Transcript for La joie du cancan (The Joy of Cancan) - Revisited

Bonjour, dear listeners, for this special season of the dual-lingual French podcast, we are celebrating the arts. We're revisiting some of our favorite episodes featuring singers, dancers, actors, and other performers in the Francophone world. Today, we have an episode from October 2020. It takes us back to Paris in the 1960s when a young energetic dancer named Monica discovered the French can can. The dance had been around since the late 1800s and performed in iconic Paris cabarets, like the Moulin Rouge. But when Monika started dancing it, it was considered old school. Keep listening to hear how she shared the dance with a new generation. And stay tuned until the end for an update from Monika herself. Monika, not always dreamed of becoming a dancer. As a kid growing up in 1950's Paris, she went to ballet classes and she worked hard. But by the time she turned 20, she knew she didn't have the temperament to become a professional ballerina. Monika was still determined to dance in any way she could. So she decided to answer the audition call for a famous cabaret dance troupe in Paris. But when she stepped into the dance studio, she hesitated. She watched women in bright satin skirts and frilly pedicotes practice high kicks. The troupe was looking for dancers to dance, French, can can.

Monica knew her parents might not approve, but she was drawn to the dance's energy, and she wanted to be a professional dancer, so she went ahead with the audition. The director asked Monica to do a few spins. Monica spun as fast as she could and the director was impressed. He told her to try something harder to run diagonally across the room and land in a split.

It was hardly a life of comfort and stability, but Monica knew that no matter what came her way, no matter what happened, she would make a life dancing. Bienvenue, and welcome to the dual-lingo French podcast. I'm Gophéne Tutucuelet. Every episode we bring you fascinating true stories to help you improve your French listening and gain new perspectives on the world. The storyteller will be using intermediate French and I'll be chiming in for context in English. If you missed something, you could always skip back and listen again. We also offer full transcripts at podcast.duolingo.com. When Monica told her parents that she was joining a can-can troop, they weren't thrilled. They liked dancing, but just her fun. And their opinion mattered. It was 1966, and in France, at 20 years old, Monica was still considered a minor. She would have to wait to be 21 to make her own decisions.

Monica insisted. This was the best dance job she could get. Her parents had heard of the troop director, Roger Stéphani. He was a well-respected dancer and choreographer. The fact that it was his troop reassured them.

With her parents' blessing, Monica joins Tiffany's troop. For the next year, she learned the art of Can Can with one of the genre's greatest answers.

Monika stayed with Stephanie's troop for a year, but what she most wanted was to travel abroad. She longed to go on tour. So, as soon as she turned 21, Monika boarded a coach bus filled with canned can dancers headed to Lisbon, Portugal. She was in heaven.

At that time, Portugal's authoritarian government would send sensors to vet shows before a performance. When the sensors arrived to check on Monika's troop, one can move in particular was a problem. The one where the dancers turn around, lift their skirts, and reveal their pedicotes.

Monica loved life on the road. Her company toured from city to city by bus, joining operettas and existing cabaret shows that performed from Lisbon to Porto. On stage, Monica danced her heart out. Offstage, she was one of the French cancun girls, the life of the party.

Monica missed her parents, but she wasn't interested in going back to Paris, and she didn't want to work for free. So she teamed up with another can-can dancer in her troop, Claudine, and they headed to Spain. There, Monica and Claudine started their own duo.

The duo traveled all around Europe, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France. They mainly performed cancan and Russian dances and clubs and casinos. Their energy filled acrobatic routine proved popular and they were in high demand. They were a hit.

Monika was thrilled. But then she got some bad news. After her father's death, Monica wanted to stay a little closer to home. It was the early 70s and can-can was growing out of favor in France. But it remained popular abroad, so Monica included signed a seasonal contract to perform at a club in Switzerland, near the border with Italy. In Switzerland, Monica includes showed up to rehearse, repeating. They rehearse their routine with the live orchestra, but the frontman and pianist wasn't French. He was Italian, and he did not get can-can music.

Every time something went wrong with the music, the dancers had to stop and start over. They were getting frustrated. The musicians were getting frustrated. At one point, Monica caught the Italian pianist rolling his eyes. She lost it.

