Brief History of Burlesque

Burlesque is nothing new and can be traced back to the Greeks.  The word is derived from the Italian word "burlesco" and the Spanish word "burl" which means joke\mockery in a comic sense.

Burlesque became popular here in Britain in the late 18th Century.  Famous at that time was Lydia Thompson who formed a dance troupe called the British Blondes - they managed to shock and excite the Victorian public with their bleached blonde hair and the wearing of flesh-coloured tights.

Lydia Thompson and the British Blondes (www.genderfork.com)

Lydia Thompson introduced New York to Burlesque in 1868 and it became so popular that in 1912 The Minsky Brothers opened their first Burlesque Club.  It was in one of their Theatres in the 1920s, that the famous Gypsy Rose Lee and Josephine Baker performed.   Hollywood Actress, Mae West also performed Burlesque but was deemed too blue for the Theatres.

Josephine Baker (www.burlexe.com)

Gypsy Rose Lee (tarashanks.com)

In the 1950s Burlesque suffered a slow decline and it really wasn't until the 1990s when it became fashionable again, thanks to stars such as Dita Von Teese, Perle Noir and our British Immodesty Blaize.