Toulouse-Lautrec - Moulin Rouge - La Goulue

Valentin le Désossé ("Valentin the Boneless"; 26 February 1843 – 4 March 1907) was the stage name of Jacques Renaudin, a French can-can dancer who was a star of the

Moulin Rouge Moulin Rouge (, ; ) is a cabaret in Paris, on Boulevard de Clichy, at Place Blanche, the intersection of, and terminus of Rue Blanche. In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Olympia (P ...

in the 1890s as the partner of Louise Weber, known as

La Goulue La Goulue (, meaning ''The Gourmand''), was the stage name of Louise Weber (12 July 1866 – 29 January 1929), a French can-can dancer who was a star of the Moulin Rouge, a popular cabaret in the Pigalle district of Paris, near Montmartre. Weber ...

(The Glutton).

Star of the Moulin Rouge

Not much is known about the life of Jacques Renaudin. He may have been the son of a notary from Sceaux, a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, and it is thought that, as an adult, he worked as a wine merchant by day. It is certain, however, that at night he danced at the Moulin Rouge, the famed cabaret in the Pigalle district of Paris, near Montmartre. There he formed a partnership with La Goulue, dancing the ''chahut'', a form of the can-can. As a team, they were the toast of ''tout le monde'' in ''fin de siècle'' Paris. Renaudin was tall and slender, with an aquiline nose and a prominent chin, which gave him a distinctive profile, and long arms and legs, which gave him an elongated silhouette. He acquired his stage name because of the elasticity of his articulations. With lengthy limbs, he could perform difficult contortions with unusual grace, almost as if he were boneless. Moving from position to position with astonishing fluidity and beauty, usually wearing a black suit and a top hat, he was much admired. According to legend, he danced 39,962 waltzes, 27,220 quadrilles, 14,966 polkas and mazurkas, and 1,000 lancers for a total of 83,112 performances on the stage of the Moulin Rouge. He never accepted pay for his extraordinary performances, as he danced merely for the love of it. He retired from the stage in 1895 and faded into obscurity.

Can-can

The can-can, spelled ''cancan'' in French and pronounced ''kãkã'', is an acrobatic form of the quadrille. Popular in French music halls and cabarets throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century, it derived from the ''chahut'', a rowdy dance performed at public ballrooms by students, working girls, and young clerks. Characterized by freedom from propriety and by enthusiastic abandon, it requires great flexibility and remarkable vivacity. With no set steps, it permits wild inventiveness of movement--spectacular leaps, high kicks, cartwheels, and jump splits. The popularity of the dance with young people began to fade in the mid-nineteenth century, but it was taken up, with great success, by performers in cabarets and music halls such as the Casino de Paris and the Moulin Rouge. It usually featured a bevy of female dancers wearing long, flaring skirts, flouncing petticoats, and black stockings, held up by garters. Valentin le Désossé was one of the few men to dance the can-can professionally. He was a popular attraction at the Moulin Rouge in the early 1890s.

Cultural references

* 1889/90. Painting. Georges Seurat. ''Le Chahut''. Oil on canvas. Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands. * 1891. Poster. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. ''Moulin Rouge: La Goulue''. Color lithograph. Approximate print run: 3,000 copies. * 1934. Ballet. ''Bar aux Folies-Bergère''. Choreography by Ninette de Valois. Music by Emmanuel Chabrier. Created for Ballet Rambert, London, with Alicia Markova as La Goulue and Frederick Ashton as Valentin le Désossé.Beth Genné, ''The Making of a Choreographer: Ninette de Valois and Bar aux Folies-Bergère'', Studies in Dance History (Society of Dance History Scholars, 1996). * 1950. Novel. Pierre La Mure. ''Moulin Rouge''. Based on the life of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. New York: Random House. * 1952. Film. ''Moulin Rouge''. Directed by

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered ...

. Romulus Films. A biography of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, with Katherine Kath as La Goulue and Walter Crisham as Valentin le Désossé. * 1954. Film. ''French Cancan''. A fictionalized history of the Moulin Rouge, written and directed by

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent film, silent era to the end of the 1960s. ...

. Franco-London Films. With

Françoise Arnoul Françoise Arnoul (born Françoise Annette Marie Mathilde Gautsch; 3 June 1931 – 20 July 2021) was a French actress, who achieved popularity during the 1950s. Early life Born in Constantine, French Algeria, as the daughter of stage ac ...

as La Goulue and

Philippe Clay Philippe Clay (7 March 1927 – 13 December 2007), born Philippe Mathevet, was a French mime artist, singer and actor. He was known for his tall and slim silhouette (he was 1.90 m tall) and for his interpretations of songs by Charles Aznavour, ...

as Valentin le Désossé, called Nini and Casimir le Serpentin in the film.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:leDesosse, Valentin 1843 births 1907 deaths French male dancers Musicians from Paris Moulin Rouge