Today’s modern women would use the famous Burlesque dance as a form of exercise to keep fit and have lots of fun as they would with the belly dancing and pole dancing.

The Burlesque dance is much more than a dance, it’s a confidence giver, it’s a way to teach women how to be proud of their bodies, pushing them out of their comfort zone to learn how to tease and seduce within the confines of dance, empowering them with masses of sex appeal.

But it wasn’t always that way. The genre of Burlesque started in the 1840’s. The shows were not just dancing girls who preformed a striptease but shows, shown to an audience of middle class. Early theatrical Burlesque in the 19th century was a form of musical and theatrical comedy that deliberately copied another’s work of music in a comic way, they were often risqué in their performance. Such dramatic productions were very popular in Britain and the females were often cast in the lead male part. Much like our pantomimes and sketch shows of today.

Going into the 20th century, America used the word ‘Burlesque’ to describe their variety shows and introduced the striptease, which was the pulling power of the shows. Of course the striptease was formed in Paris at the great Moulin Rouge in the 1890’s and quickly became part of the Burlesque shows across Europe. And it’s only in America that the term Burlesque is regarded closely with the term striptease.

However the shows increase in stripping of the female body meant that the shows were no longer mild entertainment and were branded quite rightly adult entertainment. The striptease was often performed as a theme, with gimmicks and characters. The sets were stunning in themselves, with brash, exotic fabrics for the backdrop, colourful costumes, flamboyant mood creating music and dramatic lighting. 

Now the word Burlesque was loosely being used to describe these adult venues in which the striptease was preformed but the word Burlesque means ‘in an upside down style or head over heels. Fire eating acts and comedians were still featured in these shows. There were increasingly more of the Burlesque troupes turning up, with sexually suggestive dialogue, quick-witted humour, minimal costuming that praised the female form coupled with short routines and sketches. While stripping gave the word Burlesque a dirty, sleazy name it did bring in hordes of randy men that kept the Burlesque in the money right through the Great Depression much to the disgust of the moralists. To avoid total nudity the girls wore G-strings and covered their nipples with ‘pasties’.

The striptease was brought out of the back rooms and into the lime light in the 1920’s and 30’s as the old Burlesque shows were coming to an end due to the social crackdown. Theatre owners introduced the striptease to audiences of men as the word Burlesque was banned in advertising and the word Striptease came in running. 

Now days the new Burlesque is back, with all the jazz and glitz of its former years. The shows still contain a striptease, lots of humour and cabaret. The dance of the striptease is an art in its self, celebrating the beautiful form of a female’s body and sexuality.