Maurice (1900-1993) and Seymour Zeldman (1902-1995), Russian expatriate photographers, formed the "Maurice Seymour" studio in 1929. Inspired by the example of Maurice Goldberg, the foremost photographer of classical dancers and concert musicians of the 1920s and regular contributor to the New York Times, the brothers chose to make a particular forte of ballet dancers. From 1929 to 1950 they plied their trade in a studio at the St. Clair Hotel in Chicago. In 1950 Seymour Zeldman moved to New York City; both men at this juncture legally changed their names to Maurice Seymour.

The New York brother expanded his clientele from dancers and actors to singers, jazz musicians, and burlesque stars in the 1950s. He for a period partnered with James Kriegsmann, successor to Herbert Mitchell, and a practitioner of in situ photography of singers and musicians in their performance venues. The Chicago Maurice Seymour continued specializing in dance and theatrical photography, although he had, for a period of time in the 1930s, a healthy business from radio personalities as well. Both shuttered their studios in the 1970s.

When in Chicago, they collaborated completely when creating images, sharing the posing and developing work. The images tended to be brightly illuminated, posed against neutral featureless backgrounds, and developed on glossy paper. The studio's skill at retouching was particularly well known. All of the Chicago portraits were taken with a large accordion portrait camera using 8x10 negatives. From 1935 onward, the brothers were the prefered portraitists of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. In 1947 the studio published Seymour on Ballet, a set of photographic studies, with a foreward by Leonid Massine

Maurice Seymour was a Russian immigrant who came to the United States in the 1920’s and opened a studio soon after. He was known as the “photographer to the celebrities” of his time. All kinds of entertainers came before Seymour’s lens. However, if he is best-known for any one area of photography, it is for his ballet pictures.

Maurice Seymour, 93, a Chicago celebrity photographer from the 1920s through the 1960s, photographed many of the top stage and film stars of the era as well as prima ballerinas and famous dancers.

A resident of Chicago’s East Rogers Park neighborhood, he died Friday in Columbus Hospital.

There actually were two Maurice Seymours, he and and his brother, Seymour Zeldman. Both were theatrical photographers and used the same signature on their works. The brothers learned their trade in Russia before coming to Chicago. Their last name was Zeldman. Maurice and his brother formed Maurice Seymour Studios in the late 1920s. When Seymour Zeldman later decided to move to New York, each brother legally changed his name to Maurice Seymour. Mr. Seymour’s brother of the same name lives in Boston.

Mr. Seymour, who often photographed stars passing through Chicago as well as local celebrities, was especially known for his work with dancers.

“Many of the top dance performers were Russian, and he spoke their language,” his son, Ron, an advertising photographer, said. “The stage performers whom he photographed often sought him out because of his ability to portray them as they appeared to the audience 100 feet away. He could retouch the photos, enhance their appearance . . . keep the illusion going. It was a different time.”

Among the stars he photographed were Harry Belafonte, Edith Piaf, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Gertrude Lawrence, and Johnny Ray, many of them when they were starting on their careers.

A 1958 Tribune article described him in his studio: “He works in baggy pants, sweat shirt and sandals, usually with hair dangling in his eyes and a cigarette from his lips. He usually does everything but stand on his head to put his clients in the mood for posing. It is reported that some top performers patronize him just to watch him perform.”

Survivors, besides his son and brother, include four grandchildren.

A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.[1] The word derives from the Italian burlesco, which, in turn, is derived from the Italian burla – a joke, ridicule or mockery.[2][3]

Burlesque overlaps with caricature, parody and travesty, and, in its theatrical form, with extravaganza, as presented during the Victorian era.[4] The word "burlesque" has been used in English in this literary and theatrical sense since the late 17th century. It has been applied retrospectively to works of Chaucer and Shakespeare and to the Graeco-Roman classics.[5] Contrasting examples of literary burlesque are Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock and Samuel Butler's Hudibras. An example of musical burlesque is Richard Strauss's 1890 Burleske for piano and orchestra. Examples of theatrical burlesques include W. S. Gilbert's Robert the Devil and the A. C. Torr – Meyer Lutz shows, including Ruy Blas and the Blasé Roué.

