” didn’t work. Meanwhile the free radio stations all chose to broadcast “Marcia Baila”, from the middle of the B-Side of the album, and met an overwhelming success.

Everybody started dancing to this hit. But let’s dig a little deeper into this song, because behind this festive and dance-inducing facade, hides the most beautiful tribute to Catherine Ringer’s late friend dancer and choreographer Marcia Moretto, who also died of an aggressive cancer in 1983.

Marcia Moretto

Marcia Moretto was born from two Argentinian parents part of the intelligentsia of the country. Her mother a composer and pianist while her father was an engineer. Both went to study in Illinois where Marcia was born in 1946. Marcia grew up in Buenos Aires and in time she became a model, a dancer and choreographer. She was involved in the underground scene with solo dancing performances. But in the 1970s, as Argentina descended into military dictatorship and repression she flew out of the country with her partner, photographer Jorge Damonte. They first went to New York and to Paris, where they started building a new life.

This is where Catherine Ringer met her, during a dance performance. Moretto’s creative and unique style impressed the young French girl who signed up to her dance classes. They struck a strong friendship from thereon. Catherine Ringer took part in the play “Silences nocturnes aux îles des fées” for which Marcia Moretto was the choreographer. And later, when Les Rita Mitsouko started playing live, Moretto was often joining them on stage as dancer.

A Song of Life

In 1983, when Moretto was taken by cancer at age 36, Ringer was deeply affected. She felt the need to write a song about her friend. The singer poured everything in it: her heart and soul of course, but also everything she felt Marcia Moretto represented.

She describes the silhouette of the dancer and how she feels about her.

Marcia danse avec des jambes (Marcia dances with some legs)
Aiguisées comme des couperets (Sharpened up like blades)
Deux flèches qui donnent des idées (Two arrows giving some ideas)
Des sensations. (Some sensations)

She goes on to explain her particular style, and how Marcia was dancing with every part of her body.

Avec la tête (With her head)
Elle danse aussi très bien (She also dances very well )
Et son visage (And her face)
Danse avec tout le reste (Dances with all the rest )
Elle a cherché (She was looking for )
Une nouvelle façon ( A new way )
Et l’a inventée. (And invented it)

Dancing With Death

The song is irresistibly danceable — a fitting tribute to a dancer — but beneath the infectious rhythm lies something deeply mournful. As Ringer sings —with an Argentinian accent— her voice fills with emotions, sometimes trembles, as she soars on the chorus.

“La mort, c’est comme une chose impossible (Death is like an impossible thing)
Et même à toi qui est forte comme une fusée (And even you who is strong as a rocket)
Et même à toi, qui est la vie même, Marcia (And even you who is life incarnate, Marcia)
C’est la mort qui t’a emmenée (It is Death that took you).

The song went on to be huge success, dug up from the B-side of the album by the radios. Due to popular demand, it was soon released as a single. They even recorded an english version. To support the single, the record label requested director Philippe Gautier to produce a music video.

A World of Colour

Gautier decided to honour the rich cultural background and entourage of Les Rita Mitsouko. He commissioned seven painters — Ricardo Mosner, Nina Childress, Anna Iris Lüneman-Guyonnet, William Wilson, Jeff Gravis, Richard Beaudemont and Xavier Veilhan— mostly from the “Figuration Libre” and Graffiti art movement to make painting on themes like Africa, Spain, Egypt… A troop of dancers were performing modern dance movements blending Modern Jazz, Flamenco, and many others… A bit like Marcia Moretto would have. Finally, the costumes were designed by non other than Jean-Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler.

The results is nothing short of amazing. Ringer, sporting a famous Gaultier signature corset —later featured by Madonna— is making odd dance moves as she can barely walk with it. The decor is a hand made rooftop skyline by night, where the duo and the dancers evolve in front of different paintings related to the lyrics. It is at the perfect crossroads of all the arts, figurative of the underground artsy scene where Les Rita Mitsouko made their name. Ultimately the video featured in the exhibition Music Video: The Industry and Its Fringes in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The Sadness Beneath the Dance

While most of the music video feature bright colours and joyous dance moves, the bridge offers a contrast reminding us of the difficult reality behind the song. With dimmed lightings, the dancers are moving slower and sporting darker costumes. On a backlit stage we see the silhouettes of Fred Chichin playing the piano and Catherine Ringer at the guitar, playing a mournful chord progression. As the camera closes up on Ringer’s face, we see her sadness. Then it goes back to the usual catchy rhythm and music, but we can still feel the pain somehow.

An Impossible Thing

“Marcia Baila” definitely marked its era, and continues to live on, honouring the memory of Marcia Moretto. But as the years passed, it began to ring a little differently. First with Fred Chichin‘s passing in 2007. And now Catherine Ringer is gone too. All three of them were bigger than life. All three taken by cancer. And suddenly, the words Ringer wrote for Marcia Moretto in 1983 feel painfully prophetic.