University of Virginia Press Beyond the Moulin Rouge: The Life and Legacy of La Goulue (Peculiar Bodies: Stories and Histories)

Best known by her stage name, La Goulue (the Glutton), Louise Weber was one of the biggest stars of fin de siècle Paris, renowned as a cancan dancer at the Moulin Rouge and an iconic figure of modern art. Her life, however, has consistently been misrepresented and reduced to a footnote in the stories of men such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Where most accounts dismiss her rise and fall as fleeting, the truth is that her career as a performer spanned five decades, during which La Goulue constantly reinvented herself-as a dancer, animal tamer, sideshow performer, and muse of photographers, painters, sculptors, and filmmakers.Drawing on previously overlooked materials, including medical records, media reports, and surviving pages from Louise Weber's diary, Will Visconti traces the life and impact of a woman whose cultural significance has been ignored in favor of the men around her, and who spent her life upending assumptions about gender, morality, and domesticity in France during the fin de siècle and early twentieth century. Review Will Visconti presents new facts about the life of Louise Weber, searches for the truth behind the myths, and locates her as a woman taking charge of her own image and career, all of which is welcome in a broadly feminist context that pays attention to women's overlooked contributions to the arts and entertainment. --Melanie C. Hawthorne, Texas A&M University, author of Women, Citizenship, and Sexuality: The Transnational Lives of Renée Vivien, Romaine Brooks, and Natalie Barney About the Author Will Visconti lectures in History and Art History through Workers' Educational Association, Sydney.