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Why did Josephine Baker become an international star after performing in Paris?

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The Weary Blues cover — Harlem Renaissance Dust jacket designed by the Mexican illustrator and writer Miguel Covarrubias for Langston Hughes's *The Weary Blues* (1926), a book of experimental poetry.

Josephine Baker became an international star after her 1925 arrival in Paris, where she performed in the production La Revue Nègre at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Her rise to fame was driven by her introduction of the danse sauvage to French audiences, which captivated the public and established her as a symbol of the beauty and vitality of Black American culture.12

Following this success, Baker became one of the most popular music hall entertainers in France, notably performing at the Folies-Bergère. Her celebrity status was further solidified by her willingness to play a variety of "exotic" roles that exploited the contemporary European fascination with the glamour of the "primitive". By settling in Paris, she transitioned from a chorus girl in American revues to a renowned international icon.123