task d draft1 style 2

As you stroll along the Boulevard de Chlichy, lined with neon lights and bustling with people, the first thing to catch your eye is the giant red windmill standing tall above the other buildings and drawing you closer to the flashing red lights and grand entrance of this world famous cabaret, The Moulin Rouge.

After queuing outside before the performance you are ushered inside to the warm lobby where a sparkling chandelier and jewel-encrusted carpet await you.
There is little time to admire these before you are escorted to your table and take your seat for the performance.
The salle {auditorium} is filled with wooden chairs covered in soft red velvet, each one placed closely to the next ensuring that every available space is used.
Taking a moment to look around you will see various scenes of Paris painted on the walls in a post impressionist style.

As the lights dim, the sound of champagne corks popping will fill your ears and the bubbles will tingle on your tongue.
The lights go up as the beat of the music kicks in and a stage filled with 40 dancers covered head to toe in sequins is revealed. You will shocked to hear the tearing sound of poppers as each girl rips of there trousers in perfect unison revealing thirty pairs of long, luscious legs. As the dancers filter from the stage, trousers in hand, those sitting at the front are so close they could almost touch them.

After the opening number you are taken through a serious of love stories, men returning from war greeted by there loved ones who greet them in coloured chiffon skirts that are carefully manipulated to produce a mass of bright colours moving around the stage. The first tableau ends with the title song “Feerie” in which huge red feather balls with long legs dance, before revealing themselves on a huge crescendo in the music. As the ball of red feathers fall as if by magic into a skirt, the dancers reveal themselves topless for the first time. Following this revelation the remaining dancers, all sporting red feather backpacks and sparkling beaded tops join them on stage and the whole cast dance with great energy and elegance.

In true Parisian cabaret style the show includes variety acts, the first two bare chested muscular strong men in white trousers perform a balancing act, performing dangerous but exhilarating tricks of holding each other up with just one arm. You are sat on the edge of your seat. The danger is almost too much to bare. You will be amazed once again by the second act “Terry Parade” the mouth juggler, who throughout his comical act, launches ping pong balls from his mouth, gradually adding more and more before he is juggling four balls from his mouth to varying tempo’s. Bizarre, but thoroughly entertaining!

The cast of sixty, entertain you throughout two further tableau’s, the first “pirates” based around various tales of the sea including a section where as if from no where the front stage moves back and a huge tank full of live snakes appears, squirming around they instantly creates an uncomfortable feeling. A girl launches herself into the tank and begins wrestling with the snakes underwater. Sigh’s and gasps fill the auditorium and it becomes clear who the thrill seekers among the audience are.
In the second tableau the show takes a light hearted trip to the circus, no expense has been spared with the costumes and six miniature horses take the stage, mostly trotting enthusiastically but one can’t help but noticed the slightly more laboured black horse at the back! His only enthusiasm comes when it is time to exit the stage.

The smell of the horses lingers, but before you have time to notice, the moment you’ve been waiting for arrives. A gust of energy fills the room, high-pitched screams and yelps bounce from the walls and fourteen high kicking girls appear in front of you. They are dressed in red, white and blue with a cheeky pair of frilly knickers to match and a garter that sits mid thigh. They all kick their legs to there ears, cartwheel around the stage and dance with such enthusiasm that before long everyone in the audience is clapping along and willing them to kick higher and higher. The dance finishes with the dancers jumping high into the air before they land in splits.

Feeling exhilarated and sure that nothing could top the cancan, the grand finale. Girls in g-strings and bra’s with huge fluffy pink feather back packs. The lights dim and the backpacks light up perfectly in time. A sea of bright white lights among pink feathers gleams as the dancers take their bow and leave the stage for the last time.

As you take your finale sip of champagne and filter back out towards the bright neon lights you feel exhilarated by this amazing spectacle.