The Moulin Rouge and Bohemian Principles
Le Moulin Rouge, December 2022
Montmartre - the city atop the hill. An artist’s retreat that has inspired many over the ages through its bohemian village where festivity and creativity seem to live in the atmosphere. It is no wonder that the blockbuster film the Moulin Rouge, and its broadway spinoff show, chose to set themselves in and tell the tale of this artistic oasis. As the story illustrates - the values of Bohemia are simple. Truth. Beauty. Freedom. Love.
Sitting in the heart of Montmartre still today is Le Moulin Rouge, “the Red Windmill,” an iconic landmark that originally opened its doors to the public in October 1889. Meant to be a mix of quintessential French artistic cafe coupled with performance venue, creators Joseph Oller and Charles Zidler had a grand vision for this space. They observed the atmosphere keenly at the time and tried to pulse test the public’s taste - and it became clear to them that, like many still today, society was seeking a place where they could feel - simply put - free. An artistic outlet, where all walks of life could gather in the pursuit of what they believed to be the truth. What they considered constituted true freedom: pursuit of pleasure without fear. Artistic expression and appreciation devoid of judgment. The mission became to bring the wealthier class, who seemingly craved the freedom of Bohemia, to the “slums” of Montmartre.
Montmartre became then the notorious bohemian village that was no longer a distant squalor where the working class congregated. Its main populace remained the artists, writers, poets, musicians who were trying to eke out a living, but now, money poured into the village as the bourgeoisie flooded in - realizing that outside of their established routines and protected fortresses- they, too, craved freedom.
The 1889 inception of the Moulin Rouge came the same year as Les Expositions Universelles de Paris, the Paris World Expo. To mark its position on the world stage, France elected to host the World Expo - something that countries still compete for today, though the location has certainly traveled to more diverse geographies. The 2020 World Expo, for example, was held in Dubai. The 1889 World Expo in France was a blueprint for the significance of developing cultural landmarks because it was at this time that La Tour Eiffel was unveiled, and the Eiffel Tower that visitors from around the global visit to this day, was planted in center city. This, coupled with the grandiose vision for the Moulin Rouge, was laying down the building blocks that would soon mark Paris as a global cultural metropolis.
Looking at Le Moulin Rouge now, one cannot help but transport themselves to the voices of the past that made this iconic landmark what it is today. The same flood of thoughts percolate as I sit in the theater at Broadway in Manhattan, spectator to the famous musical Moulin Rouge on Broadway. The commanding roar of the opening song fills the air - “glory awaits - this is Montmartre. It is a hard life we lead, but we have our honor… we are freedom, beauty, truth and love.”
In this, Bohemia became a movement grounded in something that, to these artists, became holy. Their form of worship, their connection to something higher. Their “practice” of this spiritual belief, if you will, was the pursuit of these four sacred elements. Freedom. Beauty. Truth. Love.
The broadway rendition and the Moulin Rouge landmark itself reminds us that art is ubiquitous, fulfillment is out there if we seek it, and that understanding and inter-connection is boundless should we choose to open ourselves to it. The heart of it, the Bohemia that made up its people and its cultural essence, reminds us that limitations in life are nonexistent. They will always exist should we accept them, but - contrary to the beliefs we cling so desperately to - slowly dissipate the moment we decide to get out of our own way. Because as the musical’s notes make resonate with us - “come what may.” Let come what may, because our fear is only as large as the space we make for it. Chase what feels true to one’s own being, make daily strides and never relinquish this pursuit of one’s own truth - because “why live life from dream to dream and dread the day when dreaming ends.”
