Burlesque
Burlesque began as a comic theatre form that parodied well-known operas and plays. In London it was popular from the 1830s to the 1890s, launched by Madame Vestris at the Olympic Theatre in 1831. English burlesque reached New York from the 1840s, and Lydia Thompson's troupe, the British Blondes, made it a sensation there from 1868.
In the United States it absorbed minstrel and variety elements and, from the 1890s, striptease acts, with touring circuits and Minsky's theatre in New York; Gypsy Rose Lee and Sally Rand were stars. Most theatres had closed by the mid-1950s. A neo-burlesque revival began in the early 1990s, and the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas preserves its history.
Sources
- Burlesque - Wikipedia
- Burlesque - Encyclopedia.com
- Burlesque Hall of Fame - home page
- Burlesque Hall of Fame - Who are we?
Organisations connected with this dance
- Burlesque Hall of Fame (Las Vegas)
- V&A Theatre and Performance Collection (Victoria and Albert Museum, London)
Listed as references; being listed is not an endorsement by or of the organisation.