From Friday, August 7 to Saturday, August 29, 2026 – Saint Stella Productions presents the international premiere of Louise: The Last Dance, a solo multidisciplinary performance about Louise Weber, the woman who invented the cancan and became the first star of the Moulin Rouge. Presented as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe at Greenside @ George Street in the Ivy Studio.
The most famous woman you’ve never heard of
Paris, 1928. A bent, squinting old woman in rags shuffles out of a caravan in a slum market. This is Louise Weber, better known as La Goulue (The Glutton) – the woman who invented the cancan, seduced princes and made the Moulin Rouge famous. Toulouse-Lautrec painted her. Journalists destroyed her. Nobody let her speak. Until now. Louise: The Last Dance reclaims the story of the most famous woman you’ve never heard of. Loud, queer, working class and unforgettable. She was leered at her entire life. This time, she gets to talk back.
Once a star of the stage, Weber died selling peanuts on the street outside the iconic club she once performed in, forgotten by the world that had once made her famous. Louise: The Last Dance fuses live performance, projection, archival media and dance to ask a question that’s still relevant today: whose stories get told and whose get buried? Drawing on archival research, period press and rare documentary footage of Louise filmed weeks before her death, creator/performer Saint Stella (Stella Kulagowski) inhabits Louise’s story – giving voice, at last, to a woman who spent her life having her narrative controlled by others.
Following three consecutive sold-out productions at the Toronto Fringe Festival (Lysistrata, Carmilla, Mayhem at Miskatonic), Stella returns with her most ambitious work yet. This will be the first time Louise Weber’s story has been told on an international stage by a queer, independent Canadian artist.
About Saint Stella / Stella Kulagowski
Saint Stella (Stella Kulagowski, she/they) is a Toronto-based multidisciplinary theatre artist, performer and producer. A burlesque performer with two appearances at the Burlesque Hall of Fame, Stella has produced three consecutive sold-out Toronto Fringe productions and is the recipient of the Queer Emerging Artist Award (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 2020) and the Rainbow Community Arts Grant (2024). Her work lives at the intersection of dance, theatre, burlesque and visual art. Louise: The Last Dance is her Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut.
About the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The largest performing arts festival in the world, the Edinburgh Fringe takes place over three weeks every August at hundreds of stages all over the city. Venues can be anywhere, from existing theatres and concert halls to repurposed spaces like bars, parks, buses and shipping containers. From big names in the world of entertainment to unknown artists looking to build their careers, the festival spans every genre of live performance, including theatre, comedy, dance, physical theatre, circus, cabaret, children’s shows, musicals, opera, music, spoken word, exhibitions and events. Read more about the festival here.
(Photo credits: Louise: The Last Dance. Saint Stella / Stella Kulagowski.)
Event details
Presented by: Saint Stella Productions
Type of event: solo multidisciplinary performance featuring dance, projection and theatre
Created & performed by: Saint Stella (Stella Kulagowski)
Dates: Friday, August 7 – Saturday, August 29, 2026
Start time: Daily @ 4:20 PM GMT
Duration: 50 minutes (no intermission)
Cost: A booking fee of £1.50 will be added per ticket, to a maximum of £9.00 per transaction.
- Full price: £$18.00
- Concession (for those who could use a reduced price): £$15.00
- Babe in arms (aged 2 & under): Free (ticket booking required)
- Monday, August 10 & Tuesday, August 11: 2-for-1 tickets
- Find info on booking school or community groups, or other large group bookings, here.
Location: Greenside @ George Street (Ivy Studio), The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 22-26 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PQ
Plan your visit: Plan your visit by checking out some handy info here.
Attendance & booking FAQs: Find info here.
Booking link: Book your tickets here.
Accessibility booking info: The Fringe box office has a team in place specifically for access enquiries and ticket bookings. This service is here to assist anyone with an access requirement to make the most of what Fringe has to offer. You can contact their access bookings team by emailing accessbookings@edfringe.com, calling +44 (0)131 226 0002 or by WhatsApp message on +44 (0)7923 525799 (text only).
Contact details: Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 180 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1QS, United Kingdom; +44 (0) 131 226 0026, Box office: customerservices@edfringe.com, General inquiries: info@edfringe.com, edfringe.com
Content warning: For audiences 14+. Contains distressing or potentially triggering themes (alcohol use, domestic violence, child loss), sound of gunshots, nudity, strong language/swearing.
Accessibility: Venue is wheelchair accessible (including wheelchair-accessible toilets) and has an audio enhancement system. Info here. See access ticket booking info above.
Refund policy: All Fringe tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable unless a show has been cancelled, in which case they’ll notify you and reimburse the price of the tickets as soon as possible. If the particulars of the show change in a manner which results in you being unable or unwilling to attend, they’ll reimburse the price of the tickets as soon as possible. Please note booking fees are non-refundable.