Historic Collapse: Moulin Rouge Windmill Blades Fall Amidst Parisian Awe

The home of the high-spirited French can-can has been temporarily laid low after the sails of the red-painted windmill atop the Moulin Rouge, Paris’ most famous cabaret, mysteriously fell to the ground in the early hours.

“In 135 years of history the Moulin Rouge has experienced many adventures, but it is true that as far as the sails are concerned, this is the first time it’s happened,” the attraction’s general manager, Jean-Victor Clerico, told reporters.

Clerico stated that shortly before 2 a.m. on Thursday, the windmill’s sails “simply gave way, and fell on the pavement. Fortunately, at the time the boulevard was empty of passersby. We are especially relieved this morning to know there were no injuries.”

More than 600,000 people watch the Moulin Rouge’s twice-daily shows at the foot of Montmartre hill each year, with many more standing on the pavement outside to take selfies in front of a landmark as iconic of Paris as the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower.

The cabaret, established in 1889, became a global symbol of fin-de-siècle Parisian nightlife, with its famed can-can dancers depicted in paintings by artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec. The eponymous 2001 film by Baz Luhrmann cemented its current popularity.

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The French can-can is thought to have evolved from the final figure of a couples dance known as the quadrille. It caused a lot of controversy when it first became popular as a cabaret act, owing to its deliberately revealing high kicks.

The French can-can, created in the early 1920s by Pierre Sandrini, then the artistic director of the Moulin Rouge, is performed by a line of female dancers and revolves around “vigorous manipulation of skirts and petticoats, high kicks, jump splits, and cartwheels”.

While it was recently closed for 18 months for renovations due to the pandemic, the cabaret’s only previous serious accident was a fire that broke out during construction in 1915, forcing it to close for nine years.

Officials, Parisians, and tourists were all stunned by the incident. “The Moulin Rouge is part of our cultural heritage, a building famous throughout the world and above all in the hearts of the people of Paris,” said the capital’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, adding that the sight of the fallen wings was “a saddening one”.

Raphaël, a local resident, told Le Parisien it was “quite upsetting to see the windmill without its wings – it’s a symbol of Pigalle and all Paris”. André Duval, the front-of-house manager in the 1980s and a 50-year neighbor, was equally shocked.

“Paris without its windmill is like Paris without the Eiffel Tower,” he added.

Clerico stated that there was no evidence of foul play and that the cause was “obviously a technical problem”. The Paris police chief, Laurent Nuñez, confirmed that no one was injured, “safety architects” were dispatched to the scene, and there was no further risk of collapse.

A source at the cabaret, one of the most popular landmarks in one of the world’s most visited cities, told French media that the windmill’s mechanism was checked weekly and that no problems were found during the most recent inspection.