PLASTIK SOUP
ENTERTAINMENT
Welcome to the history of a showgirl where Porcelain Alice and Natalya Alessi invite you to explore the rich tapestry of burlesque.
Tonight the stage becomes a portal, transporting us through the ages as we pay homage to the pioneers of this exquisite art form.
A brief history
Burlesque, an art form rooted in satire, wit, and sensual performance, has a rich and vibrant history that spans several centuries. Its origins can be traced back to the 17th century in Italy, where Commedia dell'arte troupes would incorporate humorous and exaggerated acts into their performances. Burlesque as we know it today, however, emerged in the late 19th century in Victorian England. It was a form of theatrical entertainment that parodied high society and cultural norms through bawdy humor, risqué performances, and extravagant costumes. The popularity of burlesque quickly spread to the United States, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, where it became a staple of vaudeville shows and variety theaters.
Tonights Program
act 1
the folies bergère tribute - Natalya Alessi
the fan dance tribute - Porcelain Alice
act 2
On the circuit with circus - Porcelain Alice
Vegas Showgirl
act 3
the 90's revival - strut and strip - Porcelain Alice
the gimmick - Natalya Alessi
about the performers
PORCELAIN ALICE
Porcelain Alice has stripped on stages across the globe.
Dubbed 'the sideshow supermodel’ by the UK's Rachel Atlas, Alice is known to flirt with danger, while flirting with you. Dripping in jewels she eats fire or swallows swords, always celebrating the art of tease.
In addition to performing weekly, she produces monthly variety shows including The Royal Heart Revue and Sophias Burlesque. She has been part of the creation of special events such as Undressing Hollywood (Sydney Festival 2021) Burlesque Stripped Bare (All About Women Festival 2022), The Burlesque Museum (2018 - 2020) and much more.
NATALYA ALESSI
With a slew of productions in her wake Natalya Alessi has spent her career whirling stages world wide earning her the title of Australian Entertainer of the Year for Miss Burlesque 2019/2020.
As a company soloist for six years she toured Australia and two back to back tours of the USA and Canada with the acclaimed show The Empire Strips Back. The last two years saw Natalya touring Australia as featured solo artist as the role of Virgo in Oracle - The Myth
She’s been a guest performer in Japan, Singapore, Spain, Italy, Malta and Germany
and has spent the last 15 plus years performing across national and international stages for companies such as Tokyo Disney, The Venetian Macau, Chrissie Parrott contemporary dance company, The Ninth Floor performance company as well as various casinos and cruise ships.
A staple in the Sydney burlesque and variety scene when she’s not on the the stage Natalya is Creative Director of Plastik Soup where she produces shows such as The Bower Burlesque and The Late Night Buffet as well as variety and corporate entertainment Sydney wide.
Burlesque Timeline
-------------------- Ancient dance of fertility
Byzantine era -------------------- Ancient dancing for entertainment
Neolithic to 6000BC and beyond
1500's -------------------- Commedia dell'arte became popular
1500's -------------------- Women enter theatre
1600's -------------------- Social politics interfere
early 1600's -------------------- Theatre becomes structured
1700's -------------------- Birth of pantomime
1800's -------------------- Pantomime evolves
1800's -------------------- Victorian Burlesque is born
1800's --------------------- Women in Tights!
1852 --------------------- Welcome Lydia Thompson
1868 --------------------- Lydia Thompson to the USA
1881 --------------------- Birth of Cabaret
1890 --------------------- La Goulue
1869 --------------------- Folies Bergère
1893 --------------------- the first (documented) striptease
1890's --------------------- Tableau vivant
1870 --------------------- Rentz's Female Minstrels
1897 --------------------- Burlesque Circuit wheels
1893 --------------------- Little Egypt/Hoochee Coochee
1904 --------------------- Princess Rajah
1905 --------------------- Millie DeLeon
1907 --------------------- Ziegfeld Follies
1908 --------------------- Minsky's
1925 --------------------- Josephine Baker
1933 --------------------- Sally Rand
1935 --------------------- New York ban
1930's --------------------- Gimmick
1930's --------------------- Hollywood
1930's --------------------- The Windmill Girls
1930's --------------------- The Bluebells
1952 --------------------- The Vegas Showgirl
1955 --------------------- Burlesque Hall of Fame
--------------------- Censorship Laws
1955 --------------------- Racial segregation/ Vegas Moulin Rouge
Dance of fertility
Archaeologists have uncovered miniature statues of exotic dancers near the Black Sea regions of Bulgaria and Romania that can be dated back to the Neolithic era. During this era, exotic dancing was used as a mechanism to sexually stimulate the mind and soul. Tied into the practices of ancient ritual, it was linked to sparking the favor of goddesses of fertility and increasing crop fertility. Many early civilizations believed that women were almost solely responsible for procreation. In some cases, women were feared because they seemed to command the mysteries of nature. Tribes in the South Seas, New Guinea, East Polynesia, Africa, and Greece not only thought that conception would be impossible, but that the human race would die — unless the women performed the fertility dance.
In Sparta, women danced for Artemis, who was a goddess of the moon and of fertility. Referred to as the Kordax, their dance emphasized the rotation of the hips and stomach. Hebrews, on the other hand, danced the Shalome — a dance based on a legend whose heroine embodied both motherhood and fruitfulness: the myth of the Seven Veils of Ishtar
The Dance of the Seven Veils
Consider the myth of the Seven Veils of Ishtar. This legend began in 4,500 BC, out of fear that winter might never end. It’s a tale found, with variations, in a number of different cultures. The essential idea of a ” belly dancing” woman, however, remains intact in all.
