BURLESQUE Intro Page

   Burlesque has roots as far back as 364 BC with 'Hannibal, the famous Fabulæ Atellanæ' but really became first known in 1387 when Geoffrey Chaucer published the first British burlesque, "The Canterbury Tales," which was a bawdy collection of stories that included "The Wife of Bath." Burlesque is slow to rise until in 1727 when John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera" opens at London's Inn Theater. The beggar's Opera burlesque becomes London's first stage success which would last until 1886. In 1734 Ballet Dancer Marie Camargo raises dancing skirts above the ankle (for better freedom to move.)

   By 1830 the Can-CAN is getting rave reviews and with little success is being banned all over as lewd and immoral. 1861 brings Adah Isaac Menken's ride across the big stage

dressed in pink tights and a short tunic which starts a whole new generation of women in stage performances and attention to their clothing, her routine also had a sort of disrobing which is said to start the first public striptease. In 1866 "the Black Crook" opens which was a big success and a milestone in dance and nudity on stage.

    Burlesque arrived in the USA from France via Britain in 1868 with the Hootchy-Cootchy & Can-Can dancers, one of the first was Lydia Thompson and her British Blondes. Also in 1868 the Folies Bergere opens its doors in France and the rest is, well, history. Burlesque was originally not about stripping but rather musical Comedy, Dance and Song which eventually split and became Vaudeville (Vaudeville was basically dead by 1932, because of film,) while Burlesque became more and more a girly show. In 1875 Le Divan Fayouau, in the Rue des Martyrs performs a sketch that requires her to remove most of her clothing one piece at a time ... Striptease is now official.

    The transformation into Risque Burlesque continued onto the early 1900's with the very first runway appearing at the Shubert Theater in 1912 and later a man named Minsky installs his first runway. Also in 1917 a dancer named Carrie Fenway would be the first to reveal herself (her breast) onstage, even if only accidentally an by 1923 and Hinda Warsaw is said to be the first American stripper publicly announced in 1925. Josephine Baker becomes the first topless star of the Folies Bergere in Paris in 1926.

    Earlier, dancers such as Little Egypt were shocking the country with her provocative "belly dance" routine (named by Sol Bloom, however please note that belly dance tho it may be erotic, it is not striptease!) and others dancing on the Vaudeville stage when Vaudeville was transforming back into "Burlesque," as well as dancing in many regular nightclubs which had fabulous stage shows featuring the talent, legs and many times the skin of many famous dancers.

    Some fabulous dancers found the money and the cheap fame of risque burlesque very appealing with many changing the way we think, dress and act today. By the mid 1930's, strip tease or skin Burlesque was at it's peak. Police raids were becoming standard daily events, payola agreements were on the up rise and many citizens worrying about the moral decay of society thereby running lengthy political and legal campaigns to end it's rising popularity. Sometime in the mid 1920s, the tumultuous Burlesque shows of comedy, skits and dance transformed into the firmly planted Strip-Tease, then came topless, eventually by the 1950s the G-Strings would be removed as well and by the mid 1960's many dancers would be starring in Sexploitation films (a type of soft pre-porn) which helped to further spawn the porn industry and permanently changed Burlesque.

    But whatever happened thru out history to try and stop its rise, burlesque was here to stay and transformed again into a more sleazier form of entertainment as time marched on. We are talking the Vegas showgirl and theatre type burlesque on these pages, not the sleaze, sometimes prostituting, drug ridden strip joints one may think of when thinking Burlesque as portrayed today (many are listed however). Many of these dancers or strippers of yesteryear are honored here. Prior to the 1960's, these ladies would make Burlesque movies, (Cheesecake, B-Movies etc., yet they were very tame by today's standards), would appear in many magazines, stag parties, etc. and many times featured the dance acts these dancers used on the stage. Many television shows and movies were based on or built around burlesque and/or vaudeville sketches of the past. There is an ongoing effort to bring back the Burlesque shows of yesteryear that feature acts, striptease, dance, comedy, skits and more.

   The following Pages / Section may not be suitable for Minors as some of the photos are on the 'risque' side (no frontal nudity or porn here). So caution is advised as you may want to child block this section. This is the only section on this site were this may apply ... (The section with photo's to block is: http://www.streetswing.com/histburl/1index.htm).

Birth Place

Creation Date

Creator

Dance Type

Orient / Europe

1387

evolved (Chaucer)

Erotic / Exotic / Strip

Small Preview of Films with or about Burlesque!

