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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

tomber du plateau

English translation:

once the spotlight dims

Added to glossary by Philippa Smith
Jan 26, 2023 17:18
1 yr ago
47 viewers *
French term

tomber du plateau

French to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature Theatre/performance
Hello,

I am translating a work of non-fiction that talks a lot about performers and venues. The book was published in the 70s but the content spans from the 1920s to the 1940s.

Phrase in context: "Plaignez les girls que vous voyez danser au music-hall, derrière les rampes. Que deviennent-elles quand elles tombent du plateau ? Une sur mille, sur un million peut-être, devient une étoile."

Does the author really mean "fall from the stage" here? Or simply "leave" the stage? That's what I'm trying to figure out. The way I read it, we are asked to think about "dancing girls" in general rather than ones who make mistakes. Hence "leave" over "fall."

Many thanks for your thoughts,
Anam
Proposed translations (English)
4 +6 once the spotlight dims
3 +6 when their dancing days are over
4 break a leg
4 fall out of favour
3 when their stage career is over
4 -1 Fall through the cracks
3 no longer on the scene
1 when they're dropped by the wayside
Change log

Jan 31, 2023 11:00: Philippa Smith Created KOG entry

Discussion

A Zafar (asker) Jan 31, 2023:
Thanks for your discussion. Lots of food for thought here!
Tony M Jan 30, 2023:
@ Daryo I think you're stretching things a bit far here!
For one thing, that kind of "elevated platform" is not referred to as a 'plateau' in theatre jargon.
And for another, following your own logic, coming down off the "platform" would seem to imply rather joining the 'star' dancers centre stage.
I think we need to stick closer to the original jargon, and then find an equivalent figurative expression in EN.
Daryo Jan 29, 2023:
If you ever watch old musicals from the 1920s to the 1940s you would often see center stage "the star of the show" [with one or more "spotlight" trained **only on them**] and some (more or less elaborated) elevated platform in the background with dancers.

So "tomber du plateau" would mean "no longer dance on that elevated platform", i.e. no longer be part of the troupe / a troupe dancer.

Preuve par l'absurde: if only very few of these dancing girls LATER succeed in becoming a star, they couldn't have been a star BEFORE "tomber du plateau" => no "spotlight" for them.
Andrzej Ziomek Jan 28, 2023:
when the spotlight fades

https://www.realmen247.org/2016/05/spotlight-fades/
Samuël Buysschaert Jan 26, 2023:
@agree with the analysis, it' s definitely a figurative meaning, plateau is a synonym to "les planches or la scène".
Philippa Smith Jan 26, 2023:
@Emmanuella Tiens, je ne savais pas, c'est jolie ! Mais je crois qu'ici on ne parle pas de ballerines, c'est des danseuses "music hall"...;-)
Emmanuella Jan 26, 2023:
Le plateau est un 'tutu'.
https://www.dansea.fr/tutus-courts/11661-bas-de-tutu-plateau...
Philippa Smith Jan 26, 2023:
@Phil It's asking what happens to the dancers who aren't ALREADY stars when their career is over. And "plateau" is not meant to be a literal, technical term I'm pretty sure...
philgoddard Jan 26, 2023:
But how could any of them become stars if they drop out of the limelight? And are we sure that plateau means stage? Isn't that usually scène?
Tony M Jan 26, 2023:
@ Asker I feel sure it is intended figuratively, rather in the sense of 'drop out of the limelight'.

