0 a fast dance, originally performed in France in the 19th century, in which a row of women on a stage kick their legs high and lift their skirts --
Prokofiev described this cancan-like material as thievish.
The cancan outfit can also be adorned with some or all of the following accessories: ankle boots, hats, gloves, capes, shawls, wraps, boas, jewelry and feathers.
Their shows usually contained songs, bawdy skits, and often featured cancan dancers.
The cancan was, therefore, originally a dance for couples, who indulged in high kicks and other gestures with arms and legs.
In the hours before closing, much like other resorts of the era, were enlivened with the cancan and licentious displays.
Her stage name came from the chahut-chaos, a dance derived from the cancan.
Throughout the 1830s, it was often groups of men, particularly students, who caused the most outrage by dancing the cancan at public dance-halls.
Other films set at this time also suggest how the cancan was regarded with disapproval.