A later use of the term, particularly in the United States, refers to performances in a variety show format. These were popular from the 1860s to the 1940s, often in cabarets and clubs, as well as theatres, and featured bawdy comedy and female striptease. Some Hollywood films attempted to recreate the spirit of these performances from the 1930s to the 1960s, or included burlesque-style scenes within dramatic films, such as 1972's Cabaret and 1979's All That Jazz, among others. There has been a resurgence of interest in this format since the 1990s.[6][7]

Literary origins and development

Arabella Fermor, target of The Rape of the Lock

The word first appears in a title in Francesco Berni's Opere burlesche of the early 16th century, works that had circulated widely in manuscript before they were printed. For a time, burlesque verses were known as poesie bernesca in his honour. "Burlesque" as a literary term became widespread in 17th century Italy and France, and subsequently England, where it referred to a grotesque imitation of the dignified or pathetic.[8] Shakespeare's Pyramus and Thisbe scene in Midsummer Night's Dream and the general mocking of romance in Beaumont and Fletcher's The Knight of the Burning Pestle were early examples of such imitation.[9]

In 17th century Spain, playwright and poet Miguel de Cervantes ridiculed medieval romance in his many satirical works. Among Cervantes' works are Exemplary Novels and the Eight Comedies and Eight New Interludes published in 1615.[10] The term burlesque has been applied retrospectively to works of Chaucer and Shakespeare and to the Graeco-Roman classics.[5]

Burlesque was intentionally ridiculous in that it imitated several styles and combined imitations of certain authors and artists with absurd descriptions. In this, the term was often used interchangeably with "pastiche", "parody", and the 17th and 18th century genre of the "mock-heroic".[11] Burlesque depended on the reader's (or listener's) knowledge of the subject to make its intended effect, and a high degree of literacy was taken for granted.[12]

17th and 18th century burlesque was divided into two types: High burlesque refers to a burlesque imitation where a literary, elevated manner was applied to a commonplace or comically inappropriate subject matter as, for example, in the literary parody and the mock-heroic. One of the most commonly cited examples of high burlesque is Alexander Pope's "sly, knowing and courtly" The Rape of the Lock.[13] Low burlesque applied an irreverent, mocking style to a serious subject; an example is Samuel Butler's poem Hudibras, which described the misadventures of a Puritan knight in satiric doggerel verse, using a colloquial idiom. Butler's addition to his comic poem of an ethical subtext made his caricatures into satire.[14]

In more recent times, burlesque true to its literary origins is still performed in revues and sketches.[9] Tom Stoppard's 1974 play Travesties is an example of a full-length play drawing on the burlesque tradition.[15]

In music

See also: Parody music

Classical music

Beginning in the early 18th century, the term burlesque was used throughout Europe to describe musical works in which serious and comic elements were juxtaposed or combined to achieve a grotesque effect.[16] As derived from literature and theatre, "burlesque" was used, and is still used, in music to indicate a bright or high-spirited mood, sometimes in contrast to seriousness.[16]

In this sense of farce and exaggeration rather than parody, it appears frequently on the German-language stage between the middle of the 19th century and the 1920s. Burlesque operettas were written by Johann Strauss II (Die lustigen Weiber von Wien, 1868),[17] Ziehrer (Mahomed's Paradies, 1866; Das Orakel zu Delfi, 1872; Cleopatra, oder Durch drei Jahrtausende, 1875; In fünfzig Jahren, 1911)[18] and Bruno Granichstaedten (Casimirs Himmelfahrt, 1911). French references to burlesque are less common than German, though Grétry composed for a "drame burlesque" (Matroco, 1777).[19] Stravinsky called his 1916 one-act chamber opera-ballet Renard (The Fox) a "Histoire burlesque chantée et jouée" (burlesque tale sung and played) and his 1911 ballet Petrushka a "burlesque in four scenes". A later example is the 1927 burlesque operetta by Ernst Krenek entitled Schwergewicht (Heavyweight) (1927).

Burleske

Duration: 21 minutes and 15 seconds.21:15

Burleske (1885–86), by Richard Strauss. Performed by Neal O'Doan with the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Some orchestral and chamber works have also been designated as burlesques, of which two early examples are the Ouverture-Suite Burlesque de Quixotte, TWV 55, by Telemann and the Sinfonia Burlesca by Leopold Mozart (1760). Another often-performed piece is Richard Strauss's 1890 Burleske for piano and orchestra.[16] Other examples include the following:

