cancan
2
7.2
- noun
- /kænˈkæn/
:
cancán
- I was told I might see the cancan here - the real cancan.
- cancan dancer
- cancan girls
- dance the cancan
Examples
-
I couldn't imagine you out there dancing the cancan.
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See, my mother was a French cancan dancer.
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I like the cancan better.
Fiction book (1997) -
My God, there was this wonderful little girl doing the cancan.
-
"Let's do the cancan!" she called.
Fiction book (1997) -
We won't do the cancan for a while, if that's what's worrying you.
-
I recall scenes of bohemian artists in garrets, of cancan girls and smoky cafés on the Boulevard Montparnasse.
Academic text (2003) -
The teacher introduces the unit with the "cancan" theme from Jacques Offenbach's Orpheus in Hades (the "Tortoise" theme in Carnival of the Animals is based on this melody).
Academic text (1991) -
During the performance, the dancers kicked their legs high while executing the cancan.
-
The audience clapped and cheered as the female chorus line danced the cancan with enthusiasm.
How Energetic
Surface Forms
Etymology
Cancan comes from the French word cancan meaning 'noisy talk' or 'gossip', and from the verb cancaner meaning 'to cackle'. A helpful way to remember it is to picture bright skirts, loud laughter and high kicks in a Paris club, because the name matches the dance's loud, showy style.