CdM
    Aldo Gigli

    Aldo Gigli · Co-founder of the Mirano Continental · set designer and graphic artist

    The Mirano Team

    Behind Aldo Gigli's sets, the Mirano Continental came alive thanks to a team that was itself part of the show: made-up dancers and performers, make-up artists, a hairdresser, hostesses and bar staff, all of them actors in the venue's metamorphosis, night after night.

    This album gathers their portraits, from 1982 to 1994: the costumed team of 1982 with Bruno Bulté, who was also president of the Ligue d'Improvisation Belge whose matches were played at the Mirano, Stéphane Darno Deswaef at the Gold party of May 1982, the glittered faces of Joanthan Bernard, Nanard and Marco Rolland as new-wave silhouettes, Marlies de Braeckenier at the neon parties, hairdresser Caridan with Filippa Russo, Carl De Moncharline at the Mirano's 5th anniversary in March 1986, Valy Bax, Mamie Jacqueline and Sofia Hendrickx in 1993, and, in 1994, Jan Bossuyt in front of the Mirano ambulance.

    One of these fancy-dress parties, captured by photographer Jean-Louis Jaucot, is remembered in the house as one of the wildest of the decade: the whole team had made themselves up as characters from a Roaring Twenties silent film.

    Photo album: the Mirano Continental team, from 1982 to 1994. Photo © Jean-Louis Jaucot, other credits: DR. Click a picture to browse the album.

    Gold party, May 1982
    Extreme close-up photograph, partly degraded over time. Stéphane Darno Deswaef, a member of the Mirano Continental team, at the Gold party of May 1982, when the club asked everyone to come glittering.
    The Mirano dancers
    Black-and-white photograph, horizontal format. The Mirano Continental dancers and performers gathered against a brick wall: white-painted faces, black graphic lines, theatrical costumes. On the right, Bruno Bulté, who was also president of the Ligue d'Improvisation Belge, whose matches were held at the Mirano. 1980s.
    One of the wildest parties of the decade
    Black-and-white photograph, horizontal format. Around the round tables of the Mirano Continental, the whole team is made up as characters from a Roaring Twenties silent film: caps, three-piece suits, striped ties, faces whitened with greasepaint. Standing, glass in hand, Bruno Bulté.
    Patrick Gennaro Avella and Titine, heads in the set
    Colour photograph, vertical format. In front of a broad-brush painted panel, a couple in swimsuits against a black-striped yellow background, Patrick Gennaro Avella, in dark glasses, and Titine stick their heads through the holes in the set, funfair souvenir-photo style.
    Glittered faces, Joanthan Bernard on the right
    Colour photograph, horizontal format. Close-up of three members of the team with silver glitter eyelids: in the centre, a mask of gold and silver feathers drawing an “M”; on the right, Joanthan Bernard, lace headband and smiley badges; on the left, a purple hat and a rainbow fan.
    Nanard and Marco Rolland
    Colour photograph, vertical format. Inside the club's metal structures, two new-wave silhouettes in red jackets with gold epaulettes and black leather trousers: sculpted pink and silver hair, faces made up with blue lines. Nanard and Marco Rolland, a Mirano mainstay and the future art director of the KCC agency.
    Nanard at the Mirano
    Colour photograph, vertical format. Portrait of Nanard at the Mirano Continental: black leather jacket with white topstitching, pink ruffled shirt, bolo tie and ring in hand, gaze fixed on the camera. 1980s.
    Neon party, Marlies and Stéphane
    Colour photograph, horizontal format. At a neon party at the Mirano Continental, Marlies de Braeckenier, orange and pink mane, matching scarf and motifs painted on her cheeks, poses beside Stéphane Darno Deswaef, lilac lips and multicoloured cheeks. 1980s.
    Neon party, Nanard
    Colour photograph, vertical format. Portrait of Nanard at a neon party at the Mirano Continental: tousled red hair, three yellow, red and blue stripes painted on the cheek, crimson mouth and an immaculate white shirt. 1980s.
    Back to back, the painted symbols
    Colour photograph, vertical format. Against a whitewashed brick wall, two members of the team pose back to back, dressed in black with matching mitts, symbols painted on their shoulders. The Mirano's graphic elegance summed up in a single pose. 1980s.
    Hairdresser Caridan and Filippa Russo
    Colour photograph, vertical format. Caridan, the resident hairdresser of Mirano nights, glass in hand, poses beside Filippa Russo, white gloves and black dress. Knowing smiles in the heart of the night. 1980s.
    Carl De Moncharline at the Mirano's 5th anniversary, March 1986
    Colour photograph, vertical format. In the heart of the crowd at the Mirano Continental's 5th anniversary, March 1986, Carl De Moncharline, aged sixteen, in a dark turtleneck, smiles at the camera between two silhouettes.
    Valy Bax, Mamie Jacqueline and Sofia Hendrickx, 1993
    Black-and-white photograph, horizontal format. In 1993, three figures of the Mirano Continental huddle together for the picture: Valy Bax, Mamie Jacqueline, the soul of the place, and Sofia Hendrickx. A decade after the first nights, the spirit of the house remains.
    Jan Bossuyt in front of the Mirano ambulance, 1994
    Colour photograph, vertical format. Jan Bossuyt, a figure on the Mirano Continental team, poses at the club's entrance lit by blue neon lights, glass in hand, beside an ambulance customized for a party. 1994.
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