1901: Six Burlesques, Op. 58 for piano four hands by Max Reger

1904: Scherzo Burlesque, Op. 2 for piano and orchestra by Béla Bartók

1911: Three Burlesques, Op. 8c for piano by Bartók

1920: Burlesque for Piano, by Arnold Bax

1931: Ronde burlesque, Op. 78 for orchestra by Florent Schmitt

1932: Fantaisie burlesque, for piano by Olivier Messiaen

1956: Burlesque for Piano and Chamber Orchestra, Op. 13g by Bertold Hummel

1982: Burlesque for Wind Quintet, Op. 76b by Hummel

Burlesque can be used to describe particular movements of instrumental musical compositions, often involving dance rhythms. Examples are the Burlesca, in Partita No. 3 for keyboard (BWV 827) by Bach, the "Rondo-Burleske" third movement of Symphony No. 9 by Mahler, and the "Burlesque" fourth movement of Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1.[20]

Jazz

The use of burlesque has not been confined to classical music. Well-known ragtime travesties include Russian Rag, by George L. Cobb, which is based on Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-sharp minor, and Harry Alford's Lucy's Sextette based on the sextet, 'Chi mi frena in tal momento?', from Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti.[21]

Victorian theatrical burlesque

Florence St. John in Carmen up to Data

Main article: Victorian burlesque

Victorian burlesque, sometimes known as "travesty" or "extravaganza",[22] was popular in London theatres between the 1830s and the 1890s. 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. Madame Vestris produced burlesques at the Olympic Theatre beginning in 1831 with Olympic Revels by J. R. Planché.[23] Other authors of burlesques included H. J. Byron, G. R. Sims, F. C. Burnand, W. S. Gilbert and Fred Leslie.[24]

Sheet music from Faust up to Date

Programme: Ruy Blas and the Blasé Roué

Victorian burlesque related to and in part derived from traditional English pantomime "with the addition of gags and 'turns'."[25] In the early burlesques, following the example of ballad opera, the words of the songs were written to popular music;[26] later burlesques mixed the music of opera, operetta, music hall and 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.[27]

Some of the most frequent subjects for burlesque were the plays of Shakespeare and grand opera.[28][29] The dialogue was generally written in rhyming couplets, liberally peppered with bad puns.[25] A typical example from a burlesque of Macbeth: Macbeth and Banquo enter under an umbrella, and the witches greet them with "Hail! hail! hail!" Macbeth asks Banquo, "What mean these salutations, noble thane?" and is told, "These showers of 'Hail' anticipate your 'reign'".[29] 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.[25]

Burlesque became the speciality of certain London theatres, including the Gaiety and Royal Strand Theatre from the 1860s to the early 1890s. Until the 1870s, burlesques were often one-act pieces running less than an hour and using pastiches and parodies of popular songs, opera arias and other music that the audience would readily recognize. The house stars included Nellie Farren, John D'Auban, Edward Terry and Fred Leslie.[24][30] From about 1880, Victorian burlesques grew longer, until they were a whole evening's entertainment rather than part of a double- or triple-bill.[24] In the early 1890s, these burlesques went out of fashion in London, and the focus of the Gaiety and other burlesque theatres changed to the new more wholesome but less literary genre of Edwardian musical comedy.[31]

American burlesque

Main article: American burlesque

Advertisement for a US burlesque troupe, 1898

American burlesque shows were originally an offshoot of Victorian burlesque. The English genre had been successfully staged in New York from the 1840s, and it was popularised by a visiting British burlesque troupe, Lydia Thompson and the "British Blondes", beginning in 1868.[32] New York burlesque shows soon incorporated elements and the structure of the popular minstrel shows. They consisted of three parts: first, songs and ribald comic sketches by low comedians; second, assorted olios and male acts, such as acrobats, magicians and solo singers; and third, chorus numbers and sometimes a burlesque in the English style on politics or a current play. The entertainment was usually concluded by an exotic dancer or a wrestling or boxing match.[33]

Gypsy Rose Lee

The entertainments were given in clubs and cabarets, as well as music halls and theatres. By the early 20th century, there were two national circuits of burlesque shows competing with the vaudeville circuit, as well as resident companies in New York, such as Minsky's at the Winter Garden.[33] The transition from burlesque on the old lines to striptease was gradual. At first, soubrettes showed off their figures while singing and dancing; some were less active but compensated by appearing in elaborate stage costumes.[34] The strippers gradually supplanted the singing and dancing soubrettes; by 1932 there were at least 150 strip principals in the US.[34] Star strippers included Sally Rand, Gypsy Rose Lee, Tempest Storm, Lili St. Cyr, Blaze Starr, Ann Corio and Margie Hart, who was celebrated enough to be mentioned in song lyrics by Lorenz Hart and Cole Porter.[34] By the late 1930s, burlesque shows would have up to six strippers supported by one or two comics and a master of ceremonies. Comics who appeared in burlesque early in their careers included Fanny Brice, Mae West, Eddie Cantor, Abbott and Costello, W. C. Fields, Jackie Gleason, Danny Thomas, Al Jolson, Bert Lahr, Phil Silvers, Sid Caesar, Danny Kaye, Red Skelton and Sophie Tucker.[34]

