Can-can

Description

The can-can (or cancan as in the original French; French pronunciation: ​[kɑ̃kɑ̃]) is a high-energy, physically demanding dance that became a popular music hall dance in the 1840s, continuing in popularity in French cabaret to this day.[1] Originally danced by both sexes, it is now traditionally associated with a chorus line of female dancers.[2] The main features of the dance are the vigorous manipulation of skirts and petticoats, along with high kicks, splits, and cartwheels.

Cancan, lively and risqué dance of French or Algerian origin, usually performed onstage by four women. Known for its high kicks in unison that exposed both the petticoat and the leg, the cancan was popular in Parisian dance halls in the 1830s and appeared in variety shows and revues in the 1840s. The cancan is in a lively 2/4 time and was at first danced to quadrille or galop music. Specific cancans were composed by Jacques Offenbach and other composers after about 1840. Later, the dance appeared in such works as Franz Lehar’s operetta Die lustige Witwe (1905; The Merry Widow) and Cole Porter’s musical comedy Can-Can (1953). It can also be seen in several films, including John Huston’s Moulin Rouge (1952), a fictional account of the life of the artist perhaps most commonly associated with Montmartre, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec; Jean Renoir’s classic French Cancan (1955); and Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! (2001).

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