Proposed translations

+6
13 mins
Selected

once the spotlight dims

I feel it's definitely about them leaving the stage and their dancing careers behind rather than falling of stage!
Lots of options (my spotlight suggestion goes further in the metaphorical direction):
leave the stage/life on the stage
leave their dancing careers behind them
once the curtains fall for good
etc. etc.
Sounds like a fun book!
Peer comment(s):
agree José Patrício : ok, it's metaphoric
18 mins
Thanks José!
agree Samuël Buysschaert : "Once the spotlight dims" nice one :)
1 hr
Why thank you! Just in that sort of mood...;-)
agree Anastasia Kalantzi
2 hrs
Thanks Anastasia!
agree Helene Tammik : Nicely conveys how they never quite made it into the limelight :-)
15 hrs
Ta love!
agree Lara Barnett
18 hrs
Thanks Lara!
agree Victoria Britten : Nice!
18 hrs
Thanks Victoria!
agree Carol Gullidge
2 days 47 mins
Thanks Carol!
disagree Daryo : Won't work - not every actor is a star => you can't lose what you never had! // These dancing girls are not "stars", they only provide "background" for the star(s) of the show => the spotlight was never meant for them but ONLY for the "star of the show".
3 days 6 hrs
Whoosh
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you, Philippa. Lots of options to play with here. I especially like the spotlight and curtain ones. I will probably go for one of those!"
9 mins

when their stage career is over

This covers both "leave" and "fall".
Peer comment(s):
agree José Patrício
30 mins
disagree Daryo : For the few who manage to become a star, their "stage career" is certainly not "over", on the contrary it just starts!
3 days 6 hrs
Something went wrong...
+6
2 hrs

when their dancing days are over

This might emphasise the fact that they are not leaving their careers willingly, which seems to be conveyed by the abruptness of the French?
Peer comment(s):
agree Anastasia Kalantzi
1 hr
agree Alain Pommet
12 hrs
agree Victoria Britten
15 hrs
agree Yvonne Gallagher
1 day 17 mins
agree Daryo
3 days 3 hrs
agree Tony M
3 days 11 hrs
Something went wrong...
6 hrs

break a leg

I'd be tempted to be relatively literal and use this theatrical term (with a different meaning, admittedly) that also evokes race horses (and horses generally) while figuratively meaning the end of a career. They shoot horses, don't they?

Like dancers, one race horse in a thousand or more might go on to be famous, earn loads of money and be on the front pages of magazines or the turf press, while countless others break a leg, literally or figuratively, and, if they are not shot like horses, abandon their career, if only due to disillusionment.

Peer comment(s):
neutral Tony M : I think it is too confusing to re-use a well-known expression in the field, but with a totally different meaning. At best, this might lead to its being interpreted literally (which is clearly not the intention here).
6 hrs
Well, tomber du plateau can be taken literally too. Ah, intentions, intentions ...
Something went wrong...
23 hrs

when they're dropped by the wayside

.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 days 21 hrs (2023-01-29 14:56:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

when the spotlight fades

https://www.realmen247.org/2016/05/spotlight-fades/

'What do you do when all that you have been … all that has brought you success …. and much of what forms your expectations for the future …. is suddenly gone?
A common problem with sports stars who find life unfulfilling once they retire …. but it can also be a problem for ordinary men. [...]'
(and women, e.g. dancers?)
Peer comment(s):
neutral Tony M : I think that rather changes the idiom; also, although they might be 'dropped' from the dance troupe, we wouldn't usually use 'dropped' with 'by the wayside' (more likely 'left' etc.) — I think this is really mixing metaphors.
21 mins
Something went wrong...
-1
2 days 5 hrs

Fall through the cracks

"Fall through the cracks" suggests these dancers' careers fizzled out before they could get a big break. Plus it would hit home with the reader: isn't it sad for a dance to fall, figuratively or literally?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 days 5 hrs (2023-01-29 22:26:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Since the author is talking about dancers and show business, consider using "when they don't make it".
Peer comment(s):
disagree Tony M : That's a quite different idiom, and not appropriate in this context. It does not really carry any suggestion of "fizzling out".
8 hrs
In retrospect, I should've gone with "when they don't make it" instead of "fall through the cracks."
Something went wrong...
3 days 14 hrs

no longer on the scene

I think this could work well enough to suggest former dancers who have dropped down the ranks and possibly are no longer on the stage at all.
Being 'on the scene' suggests more the notion of 'being in fashion', rather than 'on stage', which would tend to be interpreted more literally.
Something went wrong...
4 days

fall out of favour

The actress has fallen out of favour with the audience / producers / directors as she has got older and other actresses are selected ahead of her. There is no implication that she herself has done anything wrong but just that time has moved on.
Something went wrong...
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