Paris's Moulin Rouge cabaret, co-founded by Charles…
October 1889 CE
Close to Montmartre in the Paris district of Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement, it is marked by the red windmill on its roof.
The aim is to allow the very rich to come and 'slum it' in a fashionable district, Montmartre.
The extravagant setting—the garden is adorned with a gigantic elephant–allows people from all walks of life to mix.
Workers, residents of the Place Blanche, artists, the middle classes, businessmen, elegant women, and foreigners passing through Paris will rub shoulders.
Nicknamed "The First Palace of Women" by Oller and Zidler, the cabaret quickly will become a great success.
The ingredients for its success include:
A revolutionary architecture for the auditorium that allows rapid changes of décor and where everyone can mix;
Festive champagne evenings where people dance and ware entertained thanks to amusing acts that change regularly, such as the Pétomane;
A new dance inspired by the quadrille which becomes more and more popular: The Can-can, danced to a furious rhythm by dancers in titillating costumes;
Famous dancers whom history still remembers: la Goulue, Jane Avril, la Môme Fromage, Grille d'Egout, Nini Pattes en l'Air, Yvette Guilbert, Valentin le désossé, and the clown Cha-U-Kao;
A place loved by artists, including Toulouse-Lautrec whose posters and paintings secure rapid and international fame for the Moulin Rouge.
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