Latin Quarter - New York

A photo from Lou Walters' Latin Quarter night club in New York, where the cancan was a a staple of the entertainment.  This is available in an EBay auction by Argenta Images:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Night-Club-Latin-Quarter-Show-Girls-on-Stage-Press-Photo-/360566252812?pt=Art_Photo_Images&hash=item53f36c650c

More about the Latin Quarter:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_Quarter_(nightclub)

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/05/08/060508ta_talk_paumgarten

http://www.tipsontables.com/latinquarter.html

Argenta Images has a large stock of period photos of all categories:

http://stores.ebay.com/bigassphotos2010

Holiday on Ice - 1958

Iris Waller of Holiday on Ice demonstrates the structural integrity of one of the hoop-skirted costumes for the 1958 Boxing Day show at Wembley Stadium in this cancanesque pose.  This photo is available from Historic Images on EBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Press-Photo-Rehearsing-for-Wembley-Ice-Show-/350758267992?pt=Art_Photo_Images&hash=item51aad26c58

Historic Images is an excellent source for period entertainment photos of all sorts as well as a wide variety of, as their name indcates, historic images.  Their store is at:

http://stores.ebay.com/historicimagesstore

Variety Dance

Swedish performers in a cancan at the Utställningsrevyn (Exhibit Revue?) in Gävle, Sweden.  This photo is from the Flickr site of the Länsmuseet Gävleborg (museum).

This photo is at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lansmuseetgavleborg/7176499254/

The full photo collection is at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lansmuseetgavleborg/with/7176499254/

The Länsmuseet site is:

http://www.lansmuseetgavleborg.se/

Senior Fair 1947

A wonderful classic photo of an amateur performance.  It is captioned, "Senior Fair 1947", but has no other identifying information.

This is available at an EBay auction:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wonderful-Sexy-Cheesecake-1947-Photo-Showing-Young-Women-Dancing-the-Can-Can-/190856754454?pt=Art_Photo_Images&hash=item2c6ff2f516

Janet Reed

This is a gem from the collection of Burlyqnell.  The dancer is Janet Reed.  Burlyqnell's description says that this photo was used to promote Janet’s appearance in Park Avenue Revue, a show at the Oriental located in Chicago, IL.

The original is at:

http://burlyqnell.tumblr.com/post/53674804737/janet-reed-vintage-8x10-photo-from-1937-this

If you are a fan of old time burlesque, you should have a look at the entire collection.  The Tumblr and Facebook blogs are at:

http://burlyqnell.tumblr.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vintage-Photos-of-Burlesque-Dancers/392420184108878

Eleanore Whitney

Eleanore Whitney seems poised to cakewalk in this publicity still from 1937 in which she offers a bemused look to the camera.   It relates to a film entitled, "Turn Off the Moon" which I have never seen.

This photo was featured in the LA Times Movie Star Mystery Photo feature:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2010/01/movie-star-mystery-photo-4.html#.UWBlWvktdzA.tumblr

The linked article also has a segment on the ten no-nos according to the Hays Office, the official prudes of Hollywood, with the amusing photo exhibiting them all.  It also relates how a demure photo of Ms. Whitney was censored because it had a nude sculpture in the background.

A better copy of the ten no-nos photo:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzjfE1qScDhrDUsgez5hwFm1PtClcLQR2Q85xhx91q7WKfJ2rFKEsaxyIVKaP9ihIvJ2G0sC_q5vRBT6TGyEGtia5vuNR3LvQKNnq-uIOPLz7NLdryVVF9ZfIpAlb4fZkJC8bGk36E0Ty/s1600/Censorship+(2).jpg

Turn Off the Moon:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029697/

http://www.iceposter.com/posters/movies/Turn_Off_the_Moon_movie_posters_(1937)/MOV_6a79ccb6_Turn_Off_the_Moon_movie_poster_(1937)_Poster.html

From the Dancers' Perspective

My first reaction was to curse the photographer for being on the wrong side of the stage, but this does give an interesting insight on what the dancers see when they perform.

I think this photo is of Les Alumettes, but I have lost the direct link.

Les Allumettes' web page is:

http://www.lesallumettes.fr/

Stikine Stampede Show

The gorgeous can-can girls at the Stikine Stampede Show, Wrangell, Alaska.  Thought to be from the 1940s.

