Bonjouille dear listeners for this special season of the dual-lingo French

podcast we are celebrating the arts. We're revisiting some of our favorite

episodes featuring singers, dancers, actors, and other performers in the Francophone world.

Today we have an episode from October 2020.

It takes us back to Paris in the 1960s when a young energetic dancer named Moneka discovered the French

can can. The dance had been around since the late 1800s and performed in iconic Paris cabarets like the Mulan Rouge.

But when Monika started dancing it, it was considered old school.

Keep listening to hear how she shared the dance with a new generation.

And stay tuned until the end for an update from Monika herself.

Moonika Knapp always dreamed of becoming a dancer.

As a kid growing up in 1950s Paris, she went to ballet classes and she worked hard. But by the time she turned 20,

she knew she didn't have the temperament to become a professional ballerina.

Two pillars of four round.

I've said that I've to go to those.

I have an information of dance classic, but my personality was all opposite of classic.

I have had very

energy and I have the guns to nail the fun.

Monica was still determined to dance in any way she could.

So she decided to answer the audition call for a famous Cabaret dance troop in Paris.

But when she stepped into the dance studio she hesitated.

She watched women in bright satin skirts and frilly pedicotes practice high kicks.

The troop was looking for dancers to dance, French can can.

...