The Story of the Can-Can

October 21, 1858 marked the world premiere of Offenbach’s opera Orphée aux enfers(Orpheus in the Underworld). Its culminating piece of music, the “galop infernal” was to become the conventional and most widely-used piece of music to accompany public exhibitions of the can-can, although other pieces, such as Khachaturian’s “Sabre Dance”, or the song “Ta-Ra-Ra- Boom-De-Yay” have sometimes been used.

We choose the music as our springboard for a dedicated post on this dance because no one can quite know when the can-can came into being down to the day. It seems to have evolved starting in the 1830s as a social dance. As with all such folk practices it was the work of many hands, or, in this case, legs. It had started out on the dance hall floor as opposed to the stage, as an element of couples dancing. Initially men performed it as often as women, but its characteristic high kicks were more daring on the part of females, who lifted their skirts to reveal not just their legs but their bloomers. It seemed like a ritual display, ultimately, of their naughty bits. The most acrobatic of the participants climaxed with moves like splits and cartwheels. Floor shows led to stage productions featuring chorus lines of girls doing their skips and kicks in unison. A characteristic move consisted of swiveling the bent but lifted leg in its socket, like a turn-out in ballet — a difficult looking maneuver that surely can’t be good for the body (my own speculation).

The word “can-can” was originally slang for “malicious gossip”, which relates to the fact that the dance was considered scandalous, even in France. In early years there was even trouble with authorities. But its popularity spread to the U.K. and then to America where it became a staple in both urban venues like Koster and Bial’s in New York, and the saloons of the wild west, as far north as Alaska. Toward the end of the century, it continued to evolve in Paris cabarets like the Folies Bergère and the Moulin Rouge, where high steppers like La Goulue earned their fame, immortalized by painters like Toulouse-Lautrec. In time, the dance became a sort of national symbol of French culture, not unlike the Eiffel Tower. It’s still performed at Paris venues as a tourist attraction, and was a delightful feature of the opening ceremonies at the Paris Olympics this past summer.

Reccomended viewing to get you in the spirit: John Huston’s 1952 Moulin Rouge; Jean Renoir’s French Cancan (1955); Walter Lang’sCan-Can (1960, based on the 1953 musical); and of course Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! (2001). Do the Can-Can-Can!

To find out more about the history of show business (including French influence thereupon), consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at a librairie or bibliotheque near you.