Challenging and colorful cancan. The dance path from the quadrille to the "extravaganza"

Challenging and colorful cancan. The dance path from the quadrille to the "extravaganza"

Kankan is soon 200 years old. He is recognizable by ear on energetic notes, a rare entertainment event without his spectacular waving legs. What does this splits show - acrobatic abilities or easy behavior? How has the dance changed over the past two centuries? All this can be found on our page.

What is cancan

Emotional, frank, spectacular dance. The performance of the cancan is quite monotonous, the main steps are a knee-to-chest lift with subsequent lowering and a high throw with the foot up. Other movements in French have concise names, while in other languages they have long descriptions:

rond de jambe - rapid rotational movement of the lower leg with the knee raised and the skirt;
port d'armes - a support on one leg, while the arm wraps the other by the ankle and holds it almost vertically upwards;
grand écart - splits flying or jumping;
wheel.

Yelps and screams have become an integral part of the cancan. Dance is performed everywhere. The model for role model for almost 130 years has been the Moulin Rouge cabaret. Paris is the birthplace of cancan.

Story

The authoritative reference book "The Oxford Companion of Music" in its early editions in the late 1930s called the cancan a noisy modern indecent dance-heir to the quadrille, developing in Paris for the benefit of British and American tourists who were willing to pay well to be shocked.

Like many popular dances, cancan has an unknown origin. There are several assumptions:

It could have originated in the town of Grand Shaumier (Grande-Chaumière) - open-air of the late XVIII-early XIX centuries, located in the eastern part of France, where young people came to live in huts and dance under the open sky. Among them were dancers who rejected the rules. Their gang style was called "hekling". Later, these same people danced cancan.
The time of appearance of the first mention of the cancan coincides with the growing discontent with power, which resulted in the Second French Revolution and the overthrow of the Bourbons. Kankan could appear as one of the manifestations of opposition protest.
French literary scholar, Professor Francis Michel (Francisque Michel) believed that the dancers imitated the gait and sounds of geese. In his opinion, the name cancan is also consonant with the guttiness of these birds.
There are even sources linking the appearance of dance with the behavior of people suffering from epilepsy and delirium tremens.
The most common version is the appearance of the cancan as the final four-pair quadrille piece.

Kankan quickly became an independent dance with a gallop pace. He was popular at the balls among the workers of Paris in the 1820s and 30s. Young men competed in acrobatic abilities in pairs. The appearance of characteristic flapping, jumping, splits, many associate with the performances of Charles Mazourie (Charles-François Mazurier), famous in the 20s of the XIX century mime, dancer and acrobat.

In the 1830s, cancan danced in groups, especially popular among students in public dance halls. With the popularity of the dance, professional performers appeared. They danced mostly individually. The first cannonschitsami were priestesses of love, moonlighting in their free time from the main occupation.

In 1840-61, the first stars of cancan shone:

Elizabeth-Celeste de Chabryon (Élisabeth-Céleste de Chabrillan) under the pseudonym Celeste Mogador (Céleste Mogador);
Lévêque is a pseudonym for Chicard.

The group, consisting entirely of men, known as "Quadrille des Clodoches", appeared in London in 1870. This performance can be called the apogee of the popularity of the male cancan. Women performers quickly overshadowed him.

Around 1885, dancer-choreographer Grille Degu (Grille d'Égout) opened the first course of cancan in Montmartre.

By the 1890s, the dance had gained popularity; there appeared performers who earned their living as full-time dancers.

Outside France, cancan gained popularity in a variety show, where it was danced by women in choreographic groups for at least 10 minutes. Individual performers were able to demonstrate their abilities.

The experience of foreign productions, as well as the steps developed by professional dancers in the late XIX - early XX century, combined in the 1920s the French choreographer Pierre Sandrini (Pierre Sandrini) in the spectacular show "French Cancan". The staging was developed on the stage of the Moulin Rouge, with the participation of individual cancan makers and the British corps de ballet. Independent performance was held in Paris cabaret by Pierre Sandrini "Bal Tabarin" ("Bal Tabarin") in 1928.

