Even with the well-known sails of its windmill gone, the Moulin Rouge by no means lets up: twice an evening, 365 nights a yr, in a whirlwind of feathers, rhinestones and sequins.
The sails of the 135-year-old cabaret within the Montmartre district of Paris collapsed final month — the trigger stays unknown.
But with some 1,700 spectators nonetheless coming each night, the present should go on. And whereas the 60-strong troupe of “Doriss Girls” — named after legendary choreographer Doris Haung — get all the eye, creating and sustaining their costumes is one other large and extremely expert job.
The present has daunting annual necessities: practically 1,000 tailored outfits every requiring as much as 250 hours of meeting, 800 pairs of footwear, and never forgetting the three kilometrers of ostrich-feather boas.
The clacking of stitching machines backstage is a near-constant soundtrack earlier than and after — and typically throughout — reveals.
“We are on every evening. The costumes wear out… But the show must always be the same, at the highest quality,” the cabaret’s basic director, Jean-Victor Clerico, 38, advised AFP.
In the identical household for 4 generations, the Moulin Rouge began shopping for up small artisan workshops within the 2000s — partly consultants in featherwork and embroidery — that had been struggling to outlive in modern-day Paris.
“These artisans are a living heritage that risked disappearing, and they are essential for the show,” stated Clerico.
“It was the duty of the Moulin to perpetuate their existence and allow the transmission of their knowledge to younger generations,” he added.
Mine Verges, 88, a fancy dress designer for the reason that Sixties, was one of many first to return beneath the Moulin’s umbrella.
Her workshop provides and maintains the troupe, in addition to many different shoppers.
“The most complicated costumes are those of the cabaret. Everything must be much more solid than normal clothing, and when there are feathers, it must above all be pleasant for the dancers,” she advised AFP.
“Le Moulin was the first cabaret with whom I worked and it will be the last,” she stated, including that she was happy her savoir-faire can be handed down.
Supplier to high fashion homes corresponding to Hermes and Louis Vuitton, Maison Fevrier was arrange in 1929 and is the final featherwork workshop within the coronary heart of Paris.
Its “plumasserie” (superb feather work) has been formally acknowledged as a “living heritage” by the French authorities.
It grew to become a part of the Moulin household in 2009 and handles some three tonnes of ostrich, pheasant and rooster feathers for the cabaret annually.
Embroidery is dealt with by Atelier Valentin utilizing the ancestral strategy of Luneville crochet and chain sew.
“The marvellous has always fascinated me. There is no limit to what you can embroider: sequins, pearls, rhinestones, repurposed metal pieces… The only imperative for a stage costume is to be strong,” stated its director, Caroline Valentin, whose different shoppers together with the Paris Opera, Disney, Givenchy and the Academie Francaise.
Shoes are one other integral a part of the present, particularly for the energetic high-kicking antics of the Can-Can that conclude each night.
Clairvoy, a cobblers based in 1945, has been a part of the Moulin’s operation since 2007.
Nicolas Maistriaux, 45, and his group make the troupe’s footwear, taking as much as 60 hours to assemble every pair, not counting their upkeep and renewal when the dancers’ heels put on them out.
Kylie Minogue additionally referred to as on Maison Clairvoy for her current tour.
“Our jobs are rewarding beyond anything,” stated Valentin. “We have the absolutely immense chance to create beauty… That’s what artistic craftsmanship is all about.”
© 2024 AFP