A Babylonian goddess of love and sensuality, Ishtar represented all women. She was chaste, yet fertile. She was a life-giver and a great nurturer, yet she was known as the mother of darkness and destruction.
According to the story, Ishtar’s husband dies and descends into the land of darkness, (in some cases referred to as the ” womb of the Earth” ). Ishtar covers her body with seven veiled costumes, and sets off to retrieve her husband.
Appropriately dressed, she deceives her way into the underworld, through forty-nine gates. To gain admission at each seventh gate, she dances in a way that emphasizes her abdomen, rolling it in circles. Each time she does so, she gives up a jewel and a veil. Meanwhile, in her absence, no crops grow, and no festivities take place. Ishtar makes her way through the gates, determined to reach the forty-ninth — and determined to find her man. Despite the hardships, Ishtar triumphs. When she returns with her husband and her seven veils, the people celebrate and the crops flourish
Dancing for entertainment
In ancient Greece and Rome, this is when it became crystallized as an art form rather than for the purposes of fertility. Dancing became a form of entertainment, and many of these dances were performed in sacred temples within the empire. Notably, Empress Theodora, the wife of Justinian the Great, did a striptease retelling the myth of Lea and the Swan.
Commedia Dell’Arte
Bohemian influences from Europe where performers took to the streets to put on shows. Commedia was frequently performed in public squares in the early years.The first Commedia performances happened around 1551 when “unorganized strolling players, acrobats, street entertainers started to coalesce.” I Gelosi was the first incorporated theatre troupe of its kind that employed professional actors. The company would have paid the performers a salary and charged admission to its shows – a big step forward in helping establish theatre as a true profession.
Women in theatre
One of the first stories of gender equality on the stage happened in the world of Commedia dell’Arte. Unlike other forms of theatre, the female roles in Commedia were actually portrayed by women. These women were respected and valued for their ability to perform and their own individual qualities. However, they were at times badly denigrated by critics, and for a period in Italy, a short-lived effort was made to ban women from the Commedia stage. But by the end of the 16th century their presence was largely accepted
Theatre becomes structured
By the early 17th century the format of Commedia was changing from strictly improvisational to something much more scripted, with clearly structured acts and characters. Several books written during the 17th century made recommendations about how the plays should be performed. Some critics argued that this change caused the performances to become formulaic and stylized, taking away the improvisational quality that made Commedia so unique
Theatre and social politics
As it moved elsewhere across Europe it continued to evolve and adapt based on the cultural preferences of its adoptive countries. In England, The Punch and Judy puppet shows, still popular today, owe their concept to the Pulcinella mask from the Neapolitan (the city of Napoli) version of the form.
Unfortunately Commedia took a big hit during the 17th century in Great Britain, mostly due to the Puritan influence. The Puritans were not big supporters of the arts of any kind and shows were often banned altogether. Napoleon also played his part in limiting its spread. During his occupation of Italy, proponents of reform and critics of French rule used the carnival masks to hide their identities while pushing political agendas, challenging social rule, and hurling insults and criticisms at the regime.[5] So to put an end to it, Napoleon banned Commedia Dell’Arte completely.
Birth of Pantomime
Despite tough laws, by the early 18th century, Commedia characters began to appear on the London stage in early pantomimes which were based on classical stories, set to music but without speech.
Pantomime evolves
Until 1843, theatre licensing had restricted the use of spoken word in performances. The Theatres Act lifted the restriction, allowing any theatre without a royal patent to produce a play with purely spoken dialogue. Now witty puns, word play and audience participation were added to the repertoire of mime, daring chase scenes and spectacular transformations. Favourite fairy-tale characters, magical animals, principal boys and pantomime dames all became part of the mix. Any subject was fair game, as pantomimes combined nonsense tales with social satire, commenting on current events and innovations
Enter Victorian Burlesque
Victorian burlesque, sometimes known as "travesty" or "extravaganza", was popular in London theatres between the 1830s and the 1890s. The word itself means “parody.” Burlesque indeed began as a parody genre that ridiculed “higher culture” by satirizing operas and plays held in much higher esteem. It took the form of musical theatre parody in which a well-known opera, play or ballet was adapted into a broad comic play, usually a musical play, often risqué in style, mocking the theatrical and musical conventions and styles of the original work, and quoting or pastiching text or music from the original work. The comedy often stemmed from the incongruity and absurdity of the classical subjects, with realistic historical dress and settings, being juxtaposed with the modern activities portrayed by the actors.
Victorian burlesque related to and in part derived from traditional English pantomime"with the addition of gags and 'turns'." In the early burlesques, following the example of ballad opera, the words of the songs were written to popular music; later burlesques mixed the music of opera, operetta, music halland revue, and some of the more ambitious shows had original music composed for them. This English style of burlesque was successfully introduced to New York in the 1840s.In the 19th Century, the term "burlesque" was applied to a wide range of comic plays, including non-musicals. Beginning in the 1840s, these works entertained the lower and middle classes in Great Britain and the United States by making fun of (or "burlesquing") the operas, plays and social habits of the upper classes. These shows used comedy and music to challenge the established way of looking at things. Everything from Shakespearean drama to the craze for Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind could inspire a full-length burlesque spoof.
