Cancan at the Moulin Rouge, a signature of French culture

Source: Global Times

[Global Times Special Correspondent in France Pan Liang] Because it is still in the "orange zone" of the new crown epidemic, performing arts venues in Paris, France are not yet open to welcome guests, and the "nightclub capital of the world" needs to be patient. If foreign audiences are asked to make a list of the most anticipated French cabaret performances and nightclubs they most want to visit, cancan and Paris Moulin Rouge will undoubtedly rank first. Watch the French Cancan, 4 nightclubs recommended by the Paris Travel Network, there are Moulin Rouge, Crazy Horse Show, Lido Cabaret Show and Latin Paradise. Among them, Kangkang of Moulin Rouge took the top spot among many competitors because of the fastest and most difficult. In 2001, the Hollywood movie "Moulin Rouge" popularized the story, singing and dancing of this legendary nightclub to all parts of the world. For more than 130 years, the Moulin Rouge has become a symbol of French culture with Kangkang. Countless audiences flock here to see Kangkang's style. The author once went to the Moulin Rouge to watch a performance and learned about some of Kangkang's exclusive doorways from an expert.

attracted Parisian figures

Paris in 1820, the four-pair dance of male and female pairs is still popular, but its movements and beats must comply with multiple standards. Male dancers who were tired of the "rules" began to insert random performances, kicking into the air or diving on the dance floor and then sliding against the floor. They screamed and cheered. The girls followed suit, swinging their legs on the dance floor, splitting their legs and even lifting their skirts to reveal their underwear. Because dancing shoes hit the floor to make a "clang" sound, this new type of dance is called "Kangkang". In Montmartre, which was still a “Paris country” at the time, women who dared to dance solo and deliberately exposed their thighs were criticized by the authorities for being licentious and offensive. The police were dispatched to arrest "dirty country dancers," and major newspapers and churches began to criticize them. Unexpectedly, the more he tried to ban it, the more Conkang aroused the curiosity of the Parisian literati, who secretly came to Montmartre to watch this dance that challenged authority, and even happily joined it. In 1857, the famous dancer Ms. Gorboch and others re-arranged Kang Kang and added repeated high-altitude kicks to form a fast-paced and highly dynamic dance of 8 minutes. This is the embryonic form of the modern Cancan dance.

In 1889, the Moulin Rouge nightclub was born in Montmartre. Since the first day of opening, Kangkang here has attracted almost all the romantic figures in Paris. Under the painter Toulouse-Rotrec, the dancing Cancan girl is ready to appear. The vivid posters he wrote became popular for a short time, and the vendors quietly removed them from the newspapers and reselled them, and the Moulin Rouge had to frequently print them temporarily. Other masters such as Luau, Sula and Picasso also drew inspiration from Kang Kang and left portraits of Cancan dancers with different styles for the world. Today, with the passionate dance music "Orfeo in Hell" by the French composer Offenbach , Kang Kang has become the quintessence of France (pictured). Although the audience always applauds the beautiful and lively girls on the stage, two of the three Guinness World Records of Cancan Dance held by the Moulin Rouge are created by male dancers.

The dance of the feminist movement

I first met Cancan in France, and foreigners often associate it with pornography and low-level taste. The British likened it to the "Parisian Open Dance", while the Americans recorded the "cheesy Kangkang" and played it back home like "discovering a new world." However, after watching "Dancing in Paris", Pyramid, Dancing with Anaconda and other programs at the Moulin Rouge, the author found that compared with other singers and dancers with naked upper bodies, Kangkang's costumes for the finale dance are the most conservative, without any "dew point". ". Z1z

dancer Mathilde said that the Moulin Rouge has more than 1,000 sets of costumes made of Swarovski crystals, ostrich feathers, streamers and various sequins. The average cost of each set is more than 10,000 euros. The headwear, pleated skirts and leather dance boots she showed to the author are all blue, white and red, which symbolize the spirit of freedom, equality, and fraternity in France. The skirt weighs about 5 kg. In her opinion, Kang Kang has nothing to do with pornography. Maruta, the author of "The Legend of Cancan Dance History", explained that the core spirit of Cancan is feminism. The laundress in the 19th century danced Kangkang to relax after a tiring day. The dancers shaking their long skirts were imitating washing clothes. However, along with the cheerful screams of the girls, the spinning of dazzling dance skirts, and the beautiful flying legs, most viewers ignored Kang Kang’s four prescribed actions: a pair of two, standing upright in the air with one leg. The other leg forms an A shape, which is the "cathedral", used to mock the oppression of women by religion. The left leg is independent, and the right leg is pulled to the ear and salutes. This is the "end rifle" to express the oppositewar. Independent left leg beating while bending right leg to shake, this represents a call for sexual freedom... "Only by understanding these can we understand that in Kangkang, women'use their legs to liberate themselves' demands", Maruta Added.

Of course, in addition to skirt kicks and the above-mentioned symbolic actions, the dancers also have to roll somersaults continuously, jump to the ground with a big split, and quickly somersault to connect to the splits. This gave Kangkang the title of "Acrobatic Dance". To dance Kangkang at the Moulin Rouge, a girl must have both elegance, personality and skill. The height must not be less than 1.75 meters, and the weight fluctuation must not exceed 2 kg during the employment period. In addition to rehearsing 4 hours a day, the newcomers should also strengthen their physical fitness in the gym. Mathilde confessed that Kangkang was the hardest and most physically demanding in the entire performance. Each dancer kicked no less than 1,500 times a week, and some movements were more difficult than acrobatics. Some people quit because of pain and stress, because everyone knows that "Once you can't beat Kangkang, you won't be able to work at the Moulin Rouge."

Foreigners have supported the French symbol

Kangkang and made Kangkang a 131-year-old Moulin Rouge, and the Moulin Rouge has also continued to develop Kangkang. Before the epidemic, the Moulin Rouge had two performances every night, 365 days a year. Although tickets are expensive and have been affected by terrorist attacks in recent years, the dancers' outstanding dance skills have allowed the show to maintain an attendance rate of over 98%. What's interesting about

is that not only the foreign audiences come to see Kangkang, but the dancers who support the show are also foreigners. This year's leading dancers are from Romania and Kazakhstan, with 80 dancers covering 15 nationalities. Art director Garnett is British. She admits that the requirements for jumping Kangkang are quite high and must be chosen among the best. Therefore, she has to go all over the world to find newcomers, and the dancers chosen in the end are often chosen from a thousand, with the dream of "on the stage at the most famous nightclub in Paris". For example, Norwegian business elites and American doctors of medicine who changed their careers to jump to health. In order to achieve the effect of singing the lyrics uniformly in the performance, they learned French immediately after arriving in Paris. In Garnett's view, foreign dancers are exquisite in dancing and love French culture. It is not a bad thing for them to hold up French symbols.