Lucy Monaghan, from Glasgow
I’ve been working at the Moulin Rouge for seven years now. I was in my final year at Central School of Ballet – where I did my main classical dance training – in London, so I was looking into different jobs I could potentially get as a dancer. I’d seen the show at the Moulin Rouge and I thought it would be absolutely incredible to be a part of it. I travelled out to Oslo to do my audition. Our Ballet Mistress Janet Pharoah holds auditions all over the world – so she travels to Australia, Canada, America, all sorts of places – to get the best dancers she can find.
My audition was really intense. They cover all kinds of dance styles – classical, jazz – then teach you various bits of the can-can to see how you cope with that. They do that because there’s not really a school for can-can; it’s something you learn when you go to the Moulin Rouge.
I’m originally from the West End of Glasgow. I studied classical ballet and dance at The Dance School of Scotland at Knightswood Secondary School. I started dancing when I was about five years old at Maureen Christie’s The Studio in Glasgow. It was when I was around ten or eleven that I decided I wanted to be a professional dancer.
It was incredible to know that I’d be joining such a prestigious, worldrenowned company. It’s not just dancers that know about the Moulin Rouge, it’s everyone in the world. To say that I’m working there is something really special. We’re so lucky that we get to entertain audiences every single night and the show is always full – we have 900 people in the audience for every show, and we do two shows a night.
Over the past few years we’ve been on tours to New York, last year we went to Poland, and we’ve been to India as well, so the Moulin Rouge is something that allows us to show our skills all over the world. Last year, we were actually in Edinburgh. It was really nice to be able to come home and show people what we’re doing in Paris. It was with Sarah and Michaela too, so it was nice we could all come home and do that together. I miss my family in Scotland more than anything else.
On my day off I usually go to the gym, or I’ll go for a swim. Or even just spend it with friends and go for a nice lunch somewhere. But dancing is something I’ve always wanted to do, so being able to do a job that I have a passion for and get paid for it, I just feel incredibly lucky to work where I do. You can feel the history when you go in the door of the Moulin Rouge – there are some of the original posters when you first go in. It’s really something special to see.
When we first start at the Moulin Rouge we’re given a four-week rehearsal period, and during that time we’re taught how to wear the costumes. We’re wearing heels with very heavy backpacks with lots of feathers, so it’s important you learn how to carry yourself well on stage. It’s a challenge! We change ten times during the show.
My most memorable moment was when I replaced the principle’s spot on stage at the Moulin Rouge for the first time four years ago in Paris. Sarah is one of our principle dancers – we have three – but she has to have nights off and holidays, so sometimes I get to be the replacement.
‘We change ten times during the show’