Paris: The Moulin Rouge's blades are rotating again after collapsing a year ago.

Fourteen months after their accidental fall, the blades of the Moulin Rouge, one of Paris's most famous tourist attractions, began spinning again Thursday evening in the French capital's skies. "The entire crew is very happy to have our wings back, which are the wings of Paris," Cyrielle, one of the Parisian cabaret's 60 dancers, told AFP. Shortly before 11 p.m., the decorations, measuring over twelve meters in diameter, came to life thanks to the activation of a brand-new, custom-built electric motor.

From Toulouse-Lautrec to Baz Luhrmann

For the occasion, the Moulin Rouge troupe performed in front of the venue, a profusion of swirling red feathers symbolizing the "rebirth" of the blades. Several hundred spectators flocked to celebrate the return, blocking traffic on the busy boulevard in northern Paris. On the rooftop of the venue, the dancers celebrated the return with fireworks in hand. "I love cabaret, music hall. It's a truly beautiful moment, almost moving," exclaimed Stéphane, 46, who didn't want to miss the event. On April 25, 2024, the cabaret, immortalized by the 19th-century painter Toulouse-Lautrec and more recently by Baz Luhrmann's 2001 film starring Nicole Kidman, awoke without its blades.

They had fallen during the night without causing any injuries, due to the collapse of the central axis, causing dismay among the neighborhood residents and beyond. In the fall, they had taken with them the first three letters of the name of the venue, which was affixed to its facade in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, at the foot of the Butte Montmartre. Remaining open after the accident, the Moulin Rouge is particularly renowned for its French Cancan, the traditional wild dance of Offenbach's operettas of the mid-19th century.

The Olympic “flop”

On July 5, 2024, a week before the Olympic flame was passed to Paris, the Moulin Rouge inaugurated four new wings, made of aluminum and steel, but the new engine needed to rotate them had not been installed in time.

"The blades of the Moulin Rouge have always turned, so we had to return this Parisian symbol to Paris, to France, and to the state it was in before," Jean-Victor Clérico, general manager of the venue, which attracts 600,000 visitors each year, told AFP. From now on, they will rotate daily from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Lit by hundreds of red and gold light bulbs, now energy-efficient LEDs, they first rotated on October 6, 1889, the cabaret's inauguration day.

Featuring 90 artists representing 18 nationalities, the cabaret offers two shows 365 nights a year, in a whirlwind of feathers, rhinestones, and sequins, attracting a total of 1,700 spectators, half of whom are international. On stage, the troupe—including the iconic "Doriss Girls," named after Moulin Rouge choreographer Doris Haug—presents the revue "Féérie" at 9:00 PM and 11:30 PM, a tribute to the circus and the City of Light from 1900 to the present, before the unmissable French Cancan. Run by the same family for four generations, the Moulin Rouge created a "City of Arts and Crafts" within its walls last year, bringing together the last remaining French feather and embroidery workshops, designated Living Heritage companies.