As the director of the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas, I’m often asked, “What Is Burlesque?” It’s a question at the heart of our mission to preserve the history and legacy of burlesque as a vibrant art form and cultural phenomenon. If you had told me years ago that my career path would lead to becoming a museum director, I would have been surprised. While my academic background includes museum studies, I envisioned my involvement with museums as occasional collaborations on exhibitions.
Life, however, takes unexpected turns. Today, I find myself responsible for not just exhibitions, but also managing a budget, a dedicated nationwide volunteer network, a collection of over 4,000 artifacts, and navigating a complex landscape of legal, professional, and ethical considerations. Given anthropology’s roots in museum practice and the often-unheard perspective of museum professionals in public discourse, I wanted to share some insights into my daily life and reflections as an anthropologist working in a museum. I won’t delve into grand theoretical pronouncements here, but rather offer musings on the realities of museum life from my perspective.
And because it’s the question I encounter most frequently, I wanted to begin by addressing the fundamental question: what exactly is burlesque? Defining burlesque, establishing the boundaries of this field of study, is more challenging than it appears. Burlesque as an art form is intertwined with numerous other theatrical traditions and has been in constant evolution for over a century and a half.
Defining Burlesque: Parody and Power
The simplest definition of burlesque is “parody,” specifically the parody of the powerful by the powerless. In this sense, burlesque has ancient roots, with elements of it evident in classical Greek plays and, closer to our time, in the works of William Shakespeare and his contemporaries. By the mid-19th century, burlesque emerged as a popular form of entertainment in England and then the United States, featuring large-scale productions with performers – scandalously clad for the time – including both women and men in tights that emphasized their figures as they danced. Writers from William Makepeace Thackeray to Mark Twain and H.L. Mencken contributed to the burlesque scene with humorous works catering to a growing literate population.
The Evolution of Burlesque: From Victorian Extravaganza to Vaudeville
The elaborate productions of major cities were simplified and made more overtly sexual for wider audiences through minstrel shows and vaudeville theaters. By the turn of the 20th century, burlesque had transformed into variety shows featuring comedic skits, sideshow acts, and dancing girls. While the allure of glimpsing a leg clad in tights may have drawn audiences, the true stars of these shows were the comedians. Many famous names in comedy began their careers on the adult-oriented stages of burlesque “wheels,” national theater circuits that provided weekly traveling shows. Bob Hope, Abbott and Costello, Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton, and many others honed their craft in this environment.
The Rise of Striptease and Modern Burlesque
The early 1930s marked a turning point for burlesque, shaping it into a form more recognizable today. Firstly, the rise of radio and “talkie” movies attracted comedic talent away from the burlesque stage. While comedians remained a part of burlesque shows, many of the most successful ones left the demanding touring life for new media. Simultaneously, striptease emerged, shifting the focus from comedy to the gradual reveal of the body. This shift was timely, as family-friendly vaudeville declined, replaced by movie theaters – the last vaudeville theater transitioned to a cinema in the early 1930s. Burlesque, however, could offer something that neither vaudeville nor the increasingly censored movies of the Hays Code era could: overt sex appeal.
By the 1950s, strippers became the dominant figures on the burlesque stage. However, “strippers” in this era were different from today’s perception. Striptease was not about immediate nudity; it was about the art of undressing, the slow, seductive tease. The fan dance, for example, offered tantalizing glimpses of the female form, and burlesque performers masterfully employed the protracted tease of peeling away layers of clothing.
Burlesque vs. Strip Clubs: Humor, Tease, and Empowerment
Even as burlesque superstars like Blaze Starr and Tempest Storm reached their zenith, cultural landscapes were changing. Burlesque dancers paved the way, but a wave of changing norms followed. By the 1960s and early 1970s, topless go-go dancers, the rise of mainstream pornography (films like Behind the Green Door and Deep Throat played in the same cinemas showing The Godfather and 2001: A Space Odyssey), and even evolving beachwear made burlesque seem almost quaint, even prudish, by comparison.
By the 1980s, live erotic entertainment largely consolidated around strip clubs, with an emphasis on the “strip.” The tease was largely gone, replaced by performers who began sets scantily clad, quickly removed their remaining garments, and then engaged in pole dancing or moved around the stage to solicit tips. This form remains the dominant type of live sexual performance, while hardcore pornography dominates recorded sexual entertainment.
However, these new forms of entertainment addressed different desires than burlesque had historically. Burlesque, fundamentally, was not solely about sex; it was about power dynamics. Burlesque is parody. When a woman from a marginalized background, for example, steps onto a stage adorned in a fur coat and pearls and proceeds to disrobe, she is not merely displaying her body. She is making a statement about the ostentatious displays of wealth by the privileged and the role of sexuality in the lives of those who often fulfill desires through spending.
In the mid-1990s, burlesque experienced a resurgence. A new generation of women sought alternative models of femininity, ones that offered more empowerment than the thin, heavily made-up ideals presented by mainstream media like Cosmopolitan magazine. This neo-burlesque movement, part retro revival and part performance art, celebrated body diversity and the power of female sexuality. Over time, it also increasingly incorporated diverse expressions of male sexuality and power.
Contemporary Burlesque: Key Characteristics
Burlesque continues to evolve, meaning different things to different people. As the director of a museum dedicated to burlesque, I believe it’s not my place, nor the institution’s, to impose a definitive definition or standardize the meaning of the word. Instead, our role is to reflect the evolving meanings of burlesque, how it has changed and continues to change – and hopefully to contribute to that ongoing evolution. However, I can offer a “field guide” of sorts, identifying key characteristics of contemporary burlesque.
Essentially, contemporary burlesque typically exhibits at least one of two core characteristics. The first is striptease. Burlesque lingers on the act of undressing, rather than focusing solely on the state of nudity. The second is humor. The best burlesque performances are often riotously funny. This is a significant distinction between a burlesque show and a strip club. Laughter is rarely heard in a strip club unless something has gone humorously wrong. This isn’t to diminish stripping, pole dancing, or other forms of adult entertainment (and many performers work across these fields). It simply means they are distinct from burlesque.
Other elements distinguish burlesque, particularly modern burlesque: the performer’s control over their act, choreography, and music choices; the absence of lap dances and other direct off-stage audience interactions; and a typical modesty limit of pasties and a g-string. However, striptease and humor remain, in my view, the defining hallmarks of burlesque.
So, that’s burlesque, and that’s the world I inhabit. In my next piece, I’ll explore the nature of a “museum” in today’s world of fluid disciplinary boundaries, constant digital communication, and complex issues of representation.
