The Many Faces of Josephine Baker by Peggy Caravantes

Author:Peggy Caravantes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 2015-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

7

Joséphine’s Challenges

PORTUGAL WELCOMED JOSÉPHINE with invitations to diplomatic parties at the British, Belgian, and French embassies. As she moved from one ambassador to another, she listened for information to help the Resistance. Then she went back to her hotel room and made careful notes on slips of paper that she pinned to her underwear. She felt confident that no one would strip-search her.

Obeying instructions sent by de Gaulle, Joséphine returned to Marseille, a part of Vichy France not under German control at that time. Although she had earlier vowed not to perform in France until all Germans were gone, Joséphine was short on cash, so she decided to go onstage again. She and Frédéric Rey, with whom she had danced in the En Super Folies, revived the operetta La Créole at the Théâtre de l’Opéra. In a flurry of activity, Joséphine selected a cast, found costumes, and opened the show on Christmas Eve 1940, all within the space of two weeks.

While she continued performing in the opera through the month of January, Jacques Abtey got word that Germany would soon occupy all of France. He went to Marseille to warn Joséphine. The two made plans to travel to a French colony in North Africa, where they could continue to support the Resistance.

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