Youth dance seems a little fishy to Macron
IT WAS supposed to be an interpretative dance to celebrate the future of Europe, but Emmanuel Macron looked unimpressed as the European Parliament watched a nine-minute youth dance session “to embody the French Presidency of the European Council” yesterday.
Ahead of the French’s president’s key speech, Mr Macron and MEPS looked embarrassed as youths from across the continent were asked to “use your hands like fish” and “plunge a giant wooden spoon between your legs and jump to the sky” in a “participatory” work by Angelin Preljocaj, the acclaimed French choreographer.
The gyrating youths danced on the steps of the European Parliament’s hemicycle in Strasbourg, to mark the end of the Conference for the Future of Europe. It came after a consultation with EU citizens on their wishes for the bloc’s future.
The incident was widely mocked on online. Political website Guido Fawkes called it “toe-curling”, adding: “While Ukraine continues its valiant battle against Putin’s fascistic might, the EU is leading from the front. There’s a reason the UK is 14 points more popular than the EU among Ukrainians.”
One commentator said it reminded her of the Finnish word myötähäpeä, namely: “The shame that you experience on behalf of another person.”
Hélène Laporte, French MEP from the National Rally party, tweeted that it “sums up alone the deep disconnect between pro-european elites and the expectations of European peoples”.
Nigel Farage, former MEP and UKIP leader, tweeted: “There are many reasons why I am pleased to no longer be an MEP. Not having to witness this ‘interpretative dance’ is one of them.”