Before they knew it, they were in love.

For the first six months of their relationship, Munika and Jenny lived a part. They each had gigs in different cities. Munika, dancing can can with Gladi, Jenny playing piano with his orchestra. Staying in touch was hard.

Eventually, Monica and Jenny realized they couldn't keep touring in different cities forever. So, they decided to get married and form a touring company together. Monica would lead the dancers, Jenny, the orchestra.

Within a year, their son Carlos was born, and when he was little, Monika and Jenny could build their family life around touring. First, they toured in Italy. On the road, Monika learned to be a mother, and to speak Italian. But when Carlos turned six, she decided it was time to pick a spot to settle so Carlos could go to school.

The demand for Ken Cannon France was shifting to tourist values. But the couple still found work, and as they watched their son grow from a teenager into a young adult, they imagined that life could go on like this forever.

In 1994, Jenny had a sudden heart attack and died. He was 53. Monika was just 48. The loss nearly broke her.

I couldn't afford not to work. They didn't have much savings and Carlo was a university student who still needed financial support. Slowly, painfully, when he got tried to pull the pieces of her life back together. For the first time in her life, she found herself looking for a desk job.

Monica stopped dancing all together, and she was miserable. She became lonely and reclusive, a shadow of her old self. Her mother was really worried about her, so she hatched a plan to bring Ken Ken back into Monica's life.

In each episode of KIA Keen, three contestants had to guess the current or past professions of eight mystery guests. Whenika would be one of the mystery guests. To participate, she had to prepare a short can-can routine to show proof that she had indeed been a can-can dancer and possibly dance on national television.

Monica knew of a small local dance trou. She asked if she could borrow a few dancers. And in less than two days, she put together a little can-can routine and taught four volunteer dancers the steps.

During the show, contestants had to guess who did what. There was a pianist and a butcher in Boucher Charcutière. If everyone guessed right, Monica would get to dance on TV. But if they guessed wrong, she was expected to answer questions or perform the other contestants' profession.

The result was both disastrous and hilarious. The audience roared with laughter, and as Monica laughed along with them, an old, familiar feeling stirred inside of her. At 60 years old, Monica got a new start in dance. The director of the non-profit dance troupe, or she had found dancers, approached her with a request. They had a big year-end show coming up, and they wanted to end it with a bang. Could Monica come up with a can-can routine and teach it to 60 dancers?

When the day of the show came, she watched anxiously from backstage. The lights dimmed.

The show's success gave Monica a rush of pride and joy. And it also boosted her confidence. After a few dancers approached her for private Ken Ken lessons, she asked herself, what if she started her own Ken Ken school?

Today, at 76, Monica has been leading her dance troupe for over 15 years. For Monika, being around young dancers, their joy and their energy, it keeps her young.

When he got kidnapped, it's a canned can teacher and choreographer living in Nautef, just outside of Paris. Since she first told us her story in 2020, we reached out to her. She was happy to share that after the COVID lockdowns put her classes on hold, she's now back teaching with more energy than ever. Here's the voice mail she left us. Her voice may sound a bit different from her original interview.

You can follow Monika at her troop on Instagram at your con con du Monika. That's le underscore con con underscore de underscore Monika with a K. And if you're ever in Paris, Monika has a special invitation for you to join or join our workshop.

This story was produced and adapted by, I don't know, the media's Lorena Gallia. We'd love to know what you thought of this episode. You can write us an email at podcast at duelingo.com and call and leave us a voicemail or audio message on what's app. At plus one 703 9539369 don't forget to say your name and where you're from. If you like this story, please share it. You can find the audio and a transcript of each episode at podcast.duelingo.com. You can also follow us on Apple Podcasts or on your favorite listening apps you never miss an episode. With over 500 million users, Duolingo is the world's leading language learning platform, and the most downloaded education app in the world. Duolingo believes in making education free, fun, and available to everyone. To join, download the app today, or find out more at Duolingo.com. The Duolingo French podcast is produced by Duolingo, and I don't know the media. I'm your host, and go fan, but to weather. And I will share them.