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Can-can facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Lautrec la troupe de mlle eglantine (poster) 1895-6
An 1895 poster

The can-can (also spelled cancan or Can Can) is a music hall dance, performed by a chorus line of female dancers who wear costumes with long skirts, petticoats, and black stockings, like the fashions of the 1890s. The can-can was first danced in low class ballrooms of Montparnasse in Paris about 1830. The dancers of the 1890s, such as La Goulue and Jane Avril, were highly paid for their appearances at the Moulin Rouge and elsewhere. The female dancers of the French Second Empire and the fin de siècle developed the various cancan moves.

The Galop from Jacques Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld is the tune most often played with the can-can.

Images for kids

  • Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 031

    Toulouse-Lautrec, Jane Avril Dancing

  • M'lls. Morlacci and Baretta dancing the Can Can Dance (Boston Public Library)

    Giuseppina Morlacchi introduced the can-can to American audiences in 1867.

  • Cancan en l'air

    Dancer performing a pied en l'air

  • HenriDeToulouse-Lautrec-AtTheMoulinRouge-TheDance-1889-90-VR

    The Moulin Rouge featured in a Toulouse-Lautrec painting

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Cancán para niños

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Can-can Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.