Chapter 16: The Can-Can
As the eight shamefaced girls followed Molly to the dressing room, Tommy continued addressing the party guests.
“I’d like to direct your attention to behind the bar and introduce you to Danny and Michael,” said Tommy. “Danny is your bartender, and Michael is your barmaid. Michael enjoyed taunting me so much when Sister Ruth made me wear the girls’ uniform a few years ago that I thought it might be fun to turn the tables on him. While the girls are busy preparing for their performance, I’m going to have Michael serve your cocktail needs. Feel free to call him ‘Michelle.’ Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy the show.”
The guests clapped in appreciation and looked over at two gentlemen behind the bar. Danny was busy mixing drinks, ever so thankful that Tommy had chosen to leave him alone. Michael, on the other hand, was mortified. As degrading as it had been for him to be forced into a barmaid’s dress, he had been able to remain in relative anonymity behind the bar while the attention was directed toward the eight girls. Now he’d be the center of attention in his female garb as he served the thirsty guests. As one would expect, it would be a dreadfully miserable experience for him.
In support of Tommy, the guests were merciless as they derided him, calling him Michelle and telling him how cute he looked in his dress. The females were especially cruel. As he bent over to serve drinks to a table of six girls, one of them lifted the back of his skirt to expose his frilly panties, prompting considerable hilarity around the table. He flushed, then reached back and moved her hand away.
As he was about to leave, one of the girls asked him to curtsy for them. Michael, not wanting any part of the humiliation, walked away while pretending not to hear her. To his chagrin, when he got back to the bar he noticed the girl heading over to Tommy’s table. Sure enough, Tommy motioned to Michael with his index finger to come to him.
“Michelle, I just got word that you refused to curtsy for one of my guests,” accused Tommy.
The two other couples sitting at the table giggled. Michael knew it would be futile, but he answered anyway. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear her,” tried Michael.
“Is that so. Well, can you hear me now?” responded Tommy. Michael nodded sullenly. “Good,” continued Tommy. “Because I want you to go up on the stage and show us all your best curtsy.”
Michael flushed brighter before obediently turning away and trudging up the stairs to the stage, reluctantly preparing himself to do Tommy’s bidding. He stood in front of the curtain and waited disconsolately for further instructions. All eyes were on him as Tommy spoke.
“Michelle would like all of us to pay close attention as she demonstrates her curtsy,” said Tommy, enticing giggles and guffaws from the crowd. “Okay, Michelle, you’re on.”
Michael, now blushing crimson, grasped the sides of his skirt, lifted it up, and slightly bent his knees, much to the amusement of his audience. He started to walk off, hoping his humiliating act would be concluded, but Tommy interrupted his getaway.
“Just a second, Michelle. I know you’re just dying to show us what you have on underneath that skirt, aren’t you?” asked Tommy, who wasn’t really expecting an answer. “Why don’t you turn around, bend over at the waist, and lift your skirt up your back for us.”
Michael, now completely mortified, did just that. When the lace ruffles were exposed, the laughing and hooting magnified considerably. Finally, after one more curtsy, Michael was allowed to leave the stage to a nice ovation from the appreciative spectators. The red-faced “barmaid” dutifully took more cocktail orders from the happy patrons.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, back in the dressing room, Molly had taken control.
“Have any of you had any experience dancing the can-can?” asked Molly. When the girls shook their heads, Molly said, “Well, after tonight, you’ll be able to answer that question in the affirmative.”
She then opened the closet door, where the girls saw eight colorful can-can costumes. “As you can see, you won’t be needing your cocktail uniforms anymore, so if you’d please take them off, we can get the show on the road.”
For the second time that evening, the girls were required to strip nude at Molly’s behest. Once they were all naked, Molly picked a can-can dress from the closet and smiled as the girls collectively made a motion toward her to snatch the dress, all hoping to cover their nakedness. But instead of giving it to one of the girls Molly slipped it over her own skirt and blouse.
“Now if you’ll all have a seat on the floor, I’ll demonstrate how this is done.”
The girls, who would have given their souls for any type of coverage, submissively sat naked on the floor in a semi-circle. They shivered when their backsides contacted the cold, hardwood floor, and they covered their chests and sex as best they could. Molly surveyed the unusual sight and smiled to herself.
“Okay, girls, I’d like you to watch very closely, because I’m only going to show you once.”
She pressed the screen on her phone a couple of times, and the sounds of lively music bounced off the walls of the room. Molly began her demonstration.
“One of your common steps is to have your hands on your hips like this. A nice high leg kick is a must,” said Molly as she pulled the hem of her dress up to her waist and kicked her right leg back and forth high in the air, bending it at the knee. “But the most important move comes during the main part of the can-can piece, coming up momentarily.”