Michelle L'amour, 2005 Miss Exotic World

The uninhibited atmosphere of burlesque establishments owed much to the free flow of alcoholic liquor, and the enforcement of Prohibition was a serious blow.[35] In New York, Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia clamped down on burlesque, effectively putting it out of business by the early 1940s.[36] It lingered on elsewhere in the US, increasingly neglected, and by the 1970s, with nudity commonplace in theatres, reached "its final shabby demise."[37] Both during its declining years and afterwards there have been films that sought to capture American burlesque, including Lady of Burlesque (1943),[38] Striporama (1953),[39] and The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968).[40]

The "Stage Door Johnnies", Burlesque Hall of Fame, Las Vegas, 2011

In recent decades, there has been a revival of burlesque, sometimes called Neo-Burlesque,[36] on both sides of the Atlantic.[41] A new generation, nostalgic for the spectacle and perceived glamour of the classic American burlesque, developed a cult following for the art in the early 1990s at Billie Madley's "Cinema" and later at the "Dutch Weismann's Follies" revues in New York City, "The Velvet Hammer" troupe in Los Angeles and The Shim-Shamettes in New Orleans. Ivan Kane's Royal Jelly Burlesque Nightclub at Revel Atlantic City opened in 2012.[42] Notable Neo-burlesque performers include Dita Von Teese, and Julie Atlas Muz and Agitprop groups like Cabaret Red Light incorporated political satire and performance art into their burlesque shows. Annual conventions such as the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival and the Miss Exotic World Pageant are held.[43][44]

See also

Cabaret

Nightclub act

Striptease

Notes

A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner.[1] The person who performs a striptease is commonly known as a "stripper" or an "exotic" or "burlesque" dancer.

The origins of striptease as a performance art are disputed and various dates and occasions have been given from ancient Babylonia to 20th century America. The term "striptease" was first recorded in 1932. In Western countries, the venues where stripteases are performed on a regular basis are now usually called strip clubs, though they may be performed in venues such as pubs (especially in the United Kingdom), theaters and music halls. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at a bachelor or bachelorette party. In addition to providing adult entertainment, stripping can be a form of sexual play between partners. This can be done as an impromptu event or – perhaps for a special occasion – with elaborate planning involving fantasy wear, music, special lighting, practiced dance moves, or unrehearsed dance moves.

Striptease involves a slow, sensuous undressing. The stripper may prolong the undressing with delaying tactics such as the wearing of additional clothes or putting clothes or hands in front of just undressed body parts such as the breasts or genitalia. The emphasis is on the act of undressing along with sexually suggestive movement, rather than the state of being undressed. In the past, the performance often finished as soon as the undressing was finished, though recently strippers may continue dancing in the nude.[2][3] The costume the stripper wears before disrobing can form part of the act. In some cases, audience interaction can form part of the act, with the audience urging the stripper to remove more clothing, or the stripper approaching the audience to interact with them.

Striptease and public nudity have been subject to legal and cultural prohibitions and other aesthetic considerations and taboos. Restrictions on venues may be through venue licensing requirements and constraints and a wide variety of national and local laws. These laws vary considerably around the world, and even between different parts of the same country. H. L. Mencken is credited with coining the word ecdysiast – from "ecdysis", meaning "to molt" – in response to a request from striptease artist Georgia Sothern, for a "more dignified" way to refer to her profession. Gypsy Rose Lee, one of the most famous striptease artists of all time, approved of the term.[4][5][6]

History

A 1720 depiction of a striptease[7]

The origins of striptease as a performance art are disputed and various dates and occasions have been given from ancient Babylonia to 20th century America. The term "striptease" was first recorded in 1932.[8]

There is a stripping aspect in the ancient Sumerian myth of the descent of the goddess Inanna into the Underworld (or Kur). At each of the seven gates, she removed an article of clothing or a piece of jewelry. As long as she remained in hell, the earth was barren. When she returned, fecundity abounded. Some believe this myth was embodied in the dance of the seven veils of Salome, who danced for King Herod, as mentioned in the New Testament in Matthew 14:6 and Mark 6:21-22. However, although the Bible records Salome's dance, the first mention of her removing seven veils occurs in Oscar Wilde's play Salome, in 1893.

