The History of Burlesque

Burlesque is now known as a form of striptease, but originally it didn’t have any stripping at all.

The Beginnings: Britain

Burlesque has its origins in 19th century British music halls, where the term referred to a theatrical entertainment of a satirical comic bent. Beginning in the 1840s, burlesque comedy skits entertained the lower and middle classes by making fun of (or "burlesquing") the operas, plays and social habits of the upper classes. In the 1860s  shapely, underdressed women were introduced to keep audiences interested. 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 great thrill.

1860s: Exported to America

Brit Lydia Thompson was burlesque’s first star and was instrumental in exporting burlesque to America. In the late 1860s her burlesque troupe - the “British Blondes” - became New York's biggest theatrical sensation. Their first hit was Ixion, a mythological spoof that had women in revealing tights playing men's roles. 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’s troupe the hottest ticket in American show business. Her first New York season grossed over $370,000.

Burlesque Explosion  

Lydia’s success launched a US burlesque explosion. Mabel Saintley became America's first native-born burlesque star, when she feminised the popular minstrel show as "Mme. Rintz's Female Minstrels". By now burlesque was a mix of male performer comedy and a chorus girl leg show with song and dance. It was all very tame compared to now – but a bit of leg back then drove audiences wild. In France they had their own take on it with the cancan and the spectacular music halls of the Folies Bergère and the Moulin Rouge. 

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