cancan
High-kicking French dance
The cancan is a high-energy dance featuring high kicks, splits, and lifted skirts, originating in 19th-century Parisian music halls.
Dancers in a chorus line kick in unison, often revealing petticoats and undergarments—deliberately provocative for its era.
The dance remains associated with the Moulin Rouge and French cabaret: The dancers performed the cancan to Offenbach.
Undergarments beneath skirts
- rufflesPleated ornamental trim
- flouncesGathered fabric trimmings
- gartersLeg bands securing hosiery
- stockingsFitted leg coverings
showgirls · splits · cartwheels · kicks · frills · knickers · bloomers · underskirts
Historic Parisian cabaret
- MontmartreHilltop artists' district in Paris
- music hallVenue for live entertainment
- dancehallPaid venue for social movement
- revueMusical variety entertainment
showgirls · burlesque · nightclub · entertainment · spectacle · Offenbach · Toulouse-Lautrec · Parisian
Raised performance platform
- choreographyDesigning performance movement sequences
- troupeTraveling group of performers
- costumesClothes for assuming roles
- finaleConcluding part of performance
ensemble · spotlights · applause · curtain · ovation · rehearsal · showtime · audience
Attractively energetic and enthusiastic
- livelyAnimated and energetic
- exuberantIntensely lively and cheerful
- spiritedFull of vim
- energeticHaving much vigor
boisterous · jubilant · animated · effervescent · frolicsome · raucous · uninhibited · jaunty
petticoats
Undergarments beneath skirts
stockings · showgirls · splits · cartwheels · kicks · frills · knickers · bloomers · underskirts · synchronized
Moulin Rouge
Historic Parisian cabaret
- MontmartreHilltop artists' district in Paris
- music hallVenue for live entertainment
- dancehallPaid venue for social movement
revue · showgirls · burlesque · nightclub · entertainment · spectacle · Offenbach · Toulouse-Lautrec · Parisian · fin de siècle
stage
Raised performance platform
- choreographyDesigning performance movement sequences
- troupeTraveling group of performers
- costumesClothes for assuming roles
finale · ensemble · spotlights · applause · curtain · ovation · rehearsal · showtime · audience · premiere
vivacious
Attractively energetic and enthusiastic
energetic · boisterous · jubilant · animated · effervescent · frolicsome · raucous · uninhibited · jaunty · rollicking
- Reduplicativesbye-bye, mama, papa, haha, yo-yo
- danceballet, breaking, folk dances, b-boying, folk dance
- dancesballet, waltz, tango, salsa, hula
- French Culturebaguette, baguettes, beret, berets, brie
- French Thingsbaguette, beret, Eiffel Tower, croissant, Louvre
- French EntertainmentFrench cinema, French theater, French music, French ballet, cabaret
cancanwaltz
Dance in three-quarter time
minuet · adagio · slow dance · funeral march · pavane
cancanminuet
Formal 18th-century dance
court dance · waltz · cotillion · pavane · quadrille
cancanwaltz
Dance in three-quarter time
tango · foxtrot · ballroom dance · slow dance · pas de deux