The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1874-11-05
The Can.Can.

AbC CUHsO1us
The ean-ean, and.the efforts of Police
Superintendent Folk to suppress it, ,isthe
theme of very general discussion in
Williamsburg. To the end that the sen
tlments of the better class OF citizens
might be obtained on the snbject, an
Eagle interviewer called upon several
of the ciergymcn and otherleding men
of the district yesterday. The result is
appended. Before proceeding to the in
tcrvicw, however, it is in pace to give
some little account Of what may be call
ed tho "rise and progress of the dance.
Can-can, like other institutions, can
boast a history fraught with trials, and,
to use the term of The manager OF the
Grand Central, prosecutions. Its origin
dates back seven centuries, to time
when the feudal Inhabitants of the
Vosgcs Mountains, on the borders ct
Germany, in order to commemorate a
certain yearly feast they kept up, the
men always came dressed in grotesque
costumes, carrying swords and spears,
and they engaged in kind of dance or
tournament which was called "can-can."
At the present day many engravings
representing them at this feast exist, but
it is doubtful whether it was the ami
versary of the feast or the dance which
they called "can-tan. This feast died out
after two centuries, The women can
can dance was first introduced in the
low order of houses in Paris about fifty
years ago. 1t was performed then as it
is at PRESENT. In MANY. places in Paris by
the most abandoned women, who up.
peared with only single dress cover
ing their nudity, one end of which was
attached to their shoulder, and in this
position they waltzed around to strains
of the music. After having been arrest
ed several times by the authorities, only
TO be discharged next day, it died out
after run Of u few years. About thirty
years ago it was again introduced, and
the authorities made arrests with the
same result as before. In q few Of the
lower dens it remained unnoticed, until
Ledoux opened it on u larger scale, in a
saloon, which he called the Jardin
Mabille. Himself and the dancers who
performed in the disgusting costume be-
fore described, were arrested on several
occasions, but always escaped punish
ment. He defed the authorities, and
his Unprecedented success made 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 foot
hold of the can-canisu as an open and
permanent institution, and the success
Of Ledoux led to the establishment OF
the various shows, of, that kind now ex-
lant. Its first introduction in America
was by Fletcher twenty years ago at
Croton Hall, corner of Bowery and Dl-
vision avenue. 1t was performed with
out tights, but after a few nights immor-
atty came to the knowledge of the au-
thorities and the place was pulled down.
AS in Paris, they were discharged the fol.
lowing morning, Fletcher being put un-
der bonds. The arres, scared hum from
Croton Hall, and he played in Chatham
street, where Moriarly keeps the second
hand furniture store now. Here the
dancers wore trunks, and flesh -colored
tights like model artists, or trapezc per-
formers, and his success was not as
good as at Croten Hail.,
After four weeks he moved to the
Franklin Theater,> u d afterward to
Pinto's where he disappeared as a man
ager. George Lee also kept troupe al
l27 Grand street, but the model arts,
style did not take and it died out.
During the war, in 1862, it reappeared
under the management Of Helene Lefa-
vre, Frenehwoman, who brought part
of the troupe with her at Tammany
Hall, in long dresses, but only wearing
trunks and stockings. 1t had a good
run of success, and'she atterward travel
ed through Boston, Philadelphia, Cbica-
90, ST. Louis, Washington, and all the
principal cities, never having been inter
tered 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 Helene Lsfavre
being arrested in Memphis, Tenn. She
afterward married John Manning, OF the
Metropolitan, and only survived few
years. -. n;
On the second ofAugust last Manning
reintroduced It at the Metropolitan, and
the raid Of The police and the discharge
of the dan ers next morning are fresh in
the memory of all. In the meantime
several enterprisingi managers tried 1t at
st. Louis, Buffalo, New Haven, and the
larger cities throughout the country,
where it was, in nearly every instance,
u success. 1t is performed in few low
houses in Green street.
From can can sprang other dances,
whose only claim to be legitimate are
that they appear in fights and trunks.
They arc "rhe Black Crook" 4" White
Fawn," Humpty Dump:y," "Deluge,
ola Belle Helene, ""Ies Cents Vieges,
and {" La Grande Duthesse."
The can-caners say that if their per-
Torrance is immoral the others are
equally so.-Brooklyn Eagle.