Moulin Rouge Paris 130 Year Anniversary Of French Cancan

The Moulin Rouge just celebrated their 130 year anniversary of the French Cancan!  It was October 6, 1889, when they first opened their doors in Montmartre.

To celebrate this anniversary, the Moulin Rouge put on a spectacular Sound and Light show Sunday, complete with their famous Cancan dancers where I braved the crowds in front of this mythic club that made Montmartre and Pigalle famous!

From the start, the Moulin Rouge was an instant success with Parisians who crammed the dance hall to see the most famous Cancan dancer of all times, La Goulue.

The Cancan is, in reality, a rather refined version of the quadrille or chahut, a more uninhibited dance that many wilder youths of the era were dancing.

The Moulin Rouge dancers were considered scandalous and risque for lifting their skirts offering teasing quick glimpses of bare calves, split underwear or none at all.

 

 

La Goulue, (the glutton)a former laundress,  who was immortalised by Henri Toulouse Lautrec, quickly gained fame as the ultimate star of the Cancan.

She was loud, rough, vulgar and audacious who loved shattering all the unspoken rules of Parisian society.

She was so flexible, that she could lift men’s hats off their head with her toes, then guzzled their drinks in one gulp.

She loved to shock and dare, like when she yelled at Prince Edward VII of Wales, “hey Wales, you paying for the Champagne, huh”?

No wonder she became close friends, perhaps even a lover to Henri Toulouse Lautrec who much preferred to hang around personalities from the fringes of society rather than with the bourgeois and aristocratic milieu that he was born into and raised.

The Moulin Rouge became a second home to Toulouse Lautrec where he had his own private table.  He would spend hours bent over sipping the sugar spooned glasses of absinthe, known as the “la fée verte”(green fairy) while sketching the dancers.

Today, the frivolity of La Goulue pervades and the Moulin Rouge remains as popular as ever!  The high kicking Cancan explodes each night with the same beats, rhythm and music as before!

The decor and scenery,  the exuberance music, the electrifying sensuality of the pretty dancers adorned with extravagant costumes and headdresses, and the classy nudity all literally embodies the truest “l’esprit Parisien” of “gai Paris”!

Of the three dance revues spectacles that command the largest audiences, the Moulin Rouge remains the most Parisian of all of them.

Sure, the Lido is also top-notch but more cosmopolitan, and the Crazy Horse has more sheer nudity, but the Moulin Rouge is in a class by itself that really captures all that makes Paris so beautifully enticing to all of the senses!

There is a tremendous amount of artistry behind the scenes of this world-renown Parisian attraction. The beautiful costumes, and adorning feathers are all hand sewed and made to fit each dancer individually.

The “plumassier” or feather designer is the same company since 1889. Each dancer has multiple feather capes and wrap around puffs.

The many shoes for each dancer are all handcrafted likewise by the same shoemaking boutique since the beginning!

New dancers go straight for fittings at Clairvoys, where each shoe takes over 30 to 60 hours time to put together with comfort and durability ensured to withstand the powerful choc of poundings and full leg splits the Cancan commands.

There are 60 to 80 dancers, including some guys, that perform two revues each evening 6 nights a week!

Although there are around 14 different nationalities represented, most of the dancers hail from Australia!

In order to be hired, each dancer must be a minimum height, 1.75 meters for women, a certain weight, have great flexibility, be attractive and have a classical dance background!

The average age is 23, but there are a few up to 39 years old.  I personally think that with the amount of work involved asked of each dancer with only one day off, would take a toll on a body after a few years!

I felt blessed to have had an inside peek into the life of a Moulin Rouge dancer, from one of my patients. who danced there.

The work might come off very glamorous, but in reality, dancing there was very arduous and physically demanding, not unlike an Olympic athlete in training.

Mornings were generally free, but afternoons there were rehearsals and costume fittings.  If any of the dancers looked a bit heavier than usual, they were called to weigh in and if over 2 kilos, they were decked till they lost weight.

Eating disorders are common amongst professional dancers and not surprisingly at the Moulin Rouge also.   Dancing two shows each night, one at 9 and 11 pm with one day off is exhausting.

They had to report in one and half hour before shows, as makeup took at least 30 minutes and then the obligatory warm-up before performances.

She would often complain that some of the costumes and headdresses were quite heavy, making dancing on heels treacherous requiring much balance.  Plus, being hot wrapped in feathers under lights while performing.

Dancers had dressers that help them in and out of 12 different elaborate costumes in minutes between scenes.

She said the French Cancan was by far the most physically strenuous, taxing and exhausting.  The staccato rhythm of quick repetitive high kicks often resulted in injuries of pulled or strained tendons.

Most of the dancers rotated doing the Cancan, to reduce injuries, although some were more gifted than others in high kicking.

The night air was autumn cool and humid when I exited metro Pigalle in between bright blinking Neon signs of sex shops, racy peep shows and bistros on both sides of Avenue de Clichy.

As I approached Place Blanche, the crowds started to thicken and I weaved my way as close as possible until I couldn’t pass through anymore.

I arrived a good 20 minutes early, hoping to have a better view, but apparently all those there had the same idea.  The Sound and Light show was to start promptly at 8 pm.

I had a good view of the red windmill and upper facade of the Moulin Rouge, but not of the street where the dancers were expected to perform. Oh well, so be it I thought.  I would do the best I could to catch some photos of the event.

Just before 8 the red windmill, now golden lit,  began to turn as it has been doing for 130 years before shows and colourful red, blue, white strobe lights pierced through the dark sky.

Projected images telling the history of the Moulin Rouge filled the front building starting with La Goulue of course, then several more sketches of Henri Toulouse Lautrec.

After about 5 minutes, high pitched squeals from the Cancan dancers announced their entry.  The popping of fireworks burst and spread colourful sprinkles of light dotting the sky.

I could barely see the tops of the dancer’s red plumed headdresses but hoped my camera held above, as high as my arms could reach would be able to catch more than I could see!

Here it is folks, not the greatest video, but at least it captures some of the music and tangible excitement of the moment!  Yes, even some of the frilly Cancan skirts can be seen!

For many years the Moulin Rouge has offered dinner before the revue.  The vast room can host 600 people seated in tiers of romantic red-lit lantern topped tables.

If you go, dinner and show starts around 187 euros per person up depending on the menu chosen. An 11 pm show entry ticket only is 87 euros without drinks of course.

Considering the quality of the entertainment you will see, the rich historical showcase that is the Moulin Rouge and the personification of “gai Paris” that bounces off the walls, it is practically a bargain!

You are almost guaranteed to come out dazzled by all the fabulous costumed glitter and elaborate mood-enhancing dancing routines;  full of smiles and laughter and probably humming the Cancan as you walk into the Neon lit night!

P.S.  For those interested in the very interesting life of artist Henri Toulouse Lautrec, I wrote an article on his short painful life in April 2014.

Sorry for the strange array of “related” posts, pulled in for some odd reason that only the plug in designer knows!