Lydia Thompson
In 1852 at just 14 years of age a budding young performer, Lydia Thompson first took to the stage professionally when she joined the dancing chorus at Her Majesty’s Theatre. Over the next 15 years she performed throughout Europe both creating her own characters or choreographing her routines.
Lydia Thompson takes the USA
In 1868 Thompson left England for America. Along with her went manager Alexander Henderson (to whom she was subsequently married), a trio of British burlesque actresses and a chief comedian, all of whom who within weeks would be famous. After a well-publicized arrival, Lydia Thompson made her first appearance on the American stage under the management of local manager Samuel Colville and of Alexander Henderson at Wood’s Museum and Metropolitan Theater, New York, on 28 September in Burnand’s burlesque Ixion.
Ixion, a mythological spoof that had women in revealing tights playing men's roles. In the Victorian age, when proper women went to great lengths to hide their physical form beneath bustles, hoops and frills, the idea of young ladies appearing onstage in tights was a powerful challenge.
Underdressed women playing sexual aggressors, combining good looks with impertinent comedy – in a production written and managed by a woman? Unthinkable! No wonder men and adventurous wives turned out in droves, making Thompson and her "British blondes" the hottest thing in American show business. Demand for tickets was such that Ixion soon moved to Broadway's most prestigious musical house, Niblo's Garden – the same theatre where The Black Crook had triumphed two years earlier. All told, Thompson's first New York season grossed over $370,000.
She made an enormous effect with her extremely sexy (but never vulgar) comic performances, her dazzling dancing, and her extraordinary merry and warm stage presence, Wood’s Museum became the hottest ticket in town and what had been intended to be a six-month tour eventually developed into one of more like six years.
Within nights, Lydia Thompson became the unquestioned burlesque queen of her period, leading her company of ‘British Blondes’ (several of whom were not one or the other) around the country – with frequent returns to Broadway – playing pieces such as Ixion, The Forty Thieves,Bluebeard, Aladdin, Robin Hood, Kenilworth, Mephisto, Lurline, Sinbad, La Sonnambula, Robinson Crusoe, Ivanhoe a burlesque La Princesse de Trébizonde and Pippin (i.e. Byron’s The Yellow Dwarf). If the blondes’ trademarks were short trunks and shapely thighs, many of them were, however, by no means devoid of talent and several, including Pauline Markham, Alice Atherton, Camille Dubois, Carlotta Zerbini, Eliza Weathersby, Alice Burville and Rose Coghlan went on to fine careers. Amongst the male members of her company were such top comic talents as Harry Beckett, Bill Cahill, John L Hall, Willie Edouin and Lionel Brough.
Nevertheless, the company thrived – to begin with, at least – on a slightly scandalous reputation which Lydia’s managers fostered finely, winning nationwide publicity with the tales of her ‘lesbian attacker’ and of her public horsewhipping of the ungentlemanly proprietor of the Chicago Times who had published a piece reflecting on the virtue of the ‘blondes’.
Women in Tights!
A staple of burlesque was the display of attractive women in travesty roles, dressed in tights to show off their legs, but the plays themselves were seldom more than modestly risqué. burlesque's principal legacy as a cultural form was its establishment of patterns of gender representation that forever changed the role of the woman on the American stage and later influenced her role on the screen. . . The very sight of a female body not covered by the accepted costume of bourgeois respectability forcefully if playfully called attention to the entire question of the "place" of woman in American society.
- Robert G. Allen, Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture (Univ. of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1991), pp. 258-259.
Meanwhile back in Paris
Folies Bergère
Located in Paris, the Folies Bergère emerged with Belle Époque on 2 May 1869. It served as a hub for showcasing the fusion of operetta, music, dance, acrobats and comedy captivating audiences with its innovative and boundary-pushing shows. It is documented to have presented the first nude showgirl in 1918. The Folies Bergère would become synonymous with the spirit of burlesque, embracing a lavish and immersive approach to entertainment. It would later introduce the world to the allure of showgirls, elaborate costumes, and spectacular stage designs. The venue's influence on burlesque extended beyond its performances, as it served as a cultural touchstone, setting trends in fashion, inspiring artistic movements, and shaping the broader public perception of burlesque as a captivating and provocative art form. The Folies Bergère remains an enduring symbol of the artistry, glamour, and enchantment that define the history of burlesque.
The birth of Cabaret
Cabaret as we would recognise it today first emerged in Paris around 1881, in a club called the Chat Noir, which listed amateur entertainers offering readings, shadow plays, songs and comic skits, usually quite bawdy, which used the bourgeoisie as the butt of their jokes.
The acts were linked by a master of ceremonies. The great and the good mixed with bohemians and artists at the Chat Noir.
Writers, journalists, prostitutes, students, models, and aristocrats packed into the tiny club, which eventually moved into larger premises.
The entertainment included jokes against the government and the rich, and at one time Erik Satie provided the musical accompaniment.
Moulin Rouge and the Can Can
Though the Can Can has become one of the most famous recognisable dances it was inspired by another dance called the Quadrille Naturaliste, which was first recorded as early as the 1820s. Originally performed by men and women, a version of this involving high kicks and jump splits believed to be inspired by a popular entertainer of the 1820s, Charles-François Mazurier. Throughout the 1830s, it was often groups of men, particularly students, who danced the can-can at public dance-halls. As the dance became more popular, professional performers emerged, although it was still danced by individuals, not by a chorus line. A few men became can-can stars in the 1840s to 1861 and an all-male group known as the Quadrille des Clodoches performed in London in 1870.However, women performers became much more widely known.
