low-rise jeans, Britney Spears looks and “safe space”

2023-05-04 18:00:12

Evening of the La Tchoin collective, at the Petit Bain, in Paris, on September 17, 2022. ÉTHEL GRÉVOUL

This Saturday in March, the La Tchoin party collective celebrates its three years of existence at the A la folie club, in the Parc de La Villette, in the 19^e district of Paris. Dress code in effect? Pink, sequins, low rise jeans. Little more for the visible strings. In short, all the bling-bling paraphernalia of fashion Y2K – to understand the 2000s – which gives back its letters of nobility to the beginning of the millennium and to its flagship icons, such as the American jet-setter Paris Hilton.

Arrival at 11:30 p.m. After being dubbed by the physiognomist at the entrance, I find myself on the dance floor filled with chewing-gum pink balloons, facing the DJ, under the reflections of the disco ball. Right away, David Smith, 27, a member of the “benevolence team”, comes to see me: ” You’re alone ? Come, let me introduce you to my friends. » This team, made up of a dozen “angels”, a nickname inspired by the television program “Les Anges de la téléréalité”, broadcast on NRJ12 in the 2010s, ensures the safety of the club and the well-being of the public.

Dressed in a flashy orange T-shirt, Romaric Gouali, 30, team manager and co-founder of La Tchoin, specifies that the benevolence team is “human resources to make the public feel comfortable”. From the top of the stairs, he watches if all goes well. In case of trouble, if a man is too insistent with a woman, for example, he will not hesitate to make sure that she is okay. And to educate men about consent.

Read also: #balancetonbar: prevention campaign and staff training for the reopening of Parisian nightclubs

The young people who hit the dance floor that evening want to have fun in complete safety, in safe spacesin other words places where stigmatizing or oppressive behavior is not tolerated. We come here as we are, trans, black, gay… To access these selective evenings, you have to buy your place in presale through a specialized application, such as Dice or Shotgun. The advantage of this system for collectives? He operates a first filter: the faithful flock to the squares. Regulars who know the values ​​of these evenings and adhere to them.

“Have fun without being bothered”

It was in 2019 that the idea of ​​this collective germinated. The co-founder of La Tchoin, Alexia Petit, 29, says: “When I was younger, the “scrubbers” traumatized me. The starting point was the slogan “Forbidden to relous”, which is still used on social networks. » She wants a safe place, like many other women, who no longer accept that we perceive their outfit or their way of dancing as an invitation to flirt. Alexia Petit and Romaric Gouali then imagine “a space for free expression for women who want to have fun without being bothered”. “It’s as if we were in a large living room [entre amis] where we were all dancing in the middle of the room”, laughs the clubber Noémie Angot, 28, pink beret screwed on her brown square, crossed on the dance floor of A la folie and who feels safe enough to go there alone.

You have 65.48% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.