Moulin Rouge artists prepare for opening night after 18 months of Covid closure

The feathers may be gathering dust, but a year into its longest shutdown in more than a century, at least the windmill is still turning atop the Moulin Rouge. 
"It would be too sad otherwise," said Jean-Victor Clerico, whose family runs the Parisian landmark. 
The sails are moving, but everything else has been frozen since the last cancan was performed on March 12, 2020 -- the longest break since the theatre was destroyed by fire in 1915. 
Clerico recalls the following day, phoning round 1,600 ticket-holders to tell them the show was cancelled: "It was unprecedented and painful, and we never could have imagined that the closure would last this long."
He thought it would end in the autumn, then the spring. Now, with non-essential businesses again shut to guard against a fresh spike in infections, he would be delighted with June. 
"It's hard on morale," he admitted.
For one of the stars, 32-year-old dancer Mathilde Tutiaux, that means more months of trying to rehearse in her small Parisian apartment where the kitchen counter doubles as a stretching barre. 
"This third lockdown is demoralising but we remain hopeful. We will return to the stage. The worst is past," she told AFP. 
There are 60 members of the cast, all stuck at home now for a year, trying hard to keep in shape for when they need to resume one of the most demanding of dance routines.