Kibworth & Smeeton WI
Kibworth & Smeeton WI
On a cold October evening we were transported back to France in the 1830s by David Price, who introduced us to the history of the Cancan. I’m sure that many of us had visions of a line of ladies dancing, kicking their legs high and displaying their amazing petticoats!
We didn’t realise that at that time we would all have been able to perform the dance! All we would have needed to do was to move our long dresses away from our feet so that we could move a little! Young male students would have accompanied us, making small kicks with their legs whilst waving their arms around. In those days their behaviour was seen as scandalous, especially as women wore split bloomers, so when they kicked their legs too much could be revealed!
The term Cancan means ‘tittle tattle’ or ‘scandalous’ and the dance was created by, and for, the lower working classes, who attended dance halls in Paris. During the 1840s and 1850s many attended the Bal Mabille, which was a very famous open air dance establishment. One of the courtesans, Celeste Mogador, danced there and crowds of people flocked there and cleared the floor so that they could watch her perform the Cancan, amongst other dances. Celeste was responsible for toning down the dance to spread its popularity. This more acceptable version became known as the French Cancan.
During the 1860s the dance began to include high leg kicks, hence the need for closed knickers to be worn! It was not until the 1880s that the dancers kicked their legs up high and held them in that position.
The first cabarets opening in Montmartre gave the dance a place to flourish. Famous artists from there, Grille d’Egout and La Goulue, were famous for showing off their frilly, lacy underwear as they danced. La Goulue established the rules of the Cancan as we know them today, and she featured in a famous poster by Toulouse Lautrec, kicking so high that she knocked a gentleman’s hat off his head! Grille d’Egout and another great dancer from Montmartre, Nina Pattes en l’air, were the first to begin teaching the Cancan. In 1889 the Moulin Rouge was established and the dance’s international reputation was sealed.
It was not until the 1890s that the Cancan was choreographed to Offenbach’s music, with the chorus lined up on the stage facing the audience, essentially becoming the modern version of the dance that we know today.
While members have continued to utilise their crafting skills for charity projects, we have prepared our annual poppy displays once again. We were delighted to install a new poppy cascade for the pulpit in Smeeton Westerby’s Christ Church at the end of October for their Remembrance Service, which is held a week before Kibworth’s. The poppies in St Wilfrid’s will, as usual, remain until towards the end of the month for people to enjoy. There is also a smaller display in the Library garden.
As we approach the end of the year, we look forward to our Christmas party on
12 December, at 7.30, KCH.
Teresa Bottomley and Pat Sharman
Janet Skinner
