Burlesque

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Burlesque (from Italian burlesco) refers to a genre of literature, drama, and performance that began in Western Europe, intended to cause laughter by exaggerating or mocking a serious topic. While the genre's history dates back to the 17th century, burlesque as a theatrical form originated in the Victorian era (1837–1901). Early Burlesque shows were often parodies of popular plays and operas, using comedy and satire to entertain audiences. These performances typically included musical numbers, comedic skits, and elaborate costumes.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Burlesque in the United States evolved to incorporate more risqué humor and striptease. This led to the development of "American Burlesque," which featured a variety show format with comedic routines, musical acts, and striptease performances by female dancers. However, by the mid-20th century, changing tastes and stricter regulations led to a decline in its popularity.

In recent decades, there has been a resurgence of interest in burlesque, often referred to as "neo-burlesque." This modern form draws inspiration from the classic Burlesque era while also incorporating a wider range of styles and modern expressions. Neo-Burlesque often features performers of all genders and body types and incorporates elements from other performance genres like French Cabaret, drag, and performance art. It has also influenced modern fetish culture and LGBTQ+ movements.

History[]

Literary origins and development[]

The word first appears in a title in Francesco Berni's Opere Burlesche of the early 16th century, works that had circulated widely in manuscripts before they were printed. For a time, burlesque verses were known as poesie bernesca in his honour. "Burlesque" as a literary term became widespread in 17th-century Italy and France, and subsequently England, where it referred to a grotesque imitation of the dignified or pathetic. Shakespeare's Pyramus and Thisbe scene in Midsummer Night's Dream and the general mocking of romance in Beaumont and Fletcher's The Knight of the Burning Pestle were early examples of such imitation.

In 17th-century Spain, playwright and poet Miguel de Cervantes ridiculed medieval romance in his many satirical works. Among Cervantes' works are Exemplary Novels and the Eight Comedies and Eight New Interludes, published in 1615. The term burlesque has been applied retrospectively to works of Chaucer and Shakespeare and to the Graeco-Roman classics.

Burlesque was intentionally ridiculous in that it imitated several styles and combined imitations of certain authors and artists with absurd descriptions. In this, the term was often used interchangeably with "pastiche," "parody," and the 17th and 18th century genre of the "mock-heroic." Burlesque depended on the reader's (or listener's) knowledge of the subject to make its intended effect, and a high degree of literacy was taken for granted.

17th and 18th century burlesque was divided into two types: High burlesque refers to a burlesque imitation where a literary, elevated manner was applied to a commonplace or comically inappropriate subject matter, as, for example, in the literary parody and the mock-heroic. One of the most commonly cited examples of high burlesque is Alexander Pope's "sly, knowing and courtly" The Rape of the Lock. Low burlesque applied an irreverent, mocking style to a serious subject; an example is Samuel Butler's poem Hudibras, which described the misadventures of a Puritan knight in satiric doggerel verse, using a colloquial idiom. Butler's addition to his comic poem of an ethical subtext made his caricatures into satire.

In more recent times, burlesque, true to its literary origins, is still performed in revues and sketches. Tom Stoppard's 1974 play Travesties is an example of a full-length play drawing on the burlesque tradition.

Victorian Burlesque[]

Victorian burlesque, sometimes known as "travesty" or "extravaganza", was popular in London theatres between the 1830s and the 1890s. It took the form of a musical theatre parody in which a well-known opera, play, or ballet was adapted into a broad comic play, usually a musical play, often risqué in style, mocking the theatrical and musical conventions and styles of the original work and quoting or pastiching text or music from the original work. The comedy often stemmed from the incongruity and absurdity of the classical subjects, with realistic historical dress and settings being juxtaposed with the modern activities portrayed by the actors. Madame Vestris produced burlesques at the Olympic Theatre beginning in 1831 with Olympic Revels by J. R. Planché. Other authors of burlesques included H. J. Byron, G. R. Sims, F. C. Burnand, W. S. Gilbert, and Fred Leslie.

