Q In the Peter Sarsteadt song Where Do You Go To, My Lovely?, there is a line 'you dance like Zizi Jeanmaire'. Can you tell me who was the dancer? - Ken Orton, Ferryhill Station.

AThe line you mention is from the first verse of the song. Peter Sarsteadt was born in 1941 in New Delhi, India. Peter and his brothers were active in the music scene and his elder brother Richard, who sang under the name of Eden Kane, had a chart hit with Well I Ask You in 1961.

Peter toured Europe in the Sixties as a folk singer and began writing his own songs. Where Do You Go To, My Lovely? was written in Copenhagen in 1966, although it was not typical of his more politically-aware, anti-war songs.

The song has a distinctly French feel and was the title track of a Sarsted album. The single went to number one in 14 countries and shared the Ivor Novello award with David Bowie's Space Oddity in 1969. The song is about a wealthy jet-setting young girl called Marie-Claire who is a friend of the stars.

However, the lyrics also remember the fictional young lady's lowly beginnings in the back streets of Naples. A number of famous names ranging from Picasso and Sacha Distel to the Aga Khan are mentioned in the song, but it is the very first verse first that mentions the dancing talent of Zizi Jeanmaire.

You talk like Marlene Dietrich And you dance like Zizi Jeanmaire Your clothes are all made by Balmain And there's diamonds and pearls in your hair, yes there are.

The Zizi Jeanmaire mentioned in the song was a French ballerina. She was born Renee Marcelle Jeanmaire in April 1924 and studied at the Paris Opera Ballet School. At the age of nine she met her future husband Roland Petit. Petit was the creator of Les Ballet de Champs Elyses in 1945 where Jeanmaire first made her name.

In 1948 Petit created Les Ballets de Paris where he was joined by Jeanmaire. The company's production of Carmen starring Jeanmaire alongside Petit gained international recognition, taking Jeanmaire's fame to great heights and, most significantly, attracting the attention of Hollywood.

Jeanmaire married Petit in 1954 and made six films between 1952 and 1960 and in each Petit was her choreographer. In her Sixties Jeanmaire toured with a rock band but in her later years concentrated on encouraging new young talent in the field of dance.

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Published:17/03/2003