6 October 1889 saw the birth of the Moulin Rouge by Joseph Oller and his Manager Charles Zidler. Their aim was to create an experience for their patrons like no other. Belle époque grandeur for everyone to enjoy. They had their finger pulse of society and knew what the people wanted, to which they delivered. After witnessing the can can by regulars performers, Charles Zidler was determined to make it famous at his cabaret — a goal at which he definitely succeeded as its now synonymous with the venue.
Louise Weber (La Goulue)
Louise Weber was taken under the wing of Jacques Renaudin, a wine merchant who danced in his spare time under the stage name Valentin le Désossé. They danced at the renowned Moulin Rouge in Montmartre when it first opened, performing an early form of the cancan known as the chahut. The two were instant stars, but it was Weber who stole the show with her outrageously captivating conduct. In her routine, she would tease the male audience by swirling her raised dress to reveal the heart embroidered on her knickers and would do a high kick while flipping off a man's hat with her toe. Because of her frequent habit of picking up a customer's glass and quickly downing its contents while dancing past his table, she was affectionately nicknamed La Goulue (The Glutton) Booked as a permanent headliner, La Goulue became synonymous with the can-can and the Moulin Rouge nightclub. The toast of Paris and the highest paid entertainer of her day, she became one of the favorite subjects for Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, immortalized by his portraits and posters of her dancing at the Moulin Rouge.Dancing at small clubs around Paris, Weber quickly became a popular personality, liked for both her dancing skills and her charming, audacious behavior.
The first documented striptease
Literally translated as ‘The Ball of the Four Arts’, The Bal des Quart’z’Arts took place every year at the Elysee Montmartre, where art students of Ecoles Des Beaux-Arts were able to express themselves as a way of rebelling against the conservative administration. Even though they were celebrating ‘art’, the ladies often stripped off for the other partygoers, calling the erotic stripteases ‘high art’.
By 1893, the ball had evolved into a much bigger and more lavish affair and was now held at Moulin Rouge. It was no longer just students who attended. At this particular ball, there were also dancers, artists, theatre and art critics, as well as models. The main event featured the models and students dressed as mythological and historical figures, a spectacle in itself. A young performer dressed as Cleopatra entered being carried by a throng of men dressed only in loincloths. Once on stage, she began a striptease along with the other models. The crowd was captivated by this unusual and delightful display and the news spread throughout Paris.
Unfortunately, news of the night’s events reached Rene Berenger, an anti-vice leader and founder of the League for the Prevention of Public Licentiousness. He immediately insisted the activities were investigated and she, along with three other models were fined for public indecency.
The day after the verdict was reached, thousands of students marched in protest through the streets of Paris to Berenger’s house. During the protest, sympathisers joined in and threw glasses at police officers. Tragically, the officer threw one back and struck Antoine-Felix Nuger, who collapsed unconscious and died the following day. The rioting continued for four days, with much property damaged and the streets left in disarray.
Berenger’s moral crusade spectacularly backfired, with many in support of the students and the apparent ‘debauchery’. The ‘Bal des Quart’z’Arts’ continued every year well into the 19th Century, the Parisians accepting the ‘erotic antics’ and, for the most part, celebrating the ritual displays of fantasy and eroticism.
It's important to note that other forms of sensual or suggestive dance existed long before this, but they did not involve the deliberate removal of clothing in the context of a public tease performance. The 1893 incident is recognized because it set the precedent for the striptease as a deliberate, staged act.
Side note -
Striptease, in the literal sense of both ‘strip’ and ‘tease’ was a regular part of entertainment provided in London brothels in the eighteenth century. The women called ‘Posture Girls’ stripped stark naked and they climbed on to tables.
Tableau Vivant
Under subdued lighting, a female model posed in classical, historical, or mythological scenes, wearing a flesh-colored body stocking, sometimes accompanied by music or a storyteller. On occasion a rotating disk was employed on which she stood or sat, motionless; after several minutes it moved, allowing the next model to appear before the audience.
A single disk might contain four or five models in difterent scenes. Though presented as artwork and entertainment for many decades prior, and reaching its peak of popularity in the 1890s, these exhibitions outraged members of moral purity organizations. They wished to "save"the women posing in these displays before they committed other immoral acts. Many laws were put in place to minimise these exhibitions.
America embraces Burlesque
At first, the American press praised Victorian burlesques, but turned vicious under pressure from influential do-gooders. But the cries of the self-righteous had an unintended effect. Editorials and sermons condemning burlesque as "indecent" only made the form more popular! Demand was such that copycat burlesque companies soon cropped up, many with female managers.
Male takeover
As male managers took over the form in the 1880s, transgressive feminine wit was gradually replaced by a masculine determination to reveal as much of the feminine form as local laws allowed. But obscenity and vulgarity were avoided – the point was to spoof and (to a limited extent) titillate, not to offend.
Michael Leavitt, Mabel Santley and Minstrel shows
Michael Leavitt entered show business as a blackface minstrel showsinger. By the 1860s, Leavitt had made the leap to management and, following the precedent set by others, was touring variety show troupes in rural areas. By 1870, Leavitt had made a name in the theater industry by importing acts from Europe to North America.
Leavitt is known to have created the first touring burlesque company. He had witnessed and was inspired by a European troupe known as Rentz's Circus in the 1870s and decided to form an all-woman blackface minstrel troupe, which he named Madame Rentz's Female Minstrels.