In ancient Greece, the lawgiver Solon established several classes of prostitutes in the late 6th century BC. Among these classes of prostitutes were the auletrides: female dancers, acrobats, and musicians, noted for dancing naked in an alluring fashion in front of audiences of men.[9][10][11] In ancient Rome, dance featuring stripping was part of the entertainments (ludi) at the Floralia, an April festival in honor of the goddess Flora.[12] Empress Theodora, wife of 6th-century Byzantine emperor Justinian is reported by several ancient sources to have started in life as a courtesan and actress who performed in acts inspired from mythological themes and in which she disrobed "as far as the laws of the day allowed". She was famous for her striptease performance of Leda and the Swan.[13] From these accounts, it appears that the practice was hardly exceptional nor new. It was, however, actively opposed by the Christian Church, which succeeded in obtaining statutes banning it in the following century. The degree to which these statutes were subsequently enforced is, of course, opened to question. What is certain is that no practice of the sort is reported in texts of the European Middle Ages.

An early version of striptease became popular in England at the time of the Restoration. A striptease was incorporated into the Restoration comedy The Rover, written by Aphra Behn in 1677. The stripper is a man; an English country gentleman who sensually undresses and goes to bed in a love scene. (However, the scene is played for laughs; the prostitute he thinks is going to bed with him robs him, and he ends up having to crawl out of the sewer.) The concept of striptease was also widely known, as can be seen in the reference to it in Thomas Otway's comedy The Soldier's Fortune (1681), where a character says: "Be sure they be lewd, drunken, stripping whores".[14]

Striptease became standard fare in the brothels of 18th century London, where the women, called "posture girls", would strip naked on tables for popular entertainment.[15]

La Fontaine plate, 1896

Striptease was also combined with music, as in the 1720 German translation of the French La Guerre D'Espagne (Cologne: Pierre Marteau, 1707), where a galant party of high aristocrats and opera singers entertain themselves with hunting, play and music in a three-day turn at a small château:

The dancers, to please their lovers the more, dropped their clothes and danced totally naked the nicest entrées and ballets; one of the princes directed the delightful music, and only the lovers were allowed to watch the performances.[16]

An Arabic custom, first noted by French colonialists and described by the French novelist Gustave Flaubert may have influenced the French striptease. The dances of the Ghawazee in North Africa and Egypt consisted of the erotic dance of the bee performed by a woman known as Kuchuk Hanem. In this dance, the performer disrobes as she searches for an imaginary bee trapped within her garments. It is likely that the women performing these dances did not do so in an indigenous context, but rather, in response to the demand for this type of entertainment.[17] Middle Eastern belly dance, also known as oriental dancing, was popularized in the United States after its introduction on the Midway at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago by a dancer known as Little Egypt.[18]

Some claim the origin of the modern striptease lies in Oscar Wilde's play Salome (play), in 1893. In the Dance of the Seven Veils, the female protagonist dances for King Herod and slowly removes her veils until she lies naked.[19] After Wilde's play and Richard Strauss's operatic version of the same, first performed in 1905, the erotic "dance of the seven veils" became a standard routine for dancers in opera, vaudeville, film and burlesque. A famous early practitioner was Maud Allan, who in 1907 gave a private performance for King Edward VII.

French tradition

Mata Hari. The most celebrated segment of her stage act was the progressive shedding of her clothing until she wore just a jeweled bra and some ornaments over her arms and head.

In the 1880s and 1890s, Parisian shows such as the Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergère were featuring attractive scantily clad women dancing and tableaux vivants. In this environment, an act in the 1890s featured a woman who slowly removed her clothes in a vain search for a flea crawling on her body. The People's Almanac credits the act as the origin of modern striptease.

In 1905, the notorious Dutch dancer Mata Hari, later shot as a spy by the French authorities during World War I, was an overnight success from the debut of her act at the Musée Guimet.[20] The most celebrated segment of her act was her progressive shedding of clothing until she wore just a jeweled bra and some ornaments over her arms and head but exposing her pubic region.[21] Another landmark performance was the appearance at the Moulin Rouge in 1907 of an actress called Germaine Aymos, who entered dressed only in three very small shells. In the 1920s and 1930s, Josephine Baker danced topless in the danse sauvage at the Folies, and other such performances were provided at the Tabarin. These shows were notable for their sophisticated choreography and often featuring the women in glitzy sequins and feathers. In his 1957 book Mythologies, semiotician Roland Barthes interpreted this Parisian striptease as a "mystifying spectacle", a "reassuring ritual" where "evil is advertised the better to impede and exorcise it".[22] By the 1960s "fully nude" shows were provided at such places as Le Crazy Horse Saloon.[23]

Duration: 2 minutes and 28 seconds.2:28

A video of a woman gradually undressing herself.