I'm not sure just what stampedes in Wrangell - walruses?

The original postcard is available on DelCampe:

http://www.delcampe.net/page/item/id,177653868,var,Wrangell-AK-Alaska-Stikine-Stampede-Show-Women-Can-can-Dance-c1940s-Vintage-Real-Photo-Postcard,language,E.html

Zizi Jeanmaire

French ballet star Zizi Jeanmaire in two publicity stills for a 1954 Broadway show entitled, "The Girl in Pink Tights". 

The first image is from the Pettipond; the second from a lost Tumblr page:

http://www.pettipond.com/laterimages/image_ce/jeanmarie_zizi.jpg

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lybi250RN91qiry1oo1_500.jpg

More about Zizi Jeanmaire:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zizi_Jeanmaire

https://www.google.com/search?q=zizi+jeanmaire&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=LcfEUa3tKoKI9QSdx4GACg&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1093&bih=500#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=fGdrUCWefWBOyM%3A%3BfDIIio08vZBFFM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F25.media.tumblr.com%252Ftumblr_lybi250RN91qiry1oo1_500.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.tumblr.com%252Ftagged%252Fzizi%252520jeanmaire%253Fbefore%253D19%3B488%3B700

More about the musical:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_in_Pink_Tights

http://ibdb.com/production.php?id=2444

At the Folies Bergere 1940

Two remarkable 1940 photos of the cancan at the Folies Bergere taken by Harold E. Edgerton and posted at the MIT Museum collection site:

http://webmuseum.mit.edu/detail.php?t=subjects&type=related&kv=671

Entertaining the Troops

This is another photo from the city of Vancouver, BC archives.  See the original at:

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/201st-battery-smoker-social-2;dc

Polka Dots

 

The dancer is Hanna Maria Fischer, "Queen of the Cancan" who performed at East Berlin's FriedrichstadtPalast in the 1960's.  See more about her and her husband at this article:

 

http://deutschland-im-internet.de/Hohen-Neuendorf/tilgner.html

 

Screwball Frolic

From a show in Vancouver, BC.  A very nice frolic indeed.  See the original and another at:

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/screwball-frolic-2;rad

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/uploads/r/null/1/2/1239260/909a875f-0257-44b7-9228-ef4964122053-A05079.jpg

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/uploads/r/null/1/2/1280455/24774f00-e06e-418e-bcc2-3b362b28ecea-A05076.jpg

Can Can e Mulin Rouge

A modern black and white photo from an Italian site that features a small collection of cancan photos:

http://www.almee.it/?page_id=1199

This photo is at:

http://www.almee.it/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/3958676919_b86c9f5084.jpg

The dancers are not identified.

Clan Destini

A modern black and white photo of an amateur theatrical company in Italy, Clan Destini, putting on a Moulin Rouge show:

http://mouldingblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/spettacolo-spettacolare.html#!/2012/10/spettacolo-spettacolare.html

(Scroll down for another nice color photo)

Virginia Mayo

I'd like to know if these photos of Virginia Mayo relate to a particular film or if they are just from a cheesecake photo shoot.  If any one can help, please let me know.

These are from various sources:

http://anodetoreverie.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-jazz-was-born.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22864665@N06/6288751685/in/faves-crespoluigi/

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/virginia-mayo-portrait-ca-late-1940s-everett.html

Katherine Dunham

Katherine Dunham in a cancan-like step from what appears to be a Caribbean-inspired dance.  See the original at the Pettipond:

http://www.pettipond.com/laterimages/image_ce/dunham_katherine.jpg

Folies Bergere 1970

A photo that is for sale at DelCampe.net:

http://collections.delcampe.fr/page/item/id,148905957,var,PARIStheatre-des-folies-bergeres-de-paul-derval-septembre-1970music-hall-Parisienneannees-follesrevues-dansees,language,F.html

A related photo:

http://collections.delcampe.fr/page/item/id,148905936,var,PARIStheatre-des-folies-bergeres-de-paul-derval-septembre-1970music-hall-Parisienneannees-follesrevues-dansees,language,F.html

The Chairman Dances

No, the other one - Nikita Khrushchev  - visiting the set of "Can-Can" during a visit to the US in 1959.  He seems quite amiable and taken with Shirly Maclaine here but condemned it as decadent upon returning home for the benefit of the humorless commissars.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Nikita-in-Hollywood.html

The other photos are from:

http://blog.diariodecine.es/?p=8759

Classic Retro

This photo dates from the 1960s and shows an attractive lady doing a pretty darn good imitation of a Moulin Rouge dancer from the Belle Epoque period in front a backdrop that suggests the dance floor of that establishment.  The costume looks quite authentic right down to the style of the fancy culottes.

