The History of Burlesque & how Dita Von Teese Inspires What We Do
***We are having our very first sold out Burlesque party with the famous Flaming Feathers on March 26th! There will be a burlesque show and lesson in the Divas studio. ***
Images of The Flaming Feathers by photographer Colin Rayner 2016
“Pleasure is a form of rebellion.”
I think, if I’m honest with myself, I was hooked from that moment. A gorgeous, lavishly dressed drag queen, dripping in jewels, delivered that line to us, the audience of a Burlesque performance, and, instantly, I was just gripped. The room could have exploded around me, and my eyes wouldn’t have left him.
He stoked the crowd; energy crackling around him as he stomped in front of us, in absolute killer heels, as he said that line again… “pleasure is a form of rebellion.”
It’s true though, isn’t it? Pleasure and joy is a form of rebellion - and that is clearer than ever when it comes to Burlesque. Women have been told how to look, how to act, and when to do it, for years - and nowhere is this clearer then when it comes to expressing sexuality. Burlesque is a rampant display of parody and pastiche and it absolutely and totally oozes sex appeal. That night, watching women of all shapes and sizes tantalisingly strip down, peeling gloves off using nothing but their teeth, shaking nipple tassels and fluttering fans, it made me feel giddy with inspiration. These were POWERFUL women. And, in all honesty, I thought it was only a matter of time before we brought burlesque into the studio.
We are so thrilled to announce that on 29th January we will be having our first ever Burlesque show at the Divas studio with the infamous Flaming Feather who have performed at the likes of Womad, Bath Carnival, and Pinewood Studios. There will even be a burlesque lesson so we can all give it a go (nipple tassels optional) - but in the build up to that, we thought it would be fun to give you a quick walk through of the history of Burlesque, all the way from the Victorian extravaganzas to the glitz and glamour of modern day Dita Von Teese (praise be).
The Victorian Era
Burlesque has been a word used since the 17th century, deriving from the Italian word ‘burlesco’ meaning joke or mockery. Burlesque has always been powered by a strong sense of satire. It was popular in London theatres from 1830’s to the 1890’s where it would take from culture at the time and parody it. It was known for being risqué - in the way that it turned heads for its message as much as it did the sexiness.
Burlesque is potentially more commonly associated with the striptease, but the naughtiness has always gone hand in hand with social commentary. Having said that, it definitely did gradually transform into a naughtier and naughtier art form with the outfits getting more and more revealing as time went on. The star, Little Egypt, introduced the ‘hootchie-kooch’ (a type of sexually provocative belly dancing) at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair (and invoked a wave of moral outrage by doing so) and Mrs Millie DeLeon was known for repeatedly “forgetting” to wear tights - and getting arrested for it as she went. Of course though, the more pearl clutching that went on, the more people rushed to buy tickets…
Hinda Wassau
The Roaring 20’s
As the 20’s really got into the swing of things, Burlesque stars were continuing to “accidentally” cause a stir. In a haze of alcohol, the rise of circus performance and the popularisation of film and radio, things were starting to ramp up. Both Hinda Wassau and Mae Dix at Minsky kicked things off when they brought the striptease into the lime light - however the momentum was soon strangled by showgirls facing censorship and clampdowns in New York. This, alongside other factors, meant that the art form steadily declined for a while.
The decline in Burlesque…
The 30’s came along and so did a crackdown on burlesque by those who saw it as immoral and scandalous. Clergy, anti-vice factions and local businesses moved against Burlesque and this was only worsened when the New York Mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia, clamped down even harder and effectively put it out of business. The other factor working against it was that, by the 70’s, nudity was becoming more commonplace, so Burlesque slightly lost its sparkle - ironic considering that the rise in nudity in film coincided with the morality brigade trying to take down Burlesque! Despite the decline, this was still an era of innovation too with some truly iconic names coming out of the time period, for example Sally Rand who was a Chicago legend. She was originally a silent movie actress but when films became talkies in the 1920s she lost her career… but as one door closes, another opens and she soon found herself making waves in the Burlesque world! After the censorship clampdown, the genre began to move towards more audience interaction which is how it started drifting towards its association with strip clubs. From this point onwards, the genre of Burlesque struggled right up until more recent times…
Sherry Britton was also a star in the 30’s and 40’s
Sally Rand
Recent time…
The 90’s came about and the burlesque world experience a huge resurgence with what people call ‘Neo-burlesque’ - which is commonly defined as the updating and renewal of the tradition. Stars like Dita Von Teese, Miss Dirty Martini, Perle Noire, Julie Atlas Muz and Immodesty Blaize, burst onto the scene - and we haven’t looked back. Nowadays, Burlesque goes from strength to strength and with more and more women working to take control of their sexuality (and have fun doing so) it looks like it has a bright future.
But WHY do we love Burlesque so much?
We could rhapsodise about Burlesque for at least ten years but, to summarise, we love it because it is a world of women and marginalised people taking joy in their sexuality. They take on an onslaught of comments, people telling them it’s degrading or immoral, and they simply do not care. They are daring. They are seductresses - and don’t they just know it. It’s the confidence we want for all of our Divas - we want them to step into the world with that kind of mindset knowing that those who matter don't care and those who care, don’t matter.
We love them because they have fun with their body, we love them because they make up their own rules, and we love because, well, isn’t it obvious? They are true divas.
To end, we thought we’d leave you with some lines of inspiration from the one and only Dita Von Teese and we really do urge you to come along to our own Burlesque Evening in Jan. You can get your tickets here:
10 Life Lessons from Dita Von Teese
“I advocate glamour. Every day. Every minute.”
“Some days are just bad days, that’s all. You have to experience sadness to know happiness, and I remind myself that not every day is going to be a good day, that’s just the way it is!”
“Heels and red lipstick will put the fear of God into people.”
“Ignore the critics. Only mediocrity is safe from ridicule. Dare to be different.”
“Living well is the best revenge.”
“When someone calls another individual ugly, all I see is that the one doing the insulting becomes instantly less beautiful. Consider it a compliment to be mocked for being different.”
“I say, enhance what others might deem less than wow and make that your beauty mark.”
"It's not about seducing men, it's about embracing womanhood."
“You don’t get to decide for someone else what is degrading.”
“I was always intrigued by the idea of bringing things together that are considered taboo or risqué and bringing them together with something of high elegance and sophistication.”
***We are having our very first Burlesque party with the famous Flaming Feathers on March 26th! There will be a burlesque show and lesson in the Divas studio. ***