Victorian burlesque related to and in part derived from traditional English pantomime "with the addition of gags and 'turns'." In the early burlesques, following the example of ballad opera, the words of the songs were written to popular music; later burlesques mixed the music of opera, operetta, music hall, and revue, and some of the more ambitious shows had original music composed for them. This English style of burlesque was successfully introduced to New York in the 1840s.

Some of the most frequent subjects for burlesque were the plays of Shakespeare and grand opera. The dialogue was generally written in rhyming couplets, liberally peppered with bad puns. A typical example from a burlesque of Macbeth: Macbeth and Banquo enter under an umbrella, and the witches greet them with "Hail! hail! hail!" Macbeth asks Banquo, "What mean these salutations, noble thane?" and is told, "These showers of 'Hail' anticipate your 'reign'". A staple of burlesque was the display of attractive women in travesty roles, dressed in tights to show off their legs, but the plays themselves were seldom more than modestly risqué.

Burlesque became the speciality of certain London theatres, including the Gaiety and Royal Strand Theatre from the 1860s to the early 1890s. Until the 1870s, burlesques were often one-act pieces running less than an hour and using pastiches and parodies of popular songs, opera arias and other music that the audience would readily recognize. The house stars included Nellie Farren, John D'Auban, Edward Terry and Fred Leslie. From about 1880, Victorian burlesques grew longer, until they were a whole evening's entertainment rather than part of a double- or triple-bill. In the early 1890s, these burlesques went out of fashion in London, and the focus of the Gaiety and other burlesque theatres changed to the new more wholesome but less literary genre of Edwardian musical comedy.

American Burlesque[]

American burlesque shows were originally an offshoot of Victorian burlesque. The English genre had been successfully staged in New York from the 1840s, and it was popularised by a visiting British burlesque troupe, Lydia Thompson and the "British Blondes", beginning in 1868. New York burlesque shows soon incorporated elements and the structure of the popular minstrel shows. They consisted of three parts: first, songs and ribald comic sketches by low comedians; second, assorted olios and male acts, such as acrobats, magicians and solo singers; and third, chorus numbers and sometimes a burlesque in the English style on politics or a current play. The entertainment was usually concluded by an exotic dancer or a wrestling or boxing match.

Neo-Burlesque[]

In the 2000s, Neo-Burlesque led to an increase in interest and thus new movies about burlesque as a whole. Moulin Rouge! (2001), a jukebox musical that included pop music in the setting of a modernized and over-the-top interpretation of the original Moulin Rouge of the 19th century. Likewise, the 2010 film Burlesque continued this association.

Influence[]

Burlesque as an art form inspired drag shows, which originated in the 1920s.^[1] Drag shows take the format of burlesque and applies it to performers in drag, or the act of dressing as the opposite sex and acting in an exaggerated manner. This makes burlesqbe indirectly a large part of gay culture, especially in connection to Camp, with burlesque and cabaret being a historical example of this philosophical aesthetic.

Burlesque culture also became conscious in 2000s alternative youth subcultures (Scene, Emo, Theater Kids, etc.) after the band Panic! at the Disco released their 2005 album A Fever You Cannot Sweat Out, an album incorporating rock, electronica, and baroque pop with visuals inspired by burlesque and circus motifs.^[2]

Fashion[]

TBA

Media[]

Literature[]

Self-Help and How-To Books

The Burlesque Handbook by Jo Weldon
Your Beauty Mark: The Ultimate Guide to Eccentric Glamour by Dita Von Teese
Burlesque and the Art of the Teese/Fetish and the Art of the Teese by Dita Von Teese and Bronwyn Garrity

Other

Behind the Burly Q: The Story of Burlesque in America by Leslie Zemeckis
Naked: On Sex, Work, and Other Burlesques by Fancy Feast
Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture by Robert C. Allen and Alan Trachtenberg
Pretty Things: The Last Generation of American Burlesque Queens by Liz Goldwyn
American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee by Karen Abbott
Gilded Lili: Lili St. Cyr and the Striptease Mystique by Kelly DiNardo
The G-String Murders by Gypsy Rose Lee and Rachel Shteir
A Certain Appeal by Vanessa King
The Vagabond by Colette
Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood
Professor Unrat, oder Das Ende eines Tyrannen by Heinrich Mann