Moulin Rouge celebrates 125th birthday
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E-mail CNTV, October 22, 2014
Legendary French cabaret house, the Moulin Rouge, has reached an extraordinary milestone. This week, the grand old dame turns 125, and like fellow Parisians Coco Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent, the iconic Moulin Rouge oozes style, sophistication, and a certain je ne sai quoi. Over the coming week, Parisians are set to celebrate a century and a quarter of the can-can, with some special shows honoring past performers.
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Legendary French cabaret house, the Moulin Rouge, turns 125, and it's the birthplace of the French Cancan. |
It's the birthplace of the French Cancan. The Moulin Rouge and its dancers have been working their magic since 1889, exactly 125 years ago. 70 dancers are on stage every night, from 14 different countries.Justyna joined the troupe a couple of years ago.
She came from her native Poland at 23 to follow her dream. Mornings are for resting. In the afternoons she trains or meets friends, who are usually also her dancing colleagues. Her friend Ricelle is from Australia, like most of the Moulin Rouge girls.
"I live far away from my family so keeping contact with my family is important, but visiting them is really hard, because it's a 24 hours flight, so it's hard," said Ricelle Hoogervorst, Moulin Rouge dancer.
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Legendary French cabaret house, the Moulin Rouge, turns 125, and it's the birthplace of the French Cancan. |
To join the Moulin Rouge cast, dancers must be at least 1 metre 75 tall, be classically-trained and have the required looks. They must also watch their weight, putting on no more than two extra kilos after they're hired.
"We just need to eat healthy, but we don't need to be really strict about our diet, we can eat everything, because as dancers we shouldn't be too skinny as well, because we have huge costumes, they are beautiful as well and the costumes are really big," said Justyna.
Their working night starts at 7.30 pm with over half an hour of making-up. Then comes the warm-up. The dancers work six days a week, two shows per evening. A serious strain on the body, comparable to top athletes.
"The most difficult dance in the show is definitely French Cancan, you need to have a lot of energy and a lot of strengh to kick your legs so many times in such a short time and with a really fast music, so we need to stretch before going on stage, before starting the show," Justyna said.
The dancers' average age is 23, although one of them is still performing at 39. For Justyna, that's also a goal worth pursuing. So long as her body can take the strain, she's definitely staying.
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