"Moulin Rouge" - the most famous cabaret in the world, which is one of the main attractions of France. It would seem that a purely entertainment institution has long turned into a kind of symbol of the turbulent, full of visible brilliance and hidden dramas of Parisian life.
Instructions
Step 1
The doors of the Moulin Rouge cabaret were first thrown open to the public on October 6, 1889. This solemn event was timed to coincide with the opening of the World Exhibition and the completion of the construction of the main national symbol of France - the Eiffel Tower. The cabaret was named after the red mill, designed by the famous Parisian decorator Leon-Adolphe Villette.
Step 2
Soon the whole of Paris started talking about the "Red Mill". Visitors to the cabaret, first of all, were struck by the interior, which presented the cathedral with a bizarre combination of antiques and modernism, Europe and the East. A huge figure of an elephant was installed in the garden, at the foot of which there was a spiral staircase. Climbing up it, visitors found themselves in an Arab club located in the belly of an elephant.
Step 3
Here they danced all night long, bathed in champagne, and gambled fortunes. The favorite spectacle of the Parisian public was the cancan dance, carrying a piquant smack of sin and obscenity. Its first performers were dancers Yvette Gilbert, La Gulyu and Jeanne Avril. True, the cancan of that time is very far from the virtuoso dance performed today by professional dancers with perfect stretching. In 1893, a striptease was performed here for the first time in the world.
Step 4
The Moulin Rouge has been visited by such celebrities as Pablo Picasso and Oscar Wilde. The artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec became a regular and a kind of chronicler of the famous cabaret, from whose paintings and posters one can study its history today.
Step 5
In 1915, a fire destroyed the Moulin Rouge, but in 1921 the cabaret was rebuilt. Now the favorite spectacles of the Parisian public are spectacular revues and operettas. Among the performers on the Moulin Rouge stage are the famous chansonnier Charles Trenet and Charles Aznavour.
Step 6
In the last decade of the 20th century, interest in the famous cabaret began to fade noticeably, and the Moulin Rouge was almost on the verge of closing. Baz Luhrmann's 2001 film Moulin Rouge, starring Nicole Kidman and Evan McGregor, helped to revive its former popularity.
Step 7
Today's Moulin Rouge looks more like a fashionable nightclub, although the famous cancan is still danced there. It is interesting that there are many Russian dancers among its performers. Although modern Paris has many such establishments, some of which are arguably much more chic, the Moulin Rouge still attracts many visitors. After all, he is the very embodiment of the living history of the French capital.