The  Origin  of  Burlesque

Burlesque (also called travesty) is a humorous theatrical entertainment involving parody and sometimes grotesque exaggeration. Before burlesque became associated with striptease, it was a form of musical and theatrical parody in which an opera or piece of classical theatre was treated in a broad, often risqué style very different from the original form.

Burlesque  originated  around  the  beginning  of  theVictorian  era,  when  the  social  rules  of  established aristocracy  and  working-­‐class  society  clashed.

The  Victorian  era  was  not  sokind  to  flesh  -­‐ the  softer  and  lovelier  the  skin,  the  more  fabric  they  dumped  on  top  of  it.  

Thus,  when  a  group  of  young  Englishwomen  (The  British  Blondes  ~1860s)  bleached  their  hair  and  donned  flesh  coloured  tights  for  the  stage,  they  scandalised  and  thrilled  Britain.  

*  Leader  of  the  troup  Lydia  Thompson

By  the  1880s,  the  genre  had  created  some  rules  for  defining  itself:Minimal  costumingSexually  suggestive  dialogue,  dance,  plotlines  and  staging.Quick-­‐witted  humor  laced  with  puns,  but  lacking  complexity.Short  routines  or  sketches  

For  the  rest  of  the  century,  burlesque  flourished,  developing  into  a  full-­‐night's  entertainment  that  included  chorus  girls,  comedy  routines,  and  song  and  dance.

The  1920s-­‐a  time  of  national  undress,  and  not  just  for  showgirls.  Out  on  the  street,  hemlines  were  rising,  baring  first  the  ankle,  then  the  calf  and  nearly  the  knee  by  decade's  end

The  old  burlesque  circuits  closed  down,  leaving  individual  theatre  owners  to  get  by.

The strip  tease was  introduced  as  a  desperate  bid  to  offer  something  that  film  and  radio  could  not.

Burlesque  promoters  like  theMinsky brothers  took  the  strip  tease  out  of  the  back  rooms  and  put  it  onstage.  While  stripping  drew  in  hoards  of  randy  men,  it  also  gave  burlesque  a  sleazy  reputation.   Male  audiences  kept  

burlesque  profitable  through  most  of  the  Great  Depression.  

Some  gave  stripping  an  artistic  twist  and  graduated  to  general  stardom,  including  fan  dancer Sally  Rand and  former  vaudevillian  Rose  Lousie  Hovick   better  known  as  the  comically  intellectualGypsy  Rose  Lee.

In  the  1930s,  a  social  crackdown  on  burlesque  shows  led  to  their  gradual  downfall.  The  shows  had  slowly  changed  from  ensemble  ribald  variety  performances,  to  simple  performances  focusing  mostly  on  the  striptease.  

To  avoid  total  nudity  but  still  give  the  audience  what  it  wanted,  the  ladies  covered  their  groins  with  flimsy  G-­‐strings  and  used  "pasties"  to  cover  their  nipples.

The  heyday  of  the  pin-­‐up  (eg.  Betty  paige)  coincided  with  the  end  of  the  Second  World  War,  the  era  that  brought  back  the  live  art  of  burlesque.  The  new  acts'  major  influences  were  movies  and  their  curvy  queens  Marilyn  Monroe  etc.  With  their  big  blonde  hair,  ample  breasts  and  fertile  hips,  these  bombshells  inspired  women  everywhere  to  exaggerate  their  own  voluptuousness,  and  the  corset  was  reborn.

One  of  1950s  biggest  burlesque  stars  was  Tempest  Storm  famous  for her  curvacious  figure  and  flame-­‐red  hair.  

Lily  St.  Cyr  made  her  name  as  a  burlesque  star  through  a  series  of  

make  love  to  a  parrot.

Over  the  decades,  several  revues  tried  to  revive  the  burlesque  format   usually  with  a  well-­‐known  stripper  likeAnn  Corio heading  the  cast.  

Many  graduates  of  burlesque  became  familiar  faces  on  television   and  the  likes  of Red  Skelton,Milton  Berle and Jackie  Gleason recycled  many  an  old  "burly"  gag  on  their  comedy  telecasts.  It  took  a  tribute  to  the  pre-­‐stripper  era  to  restore  burlesque's  fading  reputation.

Today  Neo-­‐Burlesque  has  taken  many  forms,  but  all  have  the  common  trait  of  honoring  one  or  more  of  burlesque's  previous  incarnations,  with  acts  including  striptease,  expensive  costumes,  bawdy  humor,  cabare  and  more.

Well-­‐known  modern  performers  include  British  bombshell  Immodesty  Blaize   and  Dita  Von  Teese.  Unlike  strippers,  burlesque  performers  place  

rather  than  to  make  a  living.  

While  the  "golden  age  of  burlesque"  is  long  gone,  its  legacy  is  very  much  alive.  Every  time  a  comedian  does  a  "spit  take"  or  tells  a  joke  with  a  double-­‐meaning,  or  whenever Saturday  Night  Live skewers  politicians  and  movie  stars,  you  are  watching  burlesque  in  action.