The Can-Can - for kids
Alright, friends - gather ‘round and do some stretching; it’s time for the can-can! Close your eyes for a second (not while stretching unless you have an incredible sense of balance) and think about the can-can. What do you see? What do you hear? Some can-can facts might surprise you! Take a look!
1. The can-can is technically a specific style of dance, not a specific style of music. Several famous pieces of music were written for can-can dancing, including “The Galop Infernal.” What you were hearing in your head when you closed your eyes and thought can-can…. That’s “The Galop Infernal.” This melody is now almost universally associated with the can-can dance, and our Music Class version from The Giraffe Collection is based on it. French composer Jacques Offenbach wrote this piece in 1858 for his operetta “Orpheus in the Underworld.” The operetta (meaning a short opera) was a satire about Greek mythology. “The Galop Infernal” is one of the final scenes, where the gods throw a wild party and gallop around the stage!
2. The can-can was considered incredibly scandalous when it first became popular in Paris in the 1830s. People tried to suppress it, and occasionally dancers were even arrested! The can-can scandal eventually became a smash-hit musical in 1960 called…. Can-Can! It featured Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine and, of course, some incredible dancing. The scene below features cancan dancing to a different piece of music composed by Cole Porter and called… “Can-Can.”
3. Merriam-Webster defines the can-can as “a woman's dance of French origin characterized by high kicking usually while holding up the front of a full ruffled skirt.” But did you know that both men and women originally danced it? Some speculate that the can-can evolved from a couple’s dance called the Quadrille, and many famous male can-can dancers performed before the all-female chorus line became the standard. You can catch some of the amazing acrobatics of male can-can dancers in the clip below!
4. The can-can dance coupled with “The Galop Infernal” music has become one of the most well-known and recognizable dances around the world. Let's pay tribute by looking at one of the best movie scenes featuring the can-can... and yes, of course, by best I mean The Little Mermaid.
YAY! I hope you enjoyed all these facts and clips as much as I did, including the fact that the word “can-can” appears exactly 20 times on this page. The 20th time is in that sentence. Now stop stretching and go dance!