Brussels insiders: Maud Partouche, a woman who follows her passions all the way

Welcome to my column "Les branchés de la capitale", where I meet the people who make Brussels come alive. Today I meet Maud Partouche, a key figure of Brussels nightlife. An entrepreneur, passionate, instinctive and resolutely free, she is one of those women who live their projects with rare intensity. For more than fifteen years her name has been inseparable from Madame Moustache, an emblematic venue of the capital. But behind the woman of the night there is also a keen horsewoman, who recently brought another dream to life: the Domaine des Lisières, a stable in Waterloo. Two worlds that seem entirely opposed: music and the silence of nature, Brussels nights and mornings at the stables, dance floors and horses. And yet they describe exactly the same woman: a woman who follows her passions all the way. Brussels, her playground When Maud arrived in Brussels, she wanted to build, to create and above all to open places unlike any other. She quickly fell for a capital on a human scale, cosmopolitan, free and offbeat enough to allow every kind of daring. After a first experience with Chez Mamie on place du Jeu de Balle, she embarked on an adventure that would deeply shape her career: in December 2009 Madame Moustache was born. Madame Moustache, a place in her image From the start Maud knew what she wanted: "I wanted to create a place that matched who I am." Not a classic nightclub. Not a formatted venue. But a place where people come as much to meet as to dance, where generations and styles mix and where nobody has to play a role. Madame Moustache became a dancing bar with an instantly recognisable identity: offbeat decor, a slightly fairground spirit, artists, concerts and a musical programme able to move from Lindy Hop to the 80s, 90s or 2000s. More than a club, Maud created a world. And fifteen years later, despite trends, changing habits and the upheavals of the night industry, Madame Moustache is still there. Just like her. Falling, getting back up, starting again Maud's path has not been one long quiet success, though. Running a nightlife business demands considerable energy. Crises follow one another, habits change and Brussels itself is transformed. But there is one constant with Maud: she does not give up easily. She thinks, changes direction, starts again and reinvents herself. That ability to set off again is probably one of the threads running through her career. When a formula stops working she does not cling to it on principle: she looks for what made the project's heart beat in the first place. And that is exactly what she now wants to do with Madame Moustache. Back to basics "Let's get back to the essentials, to the DNA of Moustache." For Maud, the new chapter means a return to the spirit of the early days: a genuine dancing bar, accessible, spontaneous and alive. One decision symbolises that change: free entry, except for concerts and special events. No need to think twice before pushing the door open. You come for a drink, meet friends, listen to music and a few hours later you find yourself dancing. From October, Maud wants to go further and open Madame Moustache seven days a week. The idea is to recreate a true Brussels meeting point: a place where you can start the evening after work and finish it much later than planned. A way, in the end, of putting people back at the centre of the night. Another passion: horses But there is another Maud, far from the lights and the music. A woman deeply passionate about horses. A passion we share. And as often with her, loving something is not enough: she ends up turning it into a project. In Waterloo she created the Domaine des Lisières, a stable built around the horse's wellbeing, nature and a different approach to riding. On the edge of the Sonian Forest, she imagines a place where horses can go out every day, live more outdoors and where owners and riders can rediscover a more natural relationship with their animal. The contrast with Madame Moustache is striking. The night, the music, hundreds of people and the energy of Brussels on one side. Horses, meadows, forest and the calm of Waterloo on the other. For Maud, though, there is no contradiction: these are simply her two passions. A woman who does nothing by halves That is probably where the real personality of Maud Partouche lies. She does not know how to live a passion by halves. When she loves the night, she creates a venue that lasts for years. When she loves horses, she opens a stable. When a project goes through a difficult period, she looks for a new way to keep it alive. At the head of Madame Moustache for more than fifteen years and now of the Domaine des Lisières in Waterloo, Maud builds her path without trying to fit into a box. Entrepreneur, horsewoman, woman of the night and creator of places, she moves above all on instinct. A whole personality, impressive in her energy and in her ability to turn wishes into realities. Maud Partouche follows her passions all the way. And when she believes deeply in something, one thing seems certain: she is not the type to stop.