The piece Molly referred to was a portion of Jacques Offenbach's "Orpheus in the Underworld." It seemed to invite bawdiness. When it started, Molly turned around, bent forward at the waist, lifted the back of her dress high up her back and shook her ass back and forth to the beat of the music. The girls cringed as they pictured themselves being forced to perform the indecent dance in front of a drunken audience.
When Molly was finished, she started handing out the costumes to the girls. Each was fitted with the dress (black, thin shoulder straps, with three layers of bright, magenta-colored petticoats sewn into the skirt—very flamboyant), black, thigh-high, laced, stay-up stockings, and 3½-inch black patent high heels. The panties were black, with a generous amount of magenta ruffles sewn all around. Their costumes were topped off with ornate headpieces in the same magenta color. Molly smiled with satisfaction as she eyed her embarrassed dancers clad in their resplendent costumes.
“Okay, girls, we’ll have one quick run-through before we go out there. Let’s make it good and quick. The natives are getting restless,” said Molly as she lined up the girls and started the music.
There was more than enough space in the dressing room to allow for the high leg kicks. With Molly’s expert direction, by the end of the piece she had the girls dancing somewhat in unison—not perfectly, but certainly well enough to satisfy the undiscerning crowd. In any case, their audience wouldn't be especially focused on choreography.
Molly led the eight girls out to the stage and lined them up behind the curtain. “Remember, high leg kicks, lift those dresses and shake those tushies,” reminded Molly. The girls didn’t respond—they were a dispirited bunch, very much abashed at their predicament.
Back out in the hall, Tommy took the cue from Molly, who had poked her head from the curtain. Tommy then signaled to his friend that was manning the lights. The lights dimmed and a drum roll played on the stereo. After a few seconds a spotlight shined on the curtain. Molly pulled the rope and the curtain opened.
The audience voiced their approval as eight girls dressed in festive costumes filled the spotlight. “Orpheus to the Underworld” began playing on the speaker system, and, on cue, the eight girls started dancing. Their leg kicks, though not quite always synchronized, nevertheless tickled the audience. When they all turned around and exposed their frilly panties, shaking their hips from side to side salaciously, the audience was floored.
This is what the hall sounded like as the shamefaced dancers lifted their dresses and kicked their legs:
The Can-Can
As you can tell, it was quite the festive atmosphere. The whooping and hollering sounds filled the hall, as the eight red-faced girls turned back around and continued their performance. Their hearts weren’t in it, but they kicked up their heels, knowing full well that anything less than their best efforts would lead to even further degradation.
When the piece ended, the girls curtsied (submitting to Molly’s previous instruction) to a rousing ovation. The curtain closed, and the girls were relieved to be out of the spotlight—both figuratively and literally speaking.
As the young ladies made their way toward the dressing room, the noise continued. Many in the crowd were yelling, “ENCORE! ENCORE!” Molly intercepted the girls before they reached the dressing room.
“Sounds like you knocked their socks off, girls,” said Molly. “I think we should give them a repeat performance. Come on, let’s line up behind the curtain.”
Groans were abounding as eight sets of shoulders collectively slumped. They then obediently filed in behind the curtain.
But before the curtain went up, Molly gave them further instructions. “I just had a marvelous idea, girls. Your audience will love it. Here’s what I want you to do.” When Molly was finished, all eight had horrified looks on their faces.
Molly’s last words as she walked away were, “And don’t forget, at the main part, lift those dresses high up your backs and shake those hips like there's no tomorrow!”
Molly pulled the rope to open the curtain and took her seat at the front table. The audience cheered in appreciation, and the girls again started dancing to the can-can music. About a minute into the piece, Molly rose and gave them their cue. To the utter astonishment and sheer delight of the spellbound audience, the eight girls reached under the skirt of their dresses and pulled off their panties, tossing them straight out, high in the air, where they floated down into the outstretched hands of eight gleeful spectators.
The audience was nearing a state of delirium. Everyone in the hall now had one thing on their mind, and they were anxiously looking forward to the moment. There were eight young ladies who decidedly were not.
By the time the spirited portion of the Offenbach piece began, many in the audience were on the edges of their seats.
They would not be disappointed. The sight of eight bare, beautiful asses of different sizes and shapes shaking back and forth to the beat of the music was a scene to behold. Many in the crowd watched in awe with their mouths wide open, incredulous at the spectacle they were witnessing. Others were on their feet applauding, screaming in delight.
After the portion ended, the mortified, scarlet-faced women had to turn around and face their audience, continuing their exhibition. There was one more reprise and the act was repeated, much to the exhilaration of the highly entertained revelers.
When the piece ended, the girls received yet another rousing standing ovation, this one much more boisterous. A few of the humiliated girls covered their faces in shame.
The curtain closed, and they all hoped this would be the end of their humiliating ordeal. But they would soon discover that this was only the warm-up act.