It is up for auction at EBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5S-Vintage-Fashion-Woman-Goes-Crazy-Dancing-Can-Can-Shows-Long-Underwear-Photo-/350811996347?

Bal Tabarin

As photographed by Brassaï in 1932.  See the original and information about a 2009 exhibit in New York at:

http://www.houkgallery.com/exhibitions/2009-09-10_brassai-paris-in-the-1930s/
(photo #22)

Sawdust Theatre

A modern (2007) b&w photo from the Sawdust Theatre of Coquille, Oregon which puts on an annual melodrama and olio.

This photo can be found at:

http://www.sawdusttheatre.com/2007_season/index.html

Additional cancan photos, in color, are at:

http://www.sawdusttheatre.com/2012_season/olios/index.html

And this video from 2013 is a must see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKko8WYx__s

Joan Collins

A publicity still from "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing" showing her in the role of Evelyn Nesbit, who swung with Architect Stanford White, leading to the latter's demise.  The film is definitely worth a watch.

From the Tumblr blog of Creeping Irrelevance.  It was orignally posted by Simply Sassy (Retro Girly).

http://creepingirrelevance.tumblr.com/post/12990763126/retrogirly-joan-collins-kicks

http://retrogirly.tumblr.com/

More about the Evelyn Nesbit - Stanford White - Harry K. Thaw triangle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Nesbit

Kathleen Hughes

Kathleen Hughes, seams now adjusted.  A cancanesque/dance hall girl photo found at:

http://i2.listal.com/image/1699210/600full-kathleen-hughes.jpg

The listal site, which will bring up a bunch of ads, is:

http://www.listal.com/viewimage/1699210
.

Adjusting the seams

Not a true cancan photo, this is still a very nice image and "close enough."  The costume adjustments are being made by actress Kathleen Hughes.  I found this at Creeping Irrelevance on Tumblr:

http://creepingirrelevance.tumblr.com/post/13355701665/classiccow-kathleen-hughes-adjusts-those-seams

The posting originated with ClassicCow:

http://classiccow.tumblr.com/

More about Kathleen Hughes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Hughes

http://jssica.skyrock.com/3069600381-Kathleen-Hughes.html

Muriel

I'm not sure who Muriel is, but that's the filename of the photo.  This came from a comment made in the Free Republic blog on a topic mocking the use of secret funds on "dancing girls", the French intelligence and military services and "le affaire Clearstream".

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737213/posts

I don't know where the photo actually originated or anything about the context of the photo.

More about the Clearstream affair:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearstream_affair

Retro Goulue

That's Sanjna Varela, a member of The Charleens, a vintage dance troupe, from Portland, Oregon, whose site can be found at:

http://www.thecharleens.com/dances.html

Drawing Room Cancan

How not to behave in Lady Astor's drawing room, as demonstrated by Jackie Loughrey. 

I believe this came from the Creeping Irrelevance Tumblr blog, which has a very interesting collection of photos:

http://creepingirrelevance.tumblr.com/

I think Torsorama was a magazine of the ilk of Spick and Span. Here are a couple of other examples:

https://dogsmeat.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/stare-in-torsorama/

http://pinterest.com/pin/555490935258494027/

Jumping the Gun

 

A group of dancers promoting the upcoming film, "Can-Can", in 1960.  (And they are wearing what might be better costumes too.)  This was taken in Chicago.

 

This is from the Creeping Irrelevance Tumblr blog:

 

http://creepingirrelevance.tumblr.com/

 

http://creepingirrelevance.tumblr.com/post/16424144704/can-can-opens-in-chicago-1960

Belita

A great old television performance of the cancan by Belita (Gladys Lyne Jepson-Turner) a British skater, actress, swimmer and ballet dancer.  You can see the balletic approach in her performance.

This is from a You Tube video posted by swan2612:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRRwhWea_mI

More about Belita:

http://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/belita.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belita

http://www.proskatinghistoricalfoundation.org/belita.html