Interesting Facts

Attitude to dance changed in different years. Appeared at the beginning of the XIX century, the cancan was considered scandalous. In the middle of the same century, he was perceived as extremely inappropriate in a respected society.
For some time, attempts were made to suppress the cancan because of its depravity. In the 19th century, women wore pantaloons with an open inguinal stitch; a high waving of the leg could look overly defiant. Guide "Moulin Rouge" claimed that the dancers were forbidden to perform in open underwear. However, there is no evidence that they wore closed trousers. Some cancan dancers were arrested, but there was never an official ban on dance.
At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, dance was regarded mainly as erotic because of the extravagant underwear that appeared by that time, and contrasting black stockings. The dancers lifted their skirts higher than before and shook them, included a movement that was considered particularly daring and provocative — bending forward and throwing the skirt on its back, exposing the audience to the buttocks. This movement glorified the famous dancer "Moulin Rouge" La Gul, on her pantaloons her heart was embroidered.
Kanchanitschitsya sometimes came close to a man, offered a bet that she would take off his hat without using her hands. Obviously it was known that the girl would win and receive her reward. But the consented man got the opportunity to take a look at pantaloons while the girl waved her foot and hit the hat on her shoes. At the same time, the gesture served as a warning that anyone who allowed himself excessive liberties with dancers could receive a blow to the face.
French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec) painted several paintings and a large number of posters of cancan dancers. Thanks to him, contemporaries have the opportunity to see numerous sketches of speeches by La Gulya, Jeanne Avril and Valentine Beskostnogo.
Other artists depicting cancan are: Georges Seurat, Georges Rouault, and Pablo Picasso.

Popular ringtones

Cancan - energetic dance with a size of 2/4. Many composers wrote music for him.

The most famous tune belongs to the Frenchman Jacques Offenbach (Jacques Offenbach) - Gallop Inferno (Galop Infernal) in his operetta "Orpheus in Hell" ("Orphée aux Enfers"). Paris saw the production and fell in love with "Galop Infernal" in 1858. Offenbach brought world fame to dance.

Hell's gallop (listen)

Cancan is found in the operetta of Franz Legar (Lehár Ferenc) "Cheerful widow"(Die lustige Witwe) of 1905. The production is a great success to this day; it is included in the repertoire of the Metropolitan Opera and the Vienna Opera. However, it was hard for Cancan Legar to surpass Offenbach’s popularity.

Cancan from the Merry Widow (listen)

Cancan is dedicated to the same-name musical play by Cole Porter (Cole Albert Porter) in 1954. The performance was a great success. Filmed in 1960, the movie-musical “Kankan” for its motives was nominated for numerous awards, including an Oscar in two nominations. The soundtrack received a Grammy. Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine starred.

Modern cancan

"Moulin Rouge" is located in the Paris "Red Light District". This is part of the city where tourists and sometimes locals go for 18+ adventures. Cabaret offers the services of an exceptionally spectacular character - shows and dances; the obligatory elements of the dancers' wardrobe are thongs, shoes with heels and accessories. Other clothes are worn depending on the plot of the production number, may be absent in principle.

The cancan in the repertoire of the Moulin Rouge is one of the most “dressed” numbers of “Extravaganza” (“Féerie” is the only show of the famous cabaret that has been shown twice every day since 2000).

Colorful costumes convey the atmosphere of the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. Dancers wear shirts, vests, bow ties, trousers. Dancers wear high corsets and puffy skirts, instead of pantalon, cancanshchitsy wear thongs and girlfriends.

The modern attitude to dance is quite loyal. Cancan music can be found even in the children's cartoon "Pororo's Penguin".

Famous cancan singers

Louise Weber (Louise Weber), known under the pseudonym La Gule (La Goulue - from Fr. glutton, big-mouthed woman), obsessed with dancing, from 16 years conquered parties in the nightclubs of Paris. Louise worked in her mother's laundry and took the clothes of clients to go out. She was invited to the Moulin Rouge at the age of 23 (1889). After working for only 6 years, she became rich and famous. The girl decided to leave the cabaret and start her own business. Having failed, Weber went bankrupt, survived several deep depressions, alcoholism. Died in obscurity at the age of 62.

Jeanne Louise Baudon (Jeanne Louise Beaudon) danced under the pseudonym Jeanne Avril (Jane Avril). Zhanna grew up in a very dysfunctional family, she was severely beaten, in the end she ended up in a psychiatric hospital. Everyone noticed the dancing talent of the girl, and at the age of 21 (1889) they were released from the clinic at the invitation of the Moulin Rouge. She instantly gained fame. She spent almost the rest of her life on the cabaret scene. She was lonely, at the age of 73 she went to a nursing home, where she died a year later.

The most famous male cancan dancer at the end of the 19th century was Jules Étienne Edme Renaudin, pseudonym of Valentin le Desoussus (Valentin le Désossé from fr. Valentin Bestoostny). He often acted as a partner La Gul. Very little is known about the life of a dancer outside the Moulin Rouge. He belonged to the family of wine merchants, and this is what he earned for himself. For his performances in the cabaret he refused to take payment, considering the occupation of a hobby, and not work.

Kankan is considered a part of world dance culture. Often a feature of modern performance is the complexity and exhaustingness of the dance. However, it retains an element of obscenity and even vulgarity.