cancan

American  

[kan-kan] / ˈkænˌkæn /

noun

1. a lively high kicking dance that came into vogue about 1830 in Paris and after 1844 was used as an exhibition dance.

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cancan British  

/ ˈkænˌkæn /

noun

1. a high-kicking dance performed by a female chorus, originating in the music halls of 19th-century Paris

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Etymology

Origin of cancan

1840–50; < French, repetitive compound (based on can ) said to be nursery variant of canard duck; see canard

Example Sentences

But by the end of the Broadway Sinfonietta’s overture and Kevin Chamberlin’s opening number — complete with a cancan kick line! — my skepticism for the scrappy experiment had waned.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 2, 2021

Nor is Kosky so experimental that he can resist a classic cancan during the climactic “Galop Infernal.”

From New York Times • Oct. 1, 2020

Exuberant cancan melodies from the film soundtracks filtered through the galleries, seeming to animate Lautrec’s imagery.

From Washington Post • Nov. 11, 2019

Before the giant ape and the cancan chorus, before the daydreaming misfit and the defiant dancer, before even the dinosaurs and the dragons, first there were the RVs.

From New York Times • Jul. 5, 2018

Le pauvre homme a fait cette chute en regardant JANE, qui dansait le cancan sur la Place du Parvis pour choquer ces cr�tins de Cook-tourists, et pour distraire son mari.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 100, February 28, 1891 by Various