Burlesque is it grotesque?

[claig]

Very sad state of affairs, burlesque becoming mainstream

Burlesque it's just grotesque

Sometimes Panetto. I've seen some godawful Burlesque - one woman was essentially humping the stage - was really not a good sight. However, the tasteful, amusing and sometimes beautiful performances outweigh that.

Yep, seems that way msrisotto

KalokiMallow wrote - "I was on about Gypsy Rose Lee"

I think she is remembered as a stripper, albeit with a humorous act, but still a stripper. She died 40 years ago. Perhaps things in the Burlesque world have moved on?

I get the impression that burlesque was a very popular entertainment many years ago but is making a comeback after being in the wilderness for several decades, now that we live in a very sexualised culture. I don't think that is a coincidence.

rebecca just because burlesque dancer earns loads doesn't make it it an art form. cannot make money measure of worth

david sullivan earns lots more than most,but that still doesnt make his sleazy business palatable

You might like to google Sally Rand, a famous Burlesque star. It used to be a recognised art form, especially the fan dance.

i will pass thanks

Oh yeah, she was a stripper. No doubt about that, just most famous for only stripping off one glove.

Burlesque was probably most popular in the 40's, but became less popular when the modern style of stripping came in. Back then it was a mainly male audience (though at the same time you had the Revues which were the upmarket version of Burlesque and which catered to a more even mix of men and women).

New Burlesque began it's revival, in the 90's I believe, as a reaction against stripclubs - with the idea of women not having to remove clothes for sexual titillation. Whether or not it is an effective reaction is another story. It was also a reaction against what is seen as an attractive female figure. So while the original Burlesque stars were usually of a fashionable physique. New Burlesque performers can be all shapes and sizes. (See Dirty Martini for example)

Unfortunately the more attention it gets the more places spring up which take Burlesque back to being only for certain body types, and they also tend to take it away from comedy and a parody of what is seen as sexually attractive.

rebecca most performers dont make much money. And SM is right, money doesn't mean it is art, just profitable.

Just to make this clear, I don't care who does and doesn't like Burlesque. Just wanted to correct some misunderstandings.

Now what have I missed while I've been typing..

KalokiMallow wrote - "New Burlesque began it's revival, in the 90's I believe, as a reaction against stripclubs - with the idea of women not having to remove clothes for sexual titillation"

Interesting. So when and why was the stripping re-introduced to these anti-stripclub burlesque shows?

some very funny responses from scottishmummy and tethers. ROFL great entertainment.

I think originally it was done in an ironic way. And involved non-sexy strips, or stripping to reveal other costumes (usually comic). I guess the stripping also remained because it was done by non-conventional stripping bodies. Eg. larger women, or men.

I think if they'd just not stripped at all then it wouldn't have been so obviously a reaction against normal stripping. But as with all things that are a bit alternative, it became more mainstream.

There are also elements of stripping being changed back to a dance rather than the more usually known motions of modern stripping (grinding and simulating sex). Which is why ballet is a much used dance form in burlesque now, it is graceful and feminine without being sexual.

Of course, with all these different reasons all mixed up, some people missed it entirely. And some people saw it as a natural evolution for the modern stripclub (how ironic)

So it's all a bit confusing now.

Good burlesque can be amazing, but when they get it wrong it is sleazy and grim. I'm hoping now the fascination will die down again, taking the money away, which will leave those who are actually trying to create art rather than money. Think it's going to be a long wait though.

KalokiMallow wrote - (Gypsy Rose Lee was) "just most famous for only stripping off one glove"

I thought her fame was based more on the what Wikipedia describes as follows

"her act was propelled forward when a shoulder strap on one of her gowns gave way, causing her dress to fall to her feet despite her efforts to cover herself; encouraged by the audience response, she went on to make the trick the focus of her performance"

as shown I think in her portrayal by Natalie Wood in the 1962 biopic "Gypsy".

That's how she started. I'm amazed the wiki doesn't mention the glove thing! Most of the performers I know talk about the glove sketch as the epitome of burlesque. I believe she also talks through the performance about mundane things, I can't find it now, but I vaguely remember reading what she says.

She says something about "I bet you are wondering what I'm thinking riight now?" in a sultry way, then talks about something like buying groceries. Really making a point about how it's just a job for her and not very interesting.

ps. sounds less than amusing when I write it, she said it better obviously.

Exactly, dittany... but it gets better, because women want to do it, because it's not stripping, it's art. And if you don't like it, you're tragically unhip doncha know. Square

Not all of them do. Like I say, Burlesque encompasses a huge range of performances.

It's becoming quite fashionable between bands at goth/alternative festivals - for example, at DV8 in York this summer, one smaller stage was devoted to the burlesque acts, at the opposite end of the venue to the main stage.

It was nicer than looking at various roadies' hairy bums for 10 minutes.

The acts tend to include both male & female performers, not all 'shapely cheeky blondes', & not all taking their clothes off & swinging their tassels...

I can quite imagine what the sort of mainstream club frequented by DM hacks makes of 'burlesque', though. All in the context.

Whatever you choose to think Dittany.

But if you actually look at what Burlesque means, then you'll see it can't help but encompass a huge variety.

And the audience for all of the burlesque gigs I've been too has always been far more female than male. So any show that is pandering to men is missing it's target audience.

I have been to many burlesque nights, not mainstream ones. I stand by my earlier assertion: Utter bollocks. Unfortunately, not literally.

Well, I wouldn't want to sit through a whole evening of it, tethers.

But I've attended or worked at events where it's been part of the entertainment - & I've also worked in pubs where stripograms have been part of what went on.

It is very different.

It isn't, raven.

It really isn't.