The format of its shows, which Leavitt introduced, merged the three-act minstrel show with aspects of Lydia Thompson's all-female troupe's show, vaudeville, and musical travesty. He called the new genre "burlesque".
Unlike mainstream minstrelsy at the time, Leavitt's cast was exclusively made up of women, whose primary role was to showcase their scantily clad bodies and tights, not the traditional role of comedy routines or song and dance numbers. The women still performed a basic minstrel show, but they added new pieces that titillated the audience.
John E. Henshaw, who began his career as a stage hand with Madame Rentz's Female Minstrels, recalled,
"In San Francisco, we had advertised that we were going to put on the can-can. Mabel Santley did this number and when the music came to the dum-de-dum, she raised her foot just about twelve inches; whereupon the entire audience hollored 'Whooooo!' It set them crazy."
The troupe, later renamed the Rentz-Stantley Company and then the Rentz-Stantley Novelty and Burlesque Company, was a success, and it set the standard for burlesque companies through the 1880s and 1890s.
The show format was as follows–
-
ACT ONE: The ensemble entertains with songs and gags, dressed in formal evening clothes.
-
ACT TWO: An "olio" of variety acts (singers, comics, skits, etc.).
-
ACT THREE: A complete one-act musical (Victorian) burlesque.
-
The usual finale was a performance by an exotic dancer or a wrestling or boxing match.
The minstrel element of the shows also gave way to a new generation of black performers. In 1890, The Creole Show débuted and re-shaped the minstrel all-male tradition with female cast members. Stars of the show included Ada Overton Walker, Stella Wiley, Dora Dean and Belle Davis. These women went onto become the stars of Oriental America, the first black musical to open on Broadway. Not only did they look fabulous but they provided a scathing social commentary of America and abroad.
The company was a success, and by 1871, at least eleven rival troupes of female minstrels had sprung up, one of which did away with blackface altogether. This movement eventually gave rise to the "girlie show".
Little Egypt and the Hoochee Coochee
Believed to be the original Little Egypt, (a role played by at least three women at the time) Fahreda Mazar Spyropoulos performed at the 1893 Chicago's World Columbian Exposition. Spyropoulos gained wide attention, and popularized a form of dancing, which came to be referred to as the "Hoochee-Coochee", or the "shimmy and shake". At that time the word "belly dance" had not yet entered the American vocabulary, as Spyropoulos was the first in the U.S. to demonstrate the "danse du ventre" (literally "dance of the belly") first seen by the French during Napoleon's incursions into Egypt at the end of the 18th century.
Such dances, or something similar, were performed at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London in 1851, the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, and the World's Fair in Paris in 1889. Although such dances became wildly popular in the United States during the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, there is no evidence of them being known by the name, "Coochie Coochie" until about a year after the fair closed, and "Hoochie Coochie" about a year later. Before, during and immediately after the fair, these dances were frequently called, "Mussel dance", "stomach dance", danse du ventre and sometimes, "Kouta Kouta".
Described by the New York Journal in 1893 as "Neither dancing of the head nor the feet", it was a dance performed by women of, or presented as having, Middle-Eastern and/or Gypsy heritage, often as part of traveling sideshows.
The hoochie coochie replaced the much older can-can as the ribald dance of choice in New York dance halls by the 1890s.
Spyropoulos danced as Little Egypt at the 1933 Century of Progress in Chicago at the age of 62.
Birth of the circuit - 'wheels'
Following the lead of legitimate theater owners and vaudeville producers who organized quality acts and theatres with a steady stream of product, burlesque producers and theater managers in 1897 incorporated the Traveling Variety Managers of America (TVMA). The concept, credited to Gus Hill, was to mount approved burlesque shows that would progress from one theatre to another in succession, as though around a "wheel". Burlesque performers would be guaranteed months of work, and theatres would not have to create or compete for shows. The TVMA soon split into two wheels, the Empire in the west and the Columbia in the east, Mutual joining later in the west. Unlike vaudeville performers who sought weekly bookings as individual acts, burlesquers spent an entire forty week season touring as part of one troupe complete with costumes and sets. For three decades, this system made burlesque a dependable source of steady work. Shows had multi-act programs that included comedians, skits and variety acts and chorus girls. Although the wheel system made the industry more stable, the shows became standardized and repetitive. New costumes and acts were expensive, and when performers became better known they often left burlesque for the legitimate theater.
Princess Rajah
Princess Rajah was a $1000-per-week headliner on the Keith Vaudeville Circuit in the early 1900s who got her start as a cooch dancer in Coney Island in the 1890s. Her Arabian Chair Dance, seen in this 1904 film, as well as her Cleopatra Dance, were described in rave reviews as entirely unlike anything shown on the stage. The dance was filmed by the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company on May 23, 1904, at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. Princess Rajah was a featured act in the “Mysterious Asia” concession on the Pike.
“In her Chair dance, the Princess amazes by her strength, particularly her strength of jaw. Taking between her teeth a substantial looking chair, she swirls and swings through a dance that would be intricate and difficult enough were her head entirely free,” according to a 1915 review in the Boston Daily Globe. “Never does her hand touch the chair, and the feats she performs with it are almost incredible.”
In 1909, Broadway impresario William Hammerstein “discovered” the Cleopatra Dancer at Huber’s Museum on 14th Street. “I had the greatest surprise of my career when I discovered that a genuine artist was being hidden away in a dime museum,” he told the New York Times. “In fact I am at a loss for words to describe this Cleopatra dance. She does not depend upon the undraped figure to reveal her art but uses a peculiar kind of Oriental costume that is a marvel in itself. She uses real snakes, too.”
