A fun Parisian experience would include a cabaret night.
France is known for its cabarets and the legendary can-can dance - a highly-spirited performance characterized by high kicks, splits, and even cartwheels to the tune of raunchy music. It brings images of a chorus line of female dancers in ruffled skirts and frilly petticoats.
This dance was born in Paris in the 1830s and became synonymous with La Belle Époque (Beautiful Age), an era "characterized by optimism, regional peace, economic prosperity, colonial expansion, and technological, scientific, and cultural innovations."
It is said that the can-can dance drew its inspiration from the laundry women of those times, who had a mischievous habit of flashing their clean petticoats and that the word itself means "tittle-tattle" or "scandal."
When it was first performed in a Paris cabaret, it created quite a stir, for the dancers wore crotch-less pantalettes underneath their long, voluminous skirts and light petticoats. The high kicks revealed more than what was necessary. It acquired a licentious reputation and even attracted the wrath of the Church and those who upheld society's high morals. However, it was also said to be a form of protest against conservative Victorian rules, a harbinger of female liberation and empowerment, and even a challenge to political and moral conventions of those times.
Eventually, the dance form gained some kind of respectability when a leading dance ball organizer embraced, gentrified, and popularized it. Soon, dance halls were established and featured these shows. Female performers gained stardom and the dance even crossed the Atlantic to the saloons of the wild, wild American west.
This era of bohemian mood was perfectly captured in the music of French composer Jacques Offenbach and immortalized in the iconic posters of French artist Henri Toulousse-Lautrec, many of which have become collectors' items. Hollywood also jumped into this bandwagon by producing films with the French cabaret theme, beginning with Jean Renoir's French Cancan in 1954, and more recently, the movie, Moulin Rouge that starred Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.
And so, on our last night as a group in Paris, we were scheduled to go for a fancy dinner followed by a cabaret show. Paris has a number of traditional cabarets in the city that still keeps alive this art form that celebrates pleasure, fun, and freedom with music, dancing, theatrical performances, lavish sets, and opulent costumes.
We originally wanted to watch Moulin Rouge, the original Parisian cabaret immortalized in the award-winning film adaptation I previously mentioned, but that time, tickets were sold out.
Our Tour Director instead reserved tickets at La Nouvelle Eve, said to be one of the most prestigious cabarets in town. She assured us that we were going to have a wonderful time watching the featured show and that it is actually more spectacular in terms of production design. It is called, Paris, Je t’aime! And rather than a straight-forward musical, this one is a mixture of singing, dancing, juggling, acrobatics, magic tricks, mime, and of course, the famous French can-can.
Off we went to Montmartre, where the music hall is located. Being a remnant of the Belle Epoque in a famous place for post-war Parisian life, La Nouvelle Eve is one of the most beautiful cabaret halls in Paris. From its rich, scarlet-toned velvet carpet and furnishings at the foyer to its star-studded sky, lovely cherubs, and stucco imps onstage, it offers a unique atmosphere. It reminded me indeed of the "roaring twenties."
We had a wonderful five-course gala dinner at the lavishly decorated dining hall. The food was great and the service was impeccable. The maitre d’hôtel and the servers were attentive to every detail and never failed to replenish our drinking glasses. To start off, we had a basket of assorted freshly-baked bread. I had a plate of liver terrine while my husband had a colourful crudite plate sans the dipping sauce. For the main plate, he ordered the grilled fillet steak with béarnaise sauce on the side, while I tried their grilled salmon. Both were served with fried potatoes and braised zucchini and tomatoes. They were excellent. Next we had a cheese plate and a homemade apple tart for dessert. The meals were served with a wonderful Bordeaux red (which I couldn’t have...hu-hu-hu) and at the end, we sipped our coffee (decaf for me) and tea while waiting for the show to start.
The show was very entertaining, with a lot of audience participation…and they did call a lot of people from our group since we occupied the front tables (luckily, we weren’t chosen). I must say our group boasted of a few talented performers who had the knack for comedy and could spontaneously deliver a punchline or two. There was one guy who even danced shamelessly in the middle of the stage even though he couldn’t keep up with the beat, which roused the audience to uncontrollable peals of laughter. It was so much fun. Everyone was such a good sport.
One thing that was not mentioned to us prior to booking this show was the topless numbers…yes, lots of numbers with topless women in feathers and glittery costumes. But everything was done in good taste and in the spirit of fun and healthy humour. Maybe the overflowing champagne served during the show also helped.
At the end of the night, we were all gastronomically satiated and bursting with so much energy that everyone was playfully bantering as we exited the building and walked towards the parking lot. On board the bus, there was non-stop teasing and wise-crack jokes directed to those who went onstage.
And that concluded our escorted tour. The following day, we parted ways after our last buffet breakfast at the hotel.
Some headed to the Charles De Gaulle Airport to go back to their respective homes. Some extended their stay in France to explore the outskirts of Paris. There were a few of us who had to go back to London because we booked flights to and from the Heathrow Airport. Our tour bus was going back to London (via the Somme Valley) anyway, so we had a free ride that evening after spending most of the day running around Paris on our own.
Photo Credits:
en.parisinfo.com, lanouvelleeveparis.com, cometoparis.com
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