The cancan- a word meaning 'tittle-tattle' or 'scandal'- first appeared in the working-class ballrooms of Montparnesse in Paris in the mid-19th century; originally a more lively version of a dance called the Galop.

Cancan dancers were typically middle-ranking courtesans or semi-professional entertainers who delighted in tantelising audiences with high kicks and provocative body movements. They wore what has become the traditional Cancan costume: Long skirts, petticoats, frilly knickers and black stockings.

By the 1890s, famous cancan dancers such as La Goulue and Jane Avril were being highly paid for their performances at Paris nightspots like the Moulin Rouge.

It was these extraordinary dancers who developed the main moves of the Cancan. These are the high kick or battement, the ronde de jambe (quick rotary movement of the lower leg with knee raised and skirt held up), the port d'armes (turning on one leg, while grasping the other leg by the ankle and holding it almost verticle), the cartwheel and the grand ecart (the flying or jump splits).

As they take the stage to the sound of Jacques Offenbach's galop infernal from Orpheus in the Underworld, dressed in their finery, Les Fifis Farfelues are proud to carry on the 'ooh-la-la' tradition of the cancan.

"Although what we do is tongue in cheek, we're serious about carrying on the spirit of the cancan."