Biography

From her earliest years, Nathalie was surrounded by music, sport and the arts, and travel played a major part in her life.

Her father André DELCROIX, originally from the North of France and a member of AFVA (the French Aerobatic Association) shared his time between Germany, France and Switzerland in order to manage his business affairs.      Alongside his professional activities, he took an interest in painting and music (he played the violin and tap danced) and was equally enthusiastic about risk sports such as motor racing and aerobatics which he took part in regularly. When he decided to enter competitive aerobatics and to purchase a zlin 326 Trener, the famous Czech aerobatic aircraft, he contacted the world champion of the time to ask him for coaching. Ladislav BEZAK

was the first pilot in the world to perform the famous “LOMCOVAK” manoeuvre which helped him win the first world championships. This was how he met BEZAK’s younger sister, Olga, with whom he fell in love. So Olga left Prague for France.

Nathalie was born in France but her parents soon separated and her life was divided between France where she lived with her mother, Switzerland where her father lived and Germany where her uncle (the world champion) had obtained political asylum with his family after fleeing the Czech Republic.

On the instigation of her father Nathalie put on her first skis at the age of 18 months and entered her first skiing competition at the age of 6. She came second, to the great disappointment of her father, who arranged a much more rigorous training programme as he wanted to make her into a champion……as he had already done with his first daughter, who under the instruction of Ladislaw BEZAK became in her turn the first French aerobatics world champion.

Unfortunately Nathalie lost her father at the age of 9 when he tragically died in a car accident. From then on skiing was only a leisure activity… but all her life Nathalie would retain the competitive spirit which her father undoubtedly instilled in her.

From her mother Olga BEZAKOVA she inherited an interest in music and dance as well as a capacity for hard work. (As befitted her Slav origins!) Olga played the piano and before leaving Prague for France had danced with the famous Czech folk dance group “Joseph VYCPALEK”, belonging to the few groups  officially autorised to represent the former Czechoslovakia abroad.

During the 60s Olga performed with this group on the stages of the most prestigious auditoriums of the era.

 -the Palais Chaillot, Paris

-the Palais du Festival and du Cinéma, Cannes

 -the Théâtre de l’Antiquité, Orange…

She also made appearances in the Côte d’Azur, Poland, the former Yugoslavia, Belgium, Holland and Italy where her group won first prize in the Agrigento Festival in Sicily.

This was the family environment in which Nathalie grew up. At the age of 6, along with skiing, she began learning classical ballet .

and at the age of 8 she entered the Tourcoing Conservatoire. Until she was a teenager, her days were spent studying music theory, choral singing, piano and ballet. At 16, Nathalie left the Conservatoire to concentrate on her studies but she continued with dancing, which was her passion, and alongside her own studies taught ballet to children in a local dance school. At this time, her mother took her to ballroom dancing lessons….Nathalie was not particularly interested in these “old people’s” dances until the day when she saw a professional couple in an exhibition… It was a real revelation! So pair dancing became part of her life but at 17 there was no question of it becoming a career, her studies were her main priority.