A giant red windmill blade rotates slowly above the intersection of Boulevard de Clichy. This is the Moulin Rouge, a cabaret opened in eighteen eighty-nine by Joseph Oller and Charles Zidler. They built it to provide a glamorous setting for the French cancan, a dance that had previously been confined to working-class dance halls. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec turned the performers into icons through his posters, turning this single dance hall into the center of Parisian nightlife during the Belle Epoque.
Moulin Rouge
cultural
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