American tradition

Duration: 2 minutes and 22 seconds.2:22

Charmion in her disrobing act, 1901

In the United States, striptease started in traveling carnivals and burlesque theatres, and featured famous strippers such as Gypsy Rose Lee and Sally Rand. The vaudeville trapeze artist Charmion performed a "disrobing" act onstage as early as 1896, which was captured in the 1901 Edison film Trapeze Disrobing Act. Another milestone for modern American striptease is the possibly legendary show at Minsky's Burlesque in April 1925 that inspired the novel and film The Night They Raided Minsky's. Another performer, Hinda Wassau, claimed to have inadvertently invented the striptease in 1928 when her costume was shaken loose during a shimmy dance. Burlesque theatres in New York were prohibited from staging striptease performances in a legal ruling of 1937, leading to the decline of these "grindhouses" (named after the bump 'n grind entertainment on offer).[24] However many striptease stars were able to work in other cities and, eventually, nightclubs.

The 1960s saw a revival of striptease in the form of topless go-go dancing. This eventually merged with the older tradition of burlesque dancing. Carol Doda of the Condor Night Club in the North Beach section of San Francisco is given the credit of being the first topless go-go dancer.[25] The club opened in 1964 and Doda's première topless dance occurred on the evening of June 19 of that year.[26][27] The large lit sign in front of the club featured a picture of her with red lights on her breasts. The club went "bottomless" on September 3, 1969 and began the trend of explicit "full nudity" in American striptease dancing.[28] which was picked up by other establishments such as Apartment A Go Go.[29] San Francisco is also the location of the notorious Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre. Originally an X-rated movie theater this striptease club pioneered lap dancing in 1980, and was a major force in popularizing it in strip clubs on a nationwide and eventually worldwide basis.[30]

British tradition

The Windmill Theatre in 2009

In Britain in the 1930s, when Laura Henderson began presenting nude shows at the Windmill Theatre, London, censorship regulations prohibited naked girls from moving while appearing on-stage. To get around the prohibition, the models appeared in stationary tableaux vivants.[31][32] The Windmill girls also toured other London and provincial theatres, sometimes using ingenious devices such as rotating ropes to move their bodies round, though strictly speaking, staying within the letter of the law by not moving of their own volition. Another example of the way the shows stayed within the law was the fan dance, in which a naked dancer's body was concealed by her fans and those of her attendants, until the end of her act in when she posed nude for a brief interval whilst standing still.

In 1942, Phyllis Dixey formed her own company of girls and rented the Whitehall Theatre in London to put on a review called The Whitehall Follies.

By the 1950s, touring striptease acts were used to attract audiences to the dying music halls. Arthur Fox started his touring shows in 1948 and Paul Raymond started his in 1951. Paul Raymond later leased the Doric Ballroom in Soho and opened his private members club, the Raymond Revuebar, in 1958. This was one of the first of the private striptease members clubs in Britain.

A stripper before taking off all her clothing (left) and afterwards dancing fully naked except for shoes (right)

In the 1960s, changes in the law brought about a boom of strip clubs in Soho with "fully nude" dancing and audience participation.[33] Pubs were also used as a venue, most particularly in the East End with a concentration of such venues in the district of Shoreditch. This pub striptease seems in the main to have evolved from topless go-go dancing.[34] Though often a target of local authority harassment, some of these pubs survive to the present day. An interesting custom in these pubs is that the strippers walk round and collect money from the customers in a beer jug before each individual performance. This custom appears to have originated in the late 1970s when topless go-go dancers first started collecting money from the audience as the fee for going "fully nude".[34] Private dances of a more raunchy nature are sometimes available in a separate area of the pub.[3]

Japan

Striptease became popular in Japan after the end of World War II. When entrepreneur Shigeo Ozaki saw Gypsy Rose Lee perform, he started his own striptease revue in Tokyo's Shinjuku neighborhood. During the 1950s, Japanese "strip shows" became more sexually explicit and less dance-oriented, until they were eventually simply live sex shows.[35]

Today

Modern striptease acts typically follow the sequence established in Burlesque: commencing in a dress, baring the upper body first, and continuing to a final reveal of the pelvic region. The traditional performance ended at this point, but modern acts usually continue with a nude dance section. This last element forