Editing Can-can

{{Short description|Music-hall dance}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{about|the dance|other uses}}
[[File:Lautrec la troupe de mlle eglantine (poster) 1895-6.jpg|thumb|300px|Depiction of the can-can by [[Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec]], 1895]]
{{Listen
| filename     = Offenbach - Orpheus in the Underworld - Overture, Can Can section.ogg
| title        = Cancan section from the overture to ''Orphée aux enfers'' (1:46)
| description  = 
}}
The '''can-can''' (also spelled '''cancan''' as in the original French [[Help:IPA/French|/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.<ref>Nadège Maruta, ''L'Incroyable Histoire de Cancan: Rebelles et Insolentes, les Parisiennes Mênent la Danse'' (Paris: Parigramme, 2014).</ref> Originally danced by couples, it is now traditionally associated with a [[chorus line]] of female dancers.<ref>Marie-Franççpose Christout, "Can-can", in ''International Encyclopedia of Dance'', edited by Selma Jeanne Cohen and others (New York: [[Oxford University Press]], 1998), vol. 2, pp. 52–53.</ref> The main features of the dance are the vigorous manipulation of skirts and petticoats, along with high kicks, [[Split (gymnastics)|split]]s, and [[cartwheel (gymnastics)|cartwheel]]s.

==History==
[[File:Georges Seurat, 1889-90, Le Chahut, oil on canvas, 170 x 141 cm, Kröller-Müller Museum.jpeg|thumb|upright|[[Georges Seurat]], 1889–90, {{lang|fr|[[Le Chahut]]}}, oil on canvas, {{cvt|170|×|141|cm}}, [[Kröller-Müller Museum]]]]
[[File:Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 031.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Toulouse-Lautrec, ''Jane Avril Dancing'']]

The can-can is believed to have evolved from the final figure in the [[quadrille]], a social dance for four or more couples.<ref>Mary Clarke, "Quadrille", in ''The History of Dance'' (New York: Crown, 1961).</ref> The exact origin of the dance is obscure,<ref>Francis Henry Gribble, "The Origin of the Can-can" (1933), reprinted in ''Dancing Times'' (London), October 1953, pp. 28–29, 66–67.</ref> but the steps may have been inspired by a popular entertainer of the 1820s, [[:fr:Charles-François Mazurier|Charles-François Mazurier]] (1798–1828), well known for his [[Mime artist|mime]] and [[acrobatic dance]], including the [[grand écart]] or [[Jump split|jump splits]]—both popular features of the can-can; his greatest success was in ''Jocko, or The Brazilian Ape'' (1825).<ref>G. Desrat, "Mazurier, Charles", in ''Dictionnaire de la Danse Historique, Théorique, Pratique et Bibiographique, depuis l'Origine de la Danse jusqu'a Nos Jours'' (1895), Classic Reprint (London: Forgotten Books, 2017).</ref>

The dance was considered scandalous, and for a while there were attempts to suppress it. This may have been partly because in the 19th century, women wore [[pantalettes]], which had an open crotch, and the high kicks were intentionally revealing. There is no evidence that can-can dancers wore special closed underwear, although it has been said that the [[Moulin Rouge]] management did not permit dancers to perform in "revealing undergarments".<ref>Jacques Pessis and Jacques Crépineau, ''The Moulin Rouge'' (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990).</ref> Occasionally, people dancing the can-can were arrested, but there is no record of its being banned, as some accounts claim.{{cn|date=February 2023}} Throughout the 1830s, it was often groups of men, particularly students, who danced the can-can at public dance-halls.<ref>Marie-Françoise Christout, "Can-Can", in ''International Encyclopedia of Dance'' (1998).</ref>

As the dance became more popular, professional performers emerged, although it was still danced by individuals, not by a chorus line.<ref>Renée Camus, "Cancan: Blurring the Line between Social Dance and Stage Performance", in ''Proceedings'' of the annual meeting of the Society of Dance History Scholars, Baltimore, Md., 2001/</ref> A few men became can-can stars in the 1840s to 1861 and an all-male group known as the {{lang|fr|Quadrille des Clodoches}} performed in London in 1870.<ref>[[Alfred Choubrac]], ''Ambassadeurs: Quadrille des Clodoches'' (Colombes: Atelier Choubrac, 1890).</ref> However, women performers were much more widely known.

By the 1890s, it was possible to earn a living as a full-time dancer and stars such as [[La Goulue]] and [[Jane Avril]] emerged, who were highly paid for their appearances at the [[Moulin Rouge]] and elsewhere.<ref>Michel Souvais, ''Moi, La Goulue de Toulouse-Lautrec: Mémoires de Mon Aïeule'' (Paris: Publibook, 2008).</ref><ref>Jane Avril, ''Mes Mémoires'' (Paris: Phebus, 2005).</ref> The most prominent male can-can dancer of the time was [[Valentin le désossé|Valentin le Désossé]] (Valentin the Boneless), a frequent partner of La Goulue. The professional dancers of the [[Second French Empire|Second Empire]] and the [[fin de siècle]] developed the can-can moves that were later incorporated by the choreographer [[Pierre Sandrini]] in the spectacular "French Cancan", which he devised at the Moulin Rouge in the 1920s and presented at his own [[Bal Tabarin (Paris)|Bal Tabarin]] from 1928. This was a combination of the individual style of the Parisian dance-halls and the chorus-line style of British and American music halls.<ref>Philippe Le Moal, ed., "Sandrini, Pierre", in ''Dictionnaire de la Dansw'' (Paris: Éditions Larousse, 1999.</ref>

==Outside France==
Outside France, the can-can achieved popularity in music halls, where it was danced by groups of women in choreographed routines. This style was imported back into France in the 1920s for the benefit of tourists,{{cn|date=February 2023}} and the "French Cancan" was born—a highly choreographed routine lasting ten minutes or more, with the opportunity for individuals to display their "specialities". The main moves are the [[Glossary of ballet#Battement|high kick]] or [[battement]], the {{lang|fr|[[Glossary of ballet#Rond de jambe|rond de jambe]]}} (quick rotary movement of lower leg with knee raised and skirt held up), the {{lang|fr|port d'armes}} (turning on one leg, while grasping the other leg by the ankle and holding it almost vertically), the [[cartwheel (gymnastics)|cartwheel]] and the grand écart (the flying or jump splits). It has become common practice for dancers to scream and yelp while performing the can-can.

The can-can was introduced in America on 23 December 1867 by [[Giuseppina Morlacchi]], dancing as a part of ''The Devil's Auction'' at the [[Theatre Comique (Boston)|Theatre Comique]] in Boston. It was billed as "Grand Gallop Can-Can, composed and danced by Mlles. Morlacchi, Blasina, Diani, Ricci, Baretta ... accompanied with cymbals and triangles by the [[Ballet dancer#Hierarchic titles|coryphees]] and [[corps de ballet]]." The new dance received an enthusiastic reception.
[[File:M'lls. Morlacci and Baretta dancing the Can Can Dance (Boston Public Library).jpg|alt=M'lls. Morlacci and Baretta dancing the can-can Dance|thumb|upright|Giuseppina Morlacchi introduced the can-can to American audiences in 1867.]]
By the 1890s the can-can was out of style in New York dance halls, having been replaced by the [[hoochie coochie]].<ref>Herbert Ashbury, ''The Gangs of New York'' (New York: Knopf, 1929).</ref>

[[File:Can Can Girls.webm|thumb|Can-can girls participate in Golden Days Parade, Fairbanks, Alaska, 1986]]

The can-can became popular in [[Alaska]] and [[Yukon, Canada]], where theatrical performances feature can-can dancers to the present day.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

[[File:Cancan en l'air.jpg|thumb|upright|Dancer performing a {{lang|fr|pied en l'air}}]]

==In other arts==
[[File:HenriDeToulouse-Lautrec-AtTheMoulinRouge-TheDance-1889-90-VR.jpg|thumb|The Moulin Rouge featured in a Toulouse-Lautrec painting]][[File:CanCanDollsIASW.png|thumb|Can-can doll in the [[Disneyland]] version of [[It's a Small World]]]]Many composers have written music for the can-can. The most famous is French composer [[Jacques Offenbach]]'s {{lang|fr|Galop Infernal}} in his operetta {{lang|fr|Orphée aux Enfers}} (''[[Orpheus in the Underworld]]'') (1858).<ref>The Earl of Harewood and Antony Peattie, eds. "Jacques Offenbach: Orphée aux Enfers", in ''The New Kobbé's Opera Book'', 11th ed. (New York: G. P. Putnam's, 2000), p. 575.</ref> However, the [[galop]] is actually another sort of dance. Other examples occur in [[Franz Lehár]]'s operetta ''[[The Merry Widow]]'' (1905) and [[Cole Porter]]'s musical play ''[[Can-Can (musical)|Can-Can]]'' (1954), which formed the basis for the 1960 musical film ''[[Can-Can (film)|Can-Can]]'' starring Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine. Some other songs that have become associated with the can-can include Aram [[Aram Khachaturian|Khachaturian's]] "[[Sabre Dance]]" from his ballet ''Gayane'' (1938) and the [[music hall]] standard "[[Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay]]". In 1955 [[Jean Renoir]]'s film ''[[French Cancan]]'', starring [[Jean Gabin]] as the director of a music hall which features the can-can, was released.

The can-can has often appeared in [[ballet]], such as Léonide Massine's {{lang|fr|[[La Boutique fantasque]]}} (1919) and {{lang|fr|[[Gaîté Parisienne]]}} (1938),<ref>Debra Crane and Judith Mackrell, "Can-can", in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Dance'' (Oxford University Press, 2000).</ref> as well as ''[[The Merry Widow (ballet)|The Merry Widow]]''. Another example is the climax of Jean Renoir's film ''[[French Cancan]]''.<ref>Criterion Collection, released by United Motion Pictures, 1955.</ref> A well-known can-can occurs at the finale of the "[[Dance of the Hours]]" from the opera {{lang|it|[[La Gioconda (opera)|La Gioconda]]}} by Amilcare Ponchielli.

French painter [[Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec]] produced several paintings and a large number of posters of can-can dancers. Other painters of the can-can included [[Georges Seurat]], [[Georges Rouault]], and [[Pablo Picasso]].<ref>David Price, ''Cancan!'' (London: Cygnus Arts, 1998).</ref>

The can-can has appeared in numerous film and TV productions, such as the dance being featured prominently in [[Baz Luhrmann]]'s [[Moulin Rouge!]]. The 2009 [[anime]] series ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' featured the music as one of its themes, while a promotional advertisement for ''[[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends]]'' featured one of its lead characters, Coco, performing the dance before destroying the set around her.

In all versions of the [[Disney Experiences|Disney Parks]]'s boat ride [[It's a Small World]], there are some can-can dolls that dancing near the [[Eiffel Tower]] to represent the origin country of can-can, [[France]].

==References==
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