THE FRENCH CANCAN IS A ONE OF A KIND AND INITIALLY CALLED QUADRILLE

USPA NEWS - The Moulin Rouge´s French Cancan is famous and reclaimed world-wide. Be it for the Cannes Festival, Hollywood or even Hong Kong, the Carnival of Rio, Sydney, New York, Singapour, ...the troupe of Cancan dancers never hesitates to cross the frontiers to represent the Moulin Rouge and Paris.

THE MOULIN ROUGE REVUE “FEERIE“ IS STILL ASTONISHING FOR 17 YEARS-------------------------------------------For decades, the Moulin Rouge has become one of the strongest and most festive symbols of French culture, with its record attendance of tourists flocking from all over the world for half of the 630,000 visitors a year. The Moulin Rouge shows its two shows 365 days a year, every day of the year. And it has been two centuries since it has been since 1889 that this cabaret has opened its doors, in the district of Pigalle, Toulouse Lautrec, La Goulue and other artists as legendary. What really makes the show even more festive is that the best French champagnes flows afloat, added to the creation of music and performances as astonishing as perilous. The 700 silver champagne buckets served by 400 employees are a proof of that. During a year there are 40 000 bottles of champagne consumed at Moulin Rouge, which means it is the 1st consumer in the World, off retail THE ONE AND ONLY ORIGINAL CANCAN IS PERFORMED ONLY AT MOULIN ROUGE---------------------------------- The one and only original French Cancan is, and will always be, the one performed at the Moulin Rouge. The 6 th of October 1889, the Moulin Rouge opens its doors and welcomes for the first time on stage some young girls who perform a very different dance from the others : the French Cancan, known before as the Quadrille. Revolutionary movements, screams, boisterous rythm ... frills and flowing skirts are lifted to show the young dancers´ legs and reveal their panties. The Quadrille, fashionable from its origin, spread abroad. In 1862, a British citizen named Charles Morton decided to change the name of the dance and call it “French Cancan“, a funny dance that makes a lot of noise and comes from France ! At the Moulin Rouge, the dancers came from different back- grounds : washerwomen, linen maids, laundresses, seamstresses, and transformed themselves into Cancan dancers at night. Working at the Moulin Rouge enable them to become semi or professional dancers in the world of parisians shows : they were the new stars of Paris! This dance was immediatly a success and attracted a disparate crowds : middle-class people, princes, artists, writers... they all came to loose themselves up ! Many lady dancers with suggestive names became famous : la Goulue (the glutton) - the Toulouse-Lautrec´s muse - Jane Avril, Nini Pattes-en-l´Air (a leg-over), Grille d´Egout (drain cover), la Môme Fromage (kid cheese)... Today, some 127 years after its first steps were made, the French Cancan is still presented every night on the Moulin Rouge stage, and has been in every show since then. And dancing the French Cancan is not easy for everyone ! For this dance requires specific qualities both artistic and physical. A training period of five weeks is necessary for every new dancer and the rehearsals are very frequent. The artists of high level, become entangled and alternate between games of perilous bodies, between the acrobats, the skaters, and the dances choregrahies of the rest of the show. All this makes up a very balanced and varied ensemble, contributing to the success of the "Féerie" Review and explains its long life and success with such varied audiences and ages. The strength of this show is to have succeeded in modernising a style of cabaret that does not age and knows how to seize the new technologies to amaze even more, and to amaze by the special effects, and which allows artists to take risks bigger and bigger on stage and always stay at "A la Mode"!

ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A TROUPE CALLED DORISS GIRLS This is a beautiful story that of a little girl from Germany who was taking dancing lessons without her parents´ knowledge and who became Miss Doris, the Moulin Rouge´s famous ballet mistress...“¨Between the Karlshsruhe Opera and the Conservatory, she passes her diploma as a dance teacher and arrives in Paris in 1954. The cabarets attract her and she joined the Moulin Rouge in 1957. Miss Doris creates her own troupe of dancers, named the “Doriss Girls“. From 4 in 1957, they are now a troupe of 60. From 1961, Jacki Clerico, the owner of the Moulin Rouge, quickly recognizes the qualities in Miss Doris and Ruggero Angeletti to be the two choreographers that will be able to create great revues. The Doriss Girls have always been recruited from all over the world. Since 1997, Janet Pharaoh, the new ballet mistress auditions from Las Vegas to London and from Sydney to Paris to recruit dancers of both sexes who are able to join the show and perform on the Moulin Rouge stage. Amongst the 14 represented nationalities, main origins are Australia, Great Britain and ... France ! Some criteria are compulsory : a good base of classical ballet training for all of them, the girls have to measure at least 1.75 m (5´8“ ), the boys must be more than 1.85 m (6´3“), and have astounding figures that will leave the spectators spellbound. The artistic directors pay particular attention to the aesthetics and the physical condition of the troupe : losing or gaining weight is controled ( + or - 2 kilos), cutting or dying one´s hair is strictly monitored... As well as regular rehearsals and dance classes the troupe, male dancers in particular, work out everyday with the Moulin Rouge fitness facilities in order to keep their bodies looking good for the client's appreciation.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In addition to the 2 shows performed every night, the artists train regularly and continue taking dance lessons to remain at the height of perfection. And every week, under the watchful eyes of the ballet mistress and Artistic Director, Janet Pharaoh and her team (resident choreographer assistant, Cancan teacher, captains, ...), the Doriss Girls and the Doriss Dancers rehearse the show´s different scenes. Within two hours, the Revue offers the best in the French music hall tradition. Some would go so far as to say that it is "kitsch", but after all, if this performance so prestigious and of such high level is called "kitsch" then, it is not funny, quite the contrary. It would even be a compliment to thank this unique troupe in the world that has always been and remains one of the best ambassadors of France and all that it represents in magic, romanticism, rebellion, insubordination, humanity, cheerfulness, generosity, diversity , Song, dance, folklore and other traditions from Paris and elsewhere. Anyone who goes to Paris for a professional visit, personal or love story reasons, will not be able to leave without seeing the spectacle of the Moulin Rouge. Otherwise it's that he missed everything! A must see! The show must be perfect every night !