Two weeks later the Princess, whose real name was Rose Ferran, made her vaudeville debut as the star attraction at Hammerstein’s Victoria Theater on 42nd Street. Heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson was also on the bill and was reported to have leaped onto the stage and sucked the venom from her veins when a snake bit her. It sounds like an inspired bit of press pagentry but in later descriptions of the Cleopatra Dance, Princess Rajah is said to clutch the snake to her bosom and allow it to bite her when she comes upon a statue of her dead lover Marc Anthony. Then follows a death fall down a flight of stairs that is a thriller, according to reviews. Alas, the Cleopatra dance is not preserved on film.
Millie DeLeon
viewed as Americas first Queen of burlesque, Millie's career started as a "coocher" or "hoochie-coochie" dancer, assuming a fashionably French stage name and performing erotic dances in an oriental style, or belly dances, while fully clothed. By about 1900, she was established as a vaudeville performer in Cincinnati, and was managed by impresario James Fennessy, proprietor of Hubert Heuck’s People’s Theater.
As her act developed, her signature stage maneuver was to remove her garters, so revealing her lack of underwear, and throw them into the audience. She traveled across America as a performer, often testing the limits of local indecency ordinances, and was arrested numerous times in the U.S. and Canada between 1903 and 1915.
In 1914, the Philadelphia North American reported:
From knee to neck she was convulsive... Every muscle became eloquent of primitive emotion. Amid groans, cat calls, and howls of approval from the audience, she stopped. Standing suddenly erect, with a deft movement she revealed her nude right leg from knee almost to waist… Streaked and sweaty, her face took on the aspect of epilepsy. She bit her lips, rolled her eyes, pulled fiercely at great handfuls of her black, curly hair. Indescribable noises and loud suggestions mingled in the hot breath of the audience. Men in the orchestra rose with shouts. A woman – one of six present – hissed. Laughter became uproarious. And then, sensing her climax, Millie De Leon gave a little cry that was more of a yelp, and ceased.
Ziegfeld Follies
Between 1907 and the early 1930s, the Ziegfeld Follies was the most spectacular and famous American revue. The Follies was conceived by Florenz Ziegfeld and his first wife, European performer Anna Held. The revues featured singers, dancers, comedians and actors performing one-act plays. Most of all, however, the Ziegfeld Follies was fabled for featuring scores of young, beautiful, elaborately costumed showgirls, who often would do little more than parade about or pose amid settings that formed a living picture, or tableau.
The Follies began as an American version of French revues such as the Folies Bergère. The American Follies quickly created a formula all its own: the production of romantic musical performances as well as the inclusion of more low-brow fare. The more unrefined low-brow fare highlighted the pretty showgirls, whose costumes included elaborate accessories such as headdresses but were quite revealing of the performers body. Other revues might spotlight a couple dozen showgirls, but a typical Ziegfeld Follies would feature more than 120 attractive women. During the course of a show, there might be five or six costume changes.
Minsky's
American burlesque owes much to the Minsky brothers Abe, Billy, Herbert and Morton, sons of Louis and Ethel Minsky.
The eldest brother, Abe, launched the business in 1908 showing racy films. His own father shut him down and bought the National Winter Garden on Houston Street, which had a theater inconveniently located on the sixth floor. He gave the theater to Abe and his brothers Billy and Herbert.
After trying with great effort they failed to make money until they considered burlesque. Burlesque acts were cheaper than Vaudeville and Billy longed to be the next Ziegfeld.
But Minsky's clientele needed a compelling reason to trek up to a sixth-floor theater. Billy realized that success in burlesque depended on how the women were featured. Abe, who had been to Paris and the Folies Bergère and Moulin Rouge, suggested importing one of their trademarks: a runway to bring the women out into the audience. The theater was reconfigured and the Minskys were the first to feature a runway in the United States. Billy had the sign out front changed to "Burlesque As You Like It – Not a Family Show," and the Minskys were on their way.
The Minskys were raided constantly from 1917 when Mae Dix absentmindedly began removing her costume before she reached the wings. When the crowd cheered, Dix returned to the stage to continue removing her clothing to wild applause. Billy ordered the "accident" repeated every night. This began an endless cycle: to keep their license, the Minskys had to keep their shows clean, but to keep drawing customers they had to be risqué. Whenever they went too far, they were raided.
By this time it was common for women in shows staged by Ziegfeld, George White, and Earl Carroll – as well as burlesque – to appear topless in a static "tableaux".
Business boomed for the Minskys during Prohibition and the National Winter Garden's notoriety grew. Then, when Columbia and Mutual, the large burlesque wheels, collapsed during the Depression, Minsky's became the standard for burlesque.
Billy realized that while burlesque could not be classy it could be presented in classy surroundings. In 1931, many legitimate theaters in New York closed. Billy saw an opportunity to bring the Minsky brand to Broadway, amid the respectable shows, and leased the Republic Theater on 42nd Street and staged their first show on February 12. The Republic became Minsky's flagship theater and the capital of burlesque in the United States.
The Great Depression ushered in the greatest era for burlesque, and Minsky burlesque in particular. Few could afford to attend expensive Broadway shows, yet people craved entertainment. Furthermore, there now seemed to be an unlimited supply of unemployed young pretty women who considered the steady work offered by burlesque. By the time they finished expanding, the various Minskys controlled over a dozen theaters – six in New York and others in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Albany, and Pittsburgh. They even formed their own small "wheel."