Burlesque Posters

Strip Music Titles

Sheet Music Covers

Television

Black Crook, the

1949 - Think Fast (Gypsy host)

Strip Polka

1958 - The Gypsy Rose Lee Show

Twirly Burly

1964 - Wonderful World of Burlesque

1998 - Bettie Page: E! True Hollywood Story

Burlesque Groups

Billy Watson'S Beef Trust (1890s)

Zaftig British Blondes (1860s)

Hollywood Glamourettes (1950s Hollywood Theatre)

Ziegfeld Girls (1920s)

Lydia Thompson and her British Blondes (1860s)

BURLESQUE Night Clubs, Theatres, etc.

Copacabana(NY)

Leon and Eddie's

Cotton Club (NY)

Lido Club (Paris)

Crazy Horse Saloon (Fr)

Minsky's (NY)

Earl Carroll's

Moulin Rouge (Paris & NY)

500 Club (NJ)

El Rancho (Vegas)

Niblo's Gardens

606 Club

El rey Burlesk Theatre (CA)

Rose Room, The (Harlem)

Apollo Theatre (NY)

Folies Bergere (Paris & NY)

Roxy Burlesque (Ohio)

Bimbo's (CA)

Folies Marginay

Savannah Club, the (NY)

Casino de Paris

Hurtig's and Sermans (became Apollo Theatre)

Theatre De L'Empie

Casino Royale 

Tibaran (France)

Colony Club  (CA.)

Jungle Club (Miami)

Town Hall

Latin Quarter (varies)

Winter Garden Theater (NY)

Le Carousel  (Paris)

The Dancers

Books About Burlesque etc.

$ A Bit of Burlesque

$ Glamour Girls

$ Auto bio of Yvette Paris

$ Horrible Prettiness:

$ Bare: On Women, Dancing

$ Ivy League Stripper

$ Bare Facts: My Life Annie Ample

$ Live Nude Girls: top 100 Strip Clubs

$ Bare Truth: Stars of the 40's/50's

$ Live Sex Acts: Women Performing     Erotic Labor

$ Behind the G-String

$ Berlin Cabaret

$ Lusty Lady

$ Best Burlesque Sketches

$ Minsky's Burlesque

$ Best of Male Burlesque

New Burlesque

$ Bombshells

$ Peepshows: A Visual History

$ Burlesque

$ Pictorial History of Burlesque

$ Burlesque and the Art of the Teese

$ Pictorial History of Striptease

$ Burlesque and the New Bump-n-Grind

$ Queens of Burlesque, Vintage photos 40/50s

$ Burlesque Queen

$ Burlesque: Legendary Stars of Stage

$ Rank Ladies

$ Burlesque Tradition in English Theatre before 1660

Southern Exposure (Billie Jean    Brown)

$ Dancing Naked in the Material World

$ Strip City: A Strippers

$ Early Burlesque in America

$ Strip Show: Performances

$ Encyclopedia of Vaudeville

$ Stripping in Time: History

$ Female Impersonation

$ Striptease

$ Girl Show: Canvas World of Bump    Grind

Striptease: Untold History Of The Girlie Show

the Lady is a Stripper (Dusty Summers)

Misc. Research Words ... to help your searches

Belly Dance

Ecdysiast

Pasties

Strip Tease

Bombshell

Exotic / Erotic

Peek-A-Boo

Stripper

Burlesque

Gypsy Rose Lee

Risque

Sultry

Burlettas

Hootchy

Sarong

Topless / Tassles

Cabaret

Little Egypt

Sexy

Cheesecake

Minsky's

ShowGirls

Les Naturistes

Cootching

Montmartre

Skin Opera

Voluptuous

Danse du Ventre

Nude / Naked

Sol Bloom

LINKS: Burlesque

Burlesque Costumes (taylor made)

Burlesque History.com

Exotic World USA.com

Pink Pussycat Productions.com

Retro Raunch.com (see banner)

Streetswing's List of: Burlesque Dancers

Streetswing's List of: Burlesque Videos and DVD's

Other...

   Photographers of many of these pictures here are: Irving Klaw, Bruno of Hollywood, James Kollan, Groucho, Maurice Seymour and Gene Lacerne etc. Some of the other pics are unnamed or unknown photographs. If you know the name of the photographer I will be glad to know and list it. Although all attempts are made for accuracy, this information is not verified as accurate.