The Moulin Rouge is naming a new professional dance company after Janet Pharaoh, its ballet mistress who passed away in 2025. It brings together the troupe's 95 artists and continues thirty years of high standards.

It all began with a first name. For decades, the dancers of the Moulin Rouge were known as the Doriss Girls, after Doris Haug, the ballet mistress who founded the troupe in 1957. In 1980, she recruited a young Englishwoman, born in Lancashire, raised in Yorkshire, and chosen by Miss Bluebell to dance at the Lido: Janet Pharaoh. She would never leave the Boulevard de Clichy.

Becoming ballet mistress in 1997, and later artistic director, Janet Pharaoh put dance back at the heart of the show. She traveled the world, from the United Kingdom to Australia and Canada, auditioning classically trained artists, and she built a company renowned for its athleticism: two performances a night, seven nights a week. She also ensured the comfort of her recruits, providing them with accommodation for six months upon their arrival in Paris, and rehearsed the company several times a month. Costume designers, set designers, and lighting technicians knew her eye: each night had to surpass the last. She passed away in March 2025, after nearly thirty years at the helm of the ballet.

A year later, the Moulin Rouge paid her the most fitting tribute. The company adopted the name Janet Pharaoh Dance Company, just as it had been known as Doris. However, the company went beyond a simple name change: it created a true professional dance company, which now brings together the 95 artists of the revue, hailing from 18 countries. Her son, Jason Clerico-Pharaoh, sums up the spirit that will guide her: “For my mother, ‘good’ never meant ‘good enough.’”

The company is taking over the missions that Janet herself carried out: organizing auditions in Paris and internationally, training and supporting artists throughout their careers, with the precision, creativity, and ambition to surpass oneself that she championed. Looking ahead, the Moulin Rouge is developing a broader project. New spaces will eventually house a center for creation and training under the red wings, amidst the costume designers, set designers, composers, and choreographers who bring the Féerie revue to life. The company will then be able to open itself to dancers other than those in the troupe and offer classes, workshops, and masterclasses to both professionals and amateurs. A chapter still being written, and whose outlines will become clearer in the coming months.

To continue, see our articles on the history of the Moulin Rouge, its records, and its art houses.

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MOULIN ROUGE
82 boulevard de Clichy, 75018 Paris - Metro: Blanche (2)
Revue: Féerie every evening at 9 pm and 11 pm

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