What is Cancan?
1.
A style of chorus line dance that has its origins in the Montparnasse area of Paris in the 1830s. Most popularly depicted as a chorus line of beautiful women in frilly, suggestive costume circa 1890 doing impossibly high kicks in unison, in addition to moves like the ronde de jambe and flirtatious manipulation of the skirt. This latter is particularly true at the end of the number, when the cancan dancers generally turn their backs to the audience and lean forward, lifting up their skirts to reveal their bloomers.
Though several musical pieces have been written for the cancan, the most quintessential and famous piece is the "Galop Infernal" from the operetta "Orpheus in the Underworld."
You know:
Daah, da-da diddle da-da, da-da diddle da-da, da-da diddle da, dadadadadadada daah, da-da diddle da-da, da-da diddle da-da, da-da diddle da, da-diddle-da!
2.
As in the CanCan Girl. The original dirty dancer, the ones who drove the frenchmen wild. Thanks to glasnost, Russians can now watch cancan girls on their colour tv's.
She's a cancan girl. The way she talks, move, flirts, everything about her thinks you should be in Vegas playing the slots with her.
