Neo-burlesque

Neo-Burlesque, or New Burlesque, is the revival and updating of the traditional American burlesque performance. Though based on the traditional Burlesque art, the new form encompasses a wider range of performance styles; neo-burlesque acts can range from anything from classic striptease to modern dance to theatrical mini-dramas to comedic mayhem.

Burlesque as a sensation was brought to America from Britain in the late 1860s by Lydia Thompson and her British Blondes, a troupe who spoofed traditional theatrical productions and featured ladies performing men's roles, in costumes considered revealing for the time period. American burlesque soon assimilated music hall, minstrel shows, striptease, comedy and cabaret styles to evolve from the follies of the twenties and thirties to the girlie shows of the 40s and 50s, which eventually gave way to the modern strip club. The striptease element of burlesque became subject to extensive local legislation, leading to a theatrical form that titillated without falling foul of censors.

By the late 1930s, a social crackdown on burlesque shows began their gradual decline. The shows had slowly changed from ensemble ribald variety performances, to simple performances focusing mostly on the striptease. In New York, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia clamped down on burlesque, effectively putting it out of business by the early 1940s. Burlesque lingered on elsewhere in the U.S., increasingly neglected, and by the 1970s, with nudity commonplace in theatres, American burlesque reached "its final shabby demise".

During its declining years and afterwards, films sought to capture the spirit of American burlesque. For example, in I'm No Angel (1933), Mae West performed a burlesque act. The 1943 film Lady of Burlesque depicts the back-stage life of burlesque performers.Pin-up girl Bettie Page's most famous features included Striporama (1953). In such films, the girls wore revealing costumes, but there was never any nudity. The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) celebrates classic American burlesque.

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