Of all the Minskys, only Harold, Abe's adopted son, remained active in burlesque.
Harold discovered and groomed dozens of famous names throughout the 1930s into the '50s. He claimed to have discovered future headliner fourteen-year-old Sherry Britton from an audition.
In 1956, Harold brought the Minsky name to Las Vegas in a revue at the Dunes.
Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker was a groundbreaking performer whose influence on burlesque, as well as broader entertainment, was profound.
Baker, originally from St. Louis, Missouri, began her career in the United States as part of the vaudeville circuit, performing in various chorus lines. She moved to New York City during the Harlem Renaissance and joined the chorus line of the Broadway musical "Shuffle Along," one of the first all-Black Broadway shows. In 1925 she moved to Paris and achieved instant success with her performance in "La Revue Nègre" at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. This show featured a mix of African rhythms, jazz, and dance, and Baker’s act—often involving minimal costume and high-energy dancing—immediately captured the attention of European audiences.
Her "Danse Sauvage," performed in a banana skirt, became iconic and a significant part of her legacy in burlesque and beyond.
In 1931 Baker starred in the film "Zouzou," becoming the first Black woman to headline a major motion picture. Baker returned to the U.S. to perform at the Ziegfeld Follies, but her reception was lukewarm compared to her success in Europe, largely due to the racial discrimination she faced and as a result moved back to France where she remained one of the most celebrated artists of her time.
Sally Rand
Sally Rand is more often than not credited with popularizing feather fan dancing. Active from 1925 - 1979, she featured in musicals and soundies as well as on the burlesque circuit, but it was her infamous fan dance at the 1933 Chicago World Fair that really shook audiences.
Giant feather fans played ‘peek-a-boo’ to reveal and hide her body. Rand performed in a bodystocking which scandalous at the time, meant she appeared completely nude and as a result, She was repeatedly charged with indecency and repeatedly won, due to the tastefulness of her acts and the fact that she rarely revealed any actual skin.
Mayor LaGuardia and the New York ban
In 1935, irate citizens' groups began calling for action against burlesque. Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia deemed them a "corrupting moral influence." The city's license commissioner, Paul Moss, tried to revoke Minsky's license but the State Court of Appeals ruled that he did not have grounds without a criminal conviction. Finally, in April, 1937, a stripper at Abe Minsky's New Gotham Theater in Harlem was spotted working without a G-string. The ensuing raid led to the demise not only of Minsky burlesque but of all burlesque in New York. The conviction allowed Moss to revoke Abe's license and refuse to renew all of the other burlesque licenses in New York.
By the time La Guardia was re-elected, the word "burlesque" had been banned and, soon after, the Minsky name itself, since the two were synonymous. With that final blow, burlesque and the Minskys were finished in New York.
The Gimmick
Burlesque, with its roots in vaudeville and variety shows, has always embraced the use of creative and attention-grabbing gimmicks to entertain and captivate audiences. From the early days of burlesque in the 19th century to its modern-day resurgence, gimmicks have played a vital role in shaping the performances. These gimmicks range from humorous props and exaggerated costumes to musical instruments unexpected reveals and daring skills.
From Satan’s Angel and her fire spinning nipple tassels, Josephine Baker and her banana bikinis, Sally Rand’s Fan Dance and Balloon Bubble to Zorita with her half man half woman act, her spider web strip and her use of boa constrictors.
The history of burlesque gimmicks showcases the ingenuity and creativity of performers who continuously push the boundaries of entertainment, utilizing these playful and inventive elements to add depth, intrigue, and excitement to their acts. As Gypsy Rose Lee famously said. ‘you gatta have a gimmick’.
Hollywood
Burlesque, the artform, style and its stage performers featured heavily in Hollywood films made under the studio system. From the silent era on, particularly classic epics and what is coined as The Golden Age, Hollywood both influenced and featured burlesque - its dances, costumes and glamour. An inspired Busby Berkeley added showgirls into his Hollywood films in the 1930s
creating the most stunning kaleidoscopic choreography performed on breathtaking staircases or in Olympic sized pools. Hollywoods fascination with chorus girls, showgirls and burlesque continued to grow.
Gypsy Rose Lee for example, known as the literary stripper had her life story become the 1962 film Gypsy
The Windmill Girls
In 1930, Laura Henderson bought the Palais de Luxe building in London and renamed the Windmill. It opened on 15 June 1931, as a playhouse
Mrs Henderson hired a new theatre manager, Vivian Van Damm, who developed the idea of the Revudeville—a programme of continuous variety that ran from 2:30 pm until 11 pm. Unfortunately it was unprofitable but a breakthrough came when Van Damm began to incorporate glamorous nude females on stage, inspired by the Folies Bergère and Moulin Rouge in Paris. This coup was made possible by convincing Lord Cromer, then Lord Chamberlain, in his position as the censor for all theatrical performances in London, that the display of nudity in theatres was not obscene: since the authorities could not credibly hold nude statues to be morally objectionable, the theatre presented its nudes — the legendary "Windmill Girls" — in motionless poses as living statues or tableaux vivants. The ruling: 'If you move, it's rude.' The Windmill's shows became a huge commercial success, and the Windmill girls took their show on tour to other London and provincial theatres and music halls. The Piccadilly and Pavilion theatres copied the format and ran non-stop shows, reducing the Windmill's attendance.
