Synopsis

Set against an explosion of saturated colors, painted backdrops and surreal stage imagery, Les Rita Mitsouko perform "Marcia Baila" with dancers in a deliberately theatrical environment. Catherine Ringer moves through the tableaux in striking costumes while Fred Chichin and the accompanying performers add to the video's playful, chaotic energy. Rather than following a conventional narrative, the clip turns the song into a kinetic celebration of dance, fashion and modern art, matching the track's tribute to Argentine dancer and choreographer Marcia Moretto.

Factoids & Trivia

• The song honors Marcia Moretto, an Argentine dancer and choreographer who had worked and performed with Catherine Ringer. Moretto died from cancer in 1983.

• The video was filmed over six days in January 1985 in a gymnasium in Aulnay-sous-Bois, outside Paris.

• Its visual design incorporates seven paintings connected with the French Figuration Libre and graffiti scenes of the period.

• The costumes include designs by Jean Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler, helping make Catherine Ringer's look one of the defining fashion images of the clip.

• The production reportedly required several sources of financial support beyond Virgin Records, including French cultural institutions and the Paris public-transport authority, RATP.

• A dispute between record companies and television delayed the video's exposure. It was first shown on the French program "Les Enfants du rock" in June 1985.

• The five-and-a-half-minute video is part of the permanent collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art. MoMA cataloged it as a 1985 color video with sound.

• "Marcia Baila" eventually became one of Les Rita Mitsouko's signature songs and reached No. 2 on the French singles chart.