La Belle Epoque

The period in French history from around 1880 until the beginning of the First World War was characterised by an association with prosperity, artistic and cultural refinement, sensuality and sociability.

The rise of an urban industrial world gave birth to a new working class with money to spend. The new working hours offered people leisure time which they enjoyed through various amusements. Food and wine were plentiful and automation made books, textiles and alcohol more accessible to the masses.

Around 27,000 cafes prospered in Paris alone and with the wine bars and cabarets, gave it more drinking places than any other city in the world.

The period became known as LA BELLE EPOQUE - The Beautiful Period.

Can Can:

The can-can began as a street dance of the day and evolved through the cafe concerts and cabarets of Montmartre, finding its peak at the Moulin Rouge at the end of the 1800s as a wild, violently energetic sensation.

Exemplified by high kicks and the shaking of great quantities of lace petticoats, the can-can was an erotic specialty of the Moulin Rouge. Dancers were admired for their ability to do the splits and in solo routines, developed signature moves to further entice the audience. Wearing split undergarments also intensified the excitement of the audience as patrons anticipated glimpsing something more than just a stockinged leg.

Legendary can-can practitioners at the Moulin Rouge included Jane Avril, La Goulue (meaning: the Glutton, named for her habit of draining abandoned glasses at the bar) both of whom were favoured by Toulouse Lautrec. There was also Nini Pattes-en-l'air (Nini-Legs-in-the-Air) and Mome Fromage.

Post Comment

Name : Email : Password : Comments :