Later, movement was introduced in the form of the fan dance, where a naked dancing girl's body was concealed by fans held by herself and four female attendants. At the end of the act the girl would stand stock still, and her attendants would remove the concealing fans to reveal her nudity. The girl would then hold the pose for about ten seconds before the close of the performance. Another way the spirit of the law was evaded, enabling the girl to move, and thus satisfying the demands of the audience, was by moving the props rather than the girls. Ruses such as a technically motionless nude girl holding on to a spinning rope were used. Since the rope was moving rather than the girl, authorities allowed it, even though the girl's body was displayed in motion.
The Bluebells
Irish born Margaret Kelly Leibovici (Miss Bluebell) began dancing at the Folies Bergère in 1930. It was here where she created her troupe of dancers "the Bluebell Girls" in 1932. In contrast to the petite naked women at the review, from the beginning Mrs Kelly only employed tall girls, and added to their height with vertiginous high heels. In 1947 she began a collaboration with Donn Arden who was choreographer and producer for Paris Lido at the time, making the Bluebells the sole stars of the show. It was here that together they came up with the concept of the dinner show.
Over the next few years they began building an international reputation.
By the 1950s, the Bluebell Girls were an international organisation with permanent dance troupes in Las Vegas as well as all across Europe, Africa and Eastern Asia.
The Vegas Showgirl
The image of the modern showgirl is synonymous with Las Vegas. The first casino on the Las Vegas Strip to employ dancing girls as a diversion between acts was the El Rancho Vegas in 1941. Showgirls with more elaborate, expensive costumes weren't presented in Las Vegas until 1952 at the Sands Casino.
Initially opening and closing for headline acts or dancing around the headliner, the late 1950s saw them thrust into the spotlight as the top casinos fought it out with grand productions for top billing. Donn Arden and Miss Bluebell of the Paris Bluebells - Lido de Paris at the Stardust, Jack Entratter's of New York’s famous Copacabana - Copa Girls at the Sands, and Harold Minsky's of New Yorks most successful burlesque theatre - Minsky’s Follies at the Desert Inn.
With the largest budget, The Copa Girls were the premier attraction until Minsky introduced Vegas to their first topless showgirls at the Dunes, in 1957
The entertainment side of casinos was mainly viewed as bait. The resorts provided free entertainment that would last all night, encouraging guests to do the same.
During the 1950s and 1960s showgirls performed in every hotel and casino on the Las Vegas strip. Competition between casinos led to increasingly lavish shows and costumes.The popularity of showgirl shows in Las Vegas slowly declined after the 1960s, with all of the major shows closing by the early 21st century.
Burlesque Hall of Fame and Miss Exotic World
The Burlesque Hall of Fame was founded by burlesque dancer Jennie Lee as part of her outreach efforts for the Exotic Dancers League. The EDL was a section of the American Guild of Variety Artists founded by Jennie and several other dancers in 1955 to represent the interest of burlesque performers. In 1965, Jennie invited attendees at the EDL’s annual Striptease Reunion to bring photos and other memorabilia to help start a Burlesque Hall of Fame.
In 1965, Jennie invited attendees at the EDL’s annual Striptease Reunion to bring photos and other memorabilia to help start a Burlesque Hall of Fame.
In years to come, she would display her growing collection at her San Pedro bar, the Sassy Lassy, before moving to the Helendale ranch in the 1980s to create Jennie Lee’s Exotic World, a museum dedicated to the history of burlesque. When Jennie died in 1990 Jennie’s close friend Dixie Evans, “The Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque”, took over running the museum. Dixie was the curator and director of the museum during the foundational years of the burlesque revival, creating a virtual Mecca for the legions of young dancers interested in learning about and building on the history of burlesque. In 1991, to encourage more visitors to the remote museum, Dixie created the Miss Exotic World pageant. This an annual burlesque competition would become the proving ground for a generation of new performers, while providing them the opportunity to rub elbows with the Legends of burlesque whose careers were represented in the museum’s displays.
Censorship Laws
1. Comstock Laws (1873) Although not specific to burlesque, these federal laws, named after anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock, prohibited the distribution of "obscene" materials, which extended to performances. The broad definition of obscenity impacted burlesque by censoring material deemed indecent.
2. Local Ordinances. Many cities enacted specific laws to regulate or outright ban burlesque shows, considering them lewd and morally corrupting. These laws often required burlesque houses to obtain special licenses, adhere to strict guidelines regarding content, and face fines or closure if they violated moral standards.
3. The New York State Penal Code. In 1905, New York introduced amendments to its penal code, which specifically targeted "disorderly houses" and prohibited "immoral performances." Since New York City was a hub for burlesque, this law significantly affected the industry, leading to arrests and closures of many burlesque venues.
4. The "Blue Laws". These were a series of laws in various states and municipalities that prohibited certain activities on Sundays, including entertainment that was deemed immoral or indecent. Burlesque shows, known for their risqué content, often fell afoul of these regulations.
5. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC). By the mid-20th century, the FCC began to influence the content of broadcasts, indirectly impacting burlesque as it became more integrated into radio and television. The FCC's rules on decency in public broadcasting pushed burlesque further underground.
These laws and regulations, coupled with the broader social reform movements like the Progressive Era and the rise of the vice squads, led to the suppression and marginalization of burlesque throughout much of the 20th century.
We love sharing our experience of the evening and we know you do too.
Feel free to post your photos and videos
however please be sure to tag us, we love seeing the night through your eyes.
If you enjoyed your evening with us
please stop by our FB page and leave a review
@thehistoryofashowgirl #thehistoryofashowgirl
