Bon 125th anniversaire to cabaret

Paris' Moulin Rouge (Red Mill) is a tourist magnet.

Toulouse-Lautrec painted its leggy showgirls, Edward VII quaffed champagne there and Nicole Kidman starred in a film about the Moulin Rouge.

The legendary Parisian cabaret celebrates its 125th anniversary today with the first of a series of special shows commemorating early iconic dancers Mistinguett, La Mome Fromage and Nini Pattes-en-l'Air (Nini Feet in the Air).

The shows also feature sequences paying tribute to the cabaret's famous patrons and other performers over the years, such as Edith Piaf, Liza Minnelli and Frank Sinatra.

The home of the high-kicking burlesque dance known as the French cancan quickly became a favourite haunt of Parisian high society after it opened in 1889.

Jean-Jacques Clerico, the managing director, said its annual revenue was more than €65 million ($105 million), half of that from tourists.

"The Moulin Rouge draws its strength from its history, from the Bohemian Belle Epoque," he said.