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The revival of burlesque is waking up the inner glamour puss in women all over the world
The art of burlesque can trace its roots back to nineteenth century America where it was as much about social satire as it was about striptease. It was a scene dominated by women who performed comedy, dancing and by today's standards, tame striptease, wearing elaborate costumes and using accessories like feathers and tassels. The lighting, music and party pieces such as fire breathing, gymnastics and singing all added to the atmosphere and entertainment.
In the 19th Century, burlesque shows used comedy and music to challenge the established view that society took on various cultural activities. Performances were aimed at the lower and middle classes in both Great Britain and the United States and parodied opera, Shakespearean theatre and other social pursuits of the bourgeoisie. Whilst jokes relied on a basic knowledge of opera and theatre, performances were sneered at by the upper classes who found them coarse and inappropriate for polite society.
Dialogue in the shows began to get more suggestive, and the dance and humour didn’t help burlesque to develop particularly complex plotlines. Sketches became more about quick witted humour and puns that led quickly into the striptease. Eventually the genre focused almost entirely on the comical strip tease until the 1930s saw a crackdown on the shows, leading to a gradual decline in popularity though it was kept alive by dancers like Blaze Starr.
Throughout the 1990s, a renewed interest in lost American pop culture saw a revival and a new burlesque emerged. Performers like Dirty Martini, Kitten Deville and Deeta von Teese defied the traditional image of the supermodel as the ideal in terms of beauty and inspired a love for the glamour that underpins the art of the burlesque striptease. The subsequent popularity of their acts propelled them into the mainstream.
Dita Von Teese sees burlesque as an art form with a very definite aesthetic that should be celebrated as an inspiration to women in the audience, who she hopes will be empowered to go home after seeing her show, but some lingerie and try burlesque for themselves.
And it would seem that that is exactly what is happening. Women are claiming it as their own and flocking to burlesque classes all over the world. The popularity of groups like the Pussycat Dolls whose entire image is one of a burlesque dance troop, has also produced a new dance style, Nuvo Burlesque that’s now dominating street dance classes.
No feature on burlesque could be complete without including the genre defining martini glass routine made famous by Dita Von Teese…
Tags: dita von teese dirty martini burlesque kitten deville striptease vaudeville blaze starr nuvo burlesque glamour dance martini glass absinthe glass
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