Can-can

Lore & Background

The can-can is a high-energy, physically demanding dance that became popular in music halls during the 1840s and remains a staple of French cabaret. Its main features include vigorous manipulation of skirts and petticoats, along with high kicks, splits, and cartwheels. The dance is believed to have evolved from the final figure of the quadrille, a social dance for four or more couples. Its steps may have been inspired by the acrobatic mime and jump splits of entertainer Charles-François Mazurier. Originally danced by couples, it later became associated with a chorus line of female dancers. The dance was considered scandalous in the 19th century, partly because women wore pantalettes with an open crotch, and the high kicks were intentionally revealing. There is no evidence that dancers wore special closed underwear, though Moulin Rouge management did not permit performers to wear revealing undergarments. Occasionally, people were arrested for dancing the can-can, but there is no record of an official ban. Throughout the 1830s, groups of men, particularly students, often danced it at public dance-halls. Professional performers emerged as it gained popularity, with women becoming much more widely known than men. By the 1890s, stars like La Goulue and Jane Avril earned high pay at the Moulin Rouge. The most prominent male dancer was Valentin le Désossé. In the 1920s, choreographer Pierre Sandrini devised the spectacular "French Cancan" at the Moulin Rouge, combining individual Parisian dance-hall style with British and American chorus-line routines. Outside France, the can-can became popular in music halls, where groups of women performed choreographed routines. It was introduced in America in 1867 by Giuseppina Morlacchi as part of a theatrical production in Boston, receiving an enthusiastic reception. The dance also became popular in Alaska and Yukon, Canada, where theatrical performances feature can-can dancers to the present day.

Reader's Guide

The can-can’s significance stems from its transformation from a scandalous social dance into an enduring emblem of French cabaret. Originating from the final figure of the quadrille, its steps may have been influenced by an 1820s entertainer known for acrobatic dance and jump splits. Initially considered scandalous—partly because women’s open-crotch undergarments made high kicks intentionally revealing—the dance faced occasional arrests but no official ban. In the 1830s, groups of men, especially students, performed it at public dance-halls. Professional performers emerged by the 1840s, with a few male stars and an all-male group appearing in London in 1870, though female dancers became far more famous. By the 1890s, full-time stars like La Goulue and Jane Avril earned high pay at the Moulin Rouge, alongside prominent male dancer Valentin le Désossé. The choreographer Pierre Sandrini later combined individual Parisian dance-hall style with British and American chorus-line routines to create the spectacular “French Cancan” in the 1920s. Outside France, the can-can thrived in music halls as choreographed group dances, a style reimported for tourists. Its main moves include high kicks, a rotary leg movement with raised skirt, turning on one leg while holding the other vertically, cartwheels, and jump splits. Dancers often scream and yelp during performances. The dance appears in numerous ballets, operas, and films, including Jean Renoir’s *French Cancan* and Baz Luhrmann’s *Moulin Rouge!*, and has been depicted by painters such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Seurat, and Picasso.

Did You Know?

• The can-can is believed to have evolved from the final figure in the quadrille, a social dance for four or more couples.
• In the 1830s, groups of men, particularly students, often danced the can-can at public dance-halls.

Origins and the Scandal of the Dance Floor

The can-can traces its roots to the concluding figure of the quadrille, a social dance performed by multiple couples. While the precise lineage remains unclear, the acrobatic vocabulary of the dance may owe a debt to Charles-François Mazurier, an entertainer of the 1820s celebrated for his mime and jump splits. When the dance took hold in the 1840s, it provoked genuine moral panic. Women of the period wore pantalettes with an open crotch, and the deliberately high kicks of the can-can made the garment a source of public embarrassment. Authorities occasionally arrested dancers, and there were periodic attempts to suppress the form, though no formal ban is documented. Ironically, throughout the 1830s it was largely groups of men—especially students—who performed the dance in public halls.

From Solo Stars to the Moulin Rouge Spectacle

By the 1890s the can-can had matured into a viable profession. Dancers such as La Goulue and Jane Avril commanded substantial fees for their appearances at the Moulin Rouge and other Parisian venues, marking a shift from amateur enthusiasm to genuine stardom. On the male side, Valentin le Désossé—literally "Valentin the Boneless"—gained recognition as a frequent partner of La Goulue and as the most prominent male can-can performer of the era. The individual, improvisatory style that flourished during the Second Empire and the fin de siècle would eventually be distilled into something far more structured. In the 1920s, choreographer Pierre Sandrini crafted the "French Cancan" at the Moulin Rouge, a production that blended the spontaneous flair of Parisian dance-halls with the disciplined chorus-line conventions of British and American music halls. This synthesis transformed the can-can from a solo or small-group affair into the high-energy, synchronized spectacle that audiences around the world would come to expect, with room still reserved for individual dancers to showcase their personal "specialities" within the larger choreography.

Crossing Borders: The Can-Can Goes Global

The production featured cymbals and triangles played by the corps de ballet, and the audience responded with enthusiasm. Yet the dance's American popularity proved fleeting; by the 1890s it had fallen out of favor in New York dance halls, supplanted by the hoochie coochie. A more durable foothold was found in Alaska and the Yukon, where theatrical performances incorporating can-can dancers continue to this day. Meanwhile, the choreographed, chorus-line version of the dance that flourished in British and American music halls was imported back into France in the 1920s, specifically to entertain tourists. This circular migration gave birth to the "French Cancan": a highly structured routine lasting ten minutes or more, built around signature moves such as the high kick, the rond de jambe, the port d'armes, the cartwheel, and the grand écart. It became standard practice for performers to scream and yelp during execution, adding a layer of theatrical exuberance to the already physically demanding display.

The Can-Can in Music, Paint, and Screen

The can-can's influence radiated far beyond the dance floor. In the visual arts, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec produced numerous paintings and posters of can-can dancers, joined by Georges Seurat, Georges Rouault, and Pablo Picasso. The dance appears in ballet works by Léonide Massine, in the finale of Ponchielli's La Gioconda, and in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge!.