MOULIN ROUGE
In 1889 a new music-hall – the Moulin Rouge – was opening at the foot of Butte Montmartre in the Jardin de Paris. This was an extravagant place with its huge dance floor, mirrors everywhere, and galleries that were the last word in elegance, to mix with the riffraff and girls of easy virtue.
The masters of the place were Joseph Oller and Charles Zidler. They nicknamed their establishment Le Premier Palais des Femmes (the first Women’s Palace) and bet on their success, enthusiastically claiming to whoever listened that the Moulin Rouge would become a temple of music and dance. On the very first day, their hopes were fulfilled – the other music-halls just had to learn!
Until the beginning of World War I, the Moulin Rouge had become a true temple dedicated to operetta. But the success of Moulin Rouge was interrupted by the World Wars and for a while lost its glory.
It was six years after World War II before the Moulin Rouge recovered its former magnificence. In 1951, Georges France, alias Jo France, the founder of Balajo, bought the Bal du Moulin Rouge and set about renovating in order to allow the famous establishment to hold again the most wonderful nights in Paris, and regain its splendor of longago. Dance parties, entertainment and receptions for charity were back…
