Bal Tabarin (Paris)

The Bal Tabarin opened in 1904 at thirty-six rue Victor-Massé, occupying a space previously used for humble, makeshift stages where traveling singers performed. Its founder, a composer and orchestra leader named Auguste Bosc, chose the name to honor a seventeenth-century street performer named Tabarin who was legendary for his quick wit and farcical, improvisational street theater. By adopting this name, Bosc signaled that his new venue was built on the rowdy, accessible, and egalitarian traditions of Parisian public entertainment rather than the stiff formality of traditional theater. Within a few years, it had evolved from its modest roots into a dazzling Art Nouveau palace known for its elaborate themed spectacles and as a premier stage for the French cancan.