Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1874-11-04
THE CAN-CAN.
Fevre ana Johnny Manning, Who
FIOurfshed I'm Memphi some Years
Ago.

F8vre anu Johnny Manning, VINE
Flourishedf I'm memphis some Years
Ago.
The Brooklyn Eagle Of late date has
the following as to the rise and progress.
of the Can-Can dance:
Its origin dates back seven centuries
to time when the feudal inhabitants o.
the Vosges, on the borders Of Germany
in order TO commemorate certain
yearly feast they kept up; the men Away
came dressed in grotesque costumes
carrying swords aud spears, and thel
engaged in a kind Of dance or tourna
ment which was called Can. Can.
This feast died out after two centuries
The women Can-Can dance was first in
troduced in the low order of houses il
Paris about fifty years ago. 1t was per
formed then as it is at present in many
places in Paris by the most abandoned
women, who appeared with only single
dress covering their nudity, one end o.
which was attached to their shoulder
and in this position they watzed around
to strains Of the music. After having
been arrested several times by the
authorities, only to be discharged mex,
day, it died out after run of a
few years. About thirty years ago it
was again introduced, aud 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 a saloon,
which he called the Jardin MabiIle.
Himself and the dancers who perform
ed in the disgusting costume be-
fore described, were arrested on several
occasions, but always escaped punish.
ment. He defed the authorities, aud
his unprecedented success made him
open the Mabille Garden on a high
scale, and with few slight modi6ca.
tons in the interest Of morality in the
costume Of the dancers. Thsi was the first
toothold of the Can. Canism as an open
and permanent institution, and the sue
cess of Ledoux led to the establishment
of the various shows of that kind now
extant. It's first introduction in Amer
lea was by Fletcher twenty-six years ago
at Croton Hall, corner of Bowery and
Division avenue 1t was performed
without tights, but after few nights its
immortality came TO the knowledge OF
the authorities and the place was pulled
As in Paris, they were discharged the
following morning, Fletcher being put
under bonds. The arrest scared him
from Croton Hall, and he played in
Chatham street, where Moriarty keeps
the secondhand furniture store now
Here the dancers wore trunks and flesh
colored tights, like model artists or ira
peze performers, and his success was not
as good as at Croton Hail.
During the war, in 1862, it reappeared
under the management of Aline Lee
Favre, O Frenchwoman, who brought
part of the troupe with her at Tammany
Hall, in long dresses, but only wearing
trunks and stockings 1t had good run
OF success, and she afterwards travelled
through Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago,
st. Louis, Washington and all the prin
cipal cities, meyer having been inter-
fered with, except at the Opera House,
Baltimore, where they spent night in
the station.house, only to be discharged
the next morning. Several smaller
troupes performed in the Western cities,
but it was dropped after Ahne LeFavre
was arrested in Memphis, Tennessee.
She afterward married John Manning, of
the Metropolitan, and only survived
few years.
Several errors appear in the above
sketch Aline LeFavre was not a French
woman, but an Irish woman, whose real
name was Maggie Cox, and she claimed
to DE sister to a well.known New York
city official. She appeared in Memphis
shortly after the war ip company with
a Frenchman named Mons. Veudemont,
whose real name was DePelgram.
Veudemont taught fencing in Chicago,
and there met Maggie Cox, who was
variety actress. They started the Can
Can and came here. Two years after
ward Veudemont was shot accidentally
and killed on the corner Of Second and
Jefferson streets during fracas between
Jimmy Schooles and stranger. Veude
mont and LeFavre we're married before
the former died. She then married
Johnny Manning and went to California,
where she made no little money dancing
the horrible Can-Can at the Bella Union
Theater, San Francisco. Returning to
Memphis to commence an engagement
at the Old Varieties, she was unable to
appear owing to sudden illness, and sac
died in few days. The famous pair,
Veudemont and LeFavre, are buried
here in one OF our cemeteries.