WOMAN HAS INTERNET HOOKED WITH DAILY VLOGS AS MOULIN ROUGE DANCER
A Moulin Rouge dancer has offered a rare insight behind the scenes of one of Paris' most iconic late-night venues—including her unique pre-show ritual.
Dancer Allie Goodbun, 25, from Woodstock, Ontario, Canada, has captivated Instagram users by sharing a daily vlog of her life as part of one of the most famous dance troupes in the world.
"It's a dream come true. It's something I've always dreamed of doing," Goodbun (@alliegoodbun) told Newsweek.
In one of the videos, which has amassed 16,055 likes and 508,000 views, the performer shared her pre-show superstition.
"I have this very weird superstition I have to do before every show. I always come on the stage after they call 'on scène' by myself, I take center mark, I literally look forward, I look side, I look side, then we're good."
Goodbun then follows up with a few kicks to warm up her hips.
In another post, she sings along to Taylor Swift's "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart" in her dressing room before a performance.
"Performing is just as much a mental game, as it is physical... I guess Taylor Swift knew exactly what we needed to hear backstage—she would know!" she wrote in the comments section.
Moulin Rouge has been running for 135 years and the dancers perform the same show every night. In 2001, Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor has brought even more cultural prominence to the red windmill at the heart of the Montmartre neighborhood.
"Growing up, I watched the movie and in high school I traveled to Paris so I knew what the city was like but before that I hadn't ever considered moving to Europe from Canada, especially to dance at the Moulin Rouge!" she told Newsweek. "There are so many photos of me in front of the Moulin Rouge and it's so cool to compare."
The 25-year-old has been dancing since the age of 5 across different genres, including hip-hop, ballet and showgirl.
In an Instagram video, she traced her love of dance back to seeing Shania Twain live as a little girl and being enamored by the performance.
Goodbun studied kinesiology at the University of Toronto. In her second year of college, in 2019, she discovered the Moulin Rouge troupe was coming to Canada to look for new dancers, and she traveled to Vancouver for a five-hour audition.
Six months later, the 25-year-old got the callback she had been hoping for, but due to the COVID pandemic, she could not move to Paris so remained in Toronto and finished her studies.
In October 2021, she was finally able to travel to France to become a full-time Moulin Rouge dancer.
Now, Goodbun, who performs 12 shows, six days a week—with 10 outfit changes per show at least!—shares her life behind the feathers and rhinestones with her more than 430,000 followers.
"Our generation refers to the movie and it is a name our grandparents and parents know," Goodbun told Newsweek. "I'm trying to keep its name and significance going for the next generation. It's such an iconic place. I don't want it to fade."
She said that her favorite part of her work life is the sisterhood among the dancers.
"They did a really great job casting a well-rounded team. They focus on talent and personalities, everyone is friendly and we are all in same boat, everyone comes from abroad to come to Paris and have experienced the same culture shocks, we can bond and connect over that," she said.
Since 1898, the Féerie Show opens with a nostalgic performance called The Moulin Rouge in the past and present, and closes with The Moulin Rouge from 1900, where the show girls perform the iconic French cancan.
Goodbun works on the line which means she dances in the ensemble but she also replaces the soloist and principal roles so she has to be ready to stand in when girls are away.
"My favorite moment of the show is the opening number, you can tell on some people's faces that it has been on their bucket lists forever," she said. "There is also the iconic French cancan and so many different moments, it's choreography and the wow factor the audience are so impressed."
"There are over 1,000 costumes in our show and our dressers handle, organize and take care of them ALL!!" she said in one of the clips.
In another, Goodbun shared the heartwarming way she connects with her social media following.
"Since starting on social media tons of people have been messaging me saying they are coming to the shows on certain nights and I genuinely love it so much.
"I take a look at their profile and then If I see them in the audience, I feel like I have a friend."
Another professional dancer, Amy Missy, commented on the post: "Awww I love hearing you speaking French, so beautiful! Love this idea of looking people's profile to feel like you have friends in the audience, this is so helpful."
2024-06-25T18:20:19Z dg43tfdfdgfd