Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-11-07
FHE CAN.CAS.
what Il is. where Il Came From, and
How lt II Danced.
Brooklyn Eagle.


Can-can, like other institutions, can
boast history fraught with trials, and, 10
use the term of the manager Of the Grand
Central, prosecutions. It's origin dates
back seven centuries. to A time when the
feudel inhabitants of the Nosges
Mountains. on the borders OF Ger-
many, in order to commemorate
certain yearly feast they kept
up, the men always came dressed IN gro
tesque costumes, carrying swords and spears,
and they engaged in kind Of dance tour
nament which was called "Can-can.' AT
the present day many engrayings represent
ing them at this feast exist, but il IS doubt
full whether it was the anniversary OF the
feast or the dance which they called ''Can-
cam This feast died out after two
centuries. The women Can-can dance
der Of houses in Paris about fifty years
ago. 1t was performed then as it is al
present, in many places in Paris, by the
most abandoned women, who appeared
with only a single dress covering their
nudity, one end of which was attached to
their shoulder; and in this position they
waltzed around to strains Of music. After
having been arrested several times by the
o1AhOAANACof OAAA1 OC QlclA4alk Cu nCAb AaJ1
it died out after a run Of a few years.
About thirty years ago it was again in
troduced, and the authorities made arrests
with the same result as before. In a few
of the lower dens it remained unnoticed
until Ledoux opened it on larger scale,in
q saloon which he called the Jardin Mabille.
Himself and the dancers who performed in
the disgusting costumes before described
oFT,oc -
sions, but always escaped punish
ment. he de6ed the authorities,
and his unprecedented success mad
him open the Mabille garden on high scale,
and with a few slight notifications in the
interest of morality in the costume of the
dancers. This was the first foothold of the
can-canism as an open and permanent in
stitutiOn, and the success of Ledoux led
to the establishment of the various
shows of that kind now extant,
Its first Introduction in America
was by Fletcher, twenty-six years ago,
at Crolon ball, corner Of Bowery and Di-
vision avenue. 1t was performed without
tights, but after a few nights its immo-
rality came to the knowledge of the authori-
ties. and the place was pulled. As in
Paris, they were discharged the following
OCAAA- PoG 0n0OA OOlOo.
The arrest scared hun from Croton Hall,
and he played in Chatham street.
Here the dancers wore trunks, and flesh
colOTed tights like model artists, or trapeze
performers, and his success was not as
good as at CrotOn Hall. Afler four weeks
he moved to the Franklin Theatre, and af-
terward to Pinto's, whose he disappeared as
a manager. George Lee also kept troupe |
Grar,I afra Int tha ,,.n1al "a
style did not take, and it died out.
During the war, in 1862, it reappeared |
under the management of Helene Lefayre, |
French woman, who brought part of the |
troupe with her at Tammany Hall, In long |
dresses, but only wearing trunks and stock |
ings. IL had a good run of success, and she |
rwardtraveledt through Boston, Philadel- |
phia, Chicago, st. Louis, Washington and /
all the principal cities, never having been /
interfered with except at the Opera House,
Baltimore, where they spent a night in the
station-houSe, only TO be discharged the 1
next morning. Several smaller troupes
performed in the Western cities, but it was
dropped after Helene l. -favre being arrest
ed in Memphis, Tenn. She afterward mar
ried john Manning, of the Metropolitan,
and only survived few years.
CH tuS SOCoAu VI Au5uSS last hdunilS
it at the Metropolitan, and the
raid of the police and the discharge Of the
dancers neat morning are fresh in the me-
mOry of all. In the meantime several en-
terprising managers tried it in st. Louis,
Buffalo, New Haven, snd the larger cities
throughout the country, where it was,
in nearly every instance, a success.
From ean-can sprung other dances,
whose only claim TO be legitimate are that
hey appear in tights and trunks. These
are The "Black Crook" -sWhite Fawn,"
'Humpty Dumpty," "Deluge,n "I4a Belle
Helene" "LeS Cents Vierges," and ala
GTande Duchesse.r The can-caners say
hat if their performance is immoral tie
others are equally so.