Inside the Moulin Rouge: BBC series follows British stars of French cabaret

Dancers perform during a full-dress rehearsal at the Moulin Rouge in Paris on 8 September 2021, two days before the reopening of the cabaret following an 18-month closure amid the pandemic. Photograph: Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images

Once a hangout for the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and still home to saucy can-can dancers, the Moulin Rouge has long stood for everything French and naughty.

But behind all the flouncy skirts, the nightclub has a secret, which is about to be uncovered in a major BBC Two documentary series, announced on Sunday. For while the Moulin Rouge still gives tourists and Parisians a taste of the demi-monde, it is also the place where many dancers from the UK go to find work – providing they make the grade. In fact, the majority of its performers are British.