6th October: The Moulin Rouge

On 6 October 1889 the famous Moulin Rouge opened in Paris. Here are some facts about it:

1. The Moulin Rouge is located near Montmartre in the Paris district of Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement, The closest Metro station is Blanche. You can't miss it - it is marked by the Red Windmill on its roof. The name means "Red Mill".
2. The venue was founded by Joseph Oller and his Manager Charles Zidler, two businessmen who reckoned that rich people of that time would enjoy 'slumming it' in a fashionable district, Montmartre. They were right. They marketed it as a temple dedicated to “Woman, the Dance and the Cancan.” They nicknamed Moulin Rouge the “Le Premier Palais des Femmes” or the First Women Palace. The building was designed by Adolphe Léon Willette.
3. Moulin Rouge is known as the birthplace of The Can Can. It was originally pretty risqué - a seductive dance by courtesans working there. Now it's a cabaret staple. At the 125th anniversary celebration, Moulin Rouge dancers made it into the Guinness Book of records by lifting their legs 29 times in the space of 30 seconds, and one solo dancer lifted his leg above his head 30 times in 30 seconds.
4. The garden of the original building contained the effigy of a giant Elephant.
5. A number of dancers and cabaret acts found lasting fame by performing there, for example, la Goulue, Jane Avril, la Môme Fromage, Grille d'Egout, Nini Pattes en l'Air, Yvette Guilbert and the Clown Cha-U-Kao. Perhaps the most bizarre was a chap called Joseph Pujol, or Pétomane. His claim to fame was that he could Fart at will - His stage name combines the French verb péter, "to fart" with the -mane, "-maniac" suffix, which translates to "fartomaniac". He's also been referred to as a flatulist or a "fartiste".
6. A famous guest was the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII who went to see the show in 1880. La Goulue (a dancer whose real name was Louise Weber and whose stage name translates as "the Glutton") recognised him in the middle of a can can and yelled, "Hey, Wales, the champagne's on you!".
7. Since 1963, all the revues put on at the Moulin Rouge have titles beginning with "F". The first of these, Frou-Frou, was such a success that the then owner, Jacki Clérico, being somewhat superstitious, kept with the F theme with names like Frission, Formidable, Fantastic and Femmes, Femmes, Femmes. The tradition continues to this day with Féerie.
8. The Moulin Rouge was the first building in Paris to be powered with Electricity.
9. The original building burned down in February 1915 and didn't re-open until 1921. It was renovated by Georges France in 1951, and the decor he put in place remains today.
10. The music video for the "Lady Marmalade" cover act by Christina Aguilera, Pink, Lil' Kim, and Mýa was in a set replica of the Moulin Rouge.

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