Moulin Rouge ("Red Mill", Moulin Rouge) is the world's most famous classic cabaret, founded in 1899. It is located on Boulevard Clichy, near Place Pigalle, in the famous "red light district".
The opening of the cabaret its owners Joseph Oller and Charles Siedler deliberately timed the opening of the cabaret to coincide with the start of the Paris World's Fair and the completion of the Eiffel Tower - both of these events attracted many guests to the French capital, and the initiators of the project counted on their attention. The name of the cabaret comes from the windmill moulage painted in red - it is installed on the roof.
From the very beginning, the cabaret attracted not only the middle class, but also the aristocracy and people of art. The Prince of Wales, Picasso, Oscar Wilde became its regulars. The initial period of the Moulin Rouge's activity was marked by the work of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - the artist appeared here every evening. His paintings of dancers and dances made the cabaret famous.
The main part of the Moulin Rouge's evening programme was always a performance accompanied by a cancan. This number has changed over time: from a dance of courtesans it gradually turned into an exciting dance of perfectly trained ballerinas - with acrobatic tricks, but still with squeals and screams.
In 1893, one of the dancers of the Moulin Rouge for the first time in modern history completely undressed on stage. It can be considered the first time a real striptease was performed here.
In 1915 a fire destroyed the Moulin Rouge, but in 1921 the establishment reopened. Its activities were interrupted during the occupation of Paris, but performances resumed after the war. Charles Aznavour sang here. Technologically very complex numbers were staged: for example, in 1964, a huge aquarium appeared on the stage, in which floated nude dancers.
An innumerable number of songs were written about the famous cabaret, six feature films were shot, and a novel was written.
There are 850 seats in the cabaret. The revue "La Faerie", considered to be the best Moulin Rouge programme, is now staged here.
On a side note
- Location: 82 boulevard de Clichy, Paris
- Nearest metro station: "Blanche" line M2
- Official website: http://www.moulinrouge.fr
