We attended two concerts in Paris. The first was one I had often seen advertised and wanted to see. Gospel Dream. at the Church of St Germain des Pres.
Sadly this choir did not live up to expectations. With the tickets at 33 euros each (25 for concessions) this was not a charity event and the acoustics of the church were completely wrong for the music. The chior was at it’s best when singing unaccompanied and I enjoyed the songs with African themes in Swahili. However the soloists needed microphones to be heard and the organ music was lost and just a jumble of noise, as for the saxophonist, his music seemed to bear no resemblance to what was being sung.
Although this is a gospel choir in a church, I also did not appreciate the religious zeal aspect of the concert, whilst I have every respect for the faith of the people, after all this was an expensive professional concert, not a church service.
Unfortunately I just felt this was a money making tourist trap.
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Compare this with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
We queued for an hour to get concessionary18euro tickets for over 65’s or under 28 years, but it would have been worth paying full price for this amazing show.
The 4th Jul was a fitting date to see this ballet, and the Americans in the audience let the company know their appreciation.
I sat absolutely fascinated with the athleticism, grace and rhythm of the dance company as they went from ballet of “Arden court”to joyful Latin type of dance in Urban folk dance, to the finale of “Revalations” a 38 minute spectacular set to the most wonderful African American spiritual music and song.
Te audience gave them a standing ovation and they performed an encore!
Michael said it would be worth queuing to go and see again!
Denise
Love from Paris.
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denisefrombolton 
Oh my goodness, I thought the young men from the second show were naked at first. Sounds much more exciting than the gospel choir 😉
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Gwan… when they first appeared on stage, I also thought they were naked for a minute,but the did have tights on!!Does it seem in bad taste to observe that their bodies were just as "fit" as in the pictures..after all this is supposed to be art!Love Denise
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Lucky you to get to see a performance by the Alvin Ailey group! I have not had the opportunity to see them in person but would certainly like to one day – amazing athletes/dancers and no, IMHO it isn't in bad taste to observe such beautiful bodies – too me, such perfection in the human body is just as much an art form as any painting!
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I agree with Sandy that it's perfectly acceptable to notice such beautiful bodies – they're works of art formed from hours of practice. You've convinced me that this is a show that I should see while they're in town. Thank you!Sorry that the Gospel Show wasn't to your liking. There are Gospel Brunches in the USA that are quite good but to be honest I think that they're all a bit touristy. I've always thought of Gospel as being very religious so I'm not quite sure how they could eliminate the "Praise the Lord" aspect of it.
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I LOVE Alvin Ailey! I'm so glad you saw them. I saw them perform a jubilant piece to a Stevie Wonder song, followed by "Revelations." It was one of the best shows I've ever seen.It's funny, the second time I saw "Revelations" a woman gave a loud, lustful "Mmmm!" during a solo by a fit, shirtless dancer. I couldn't believe it, the whole auditorium must have heard her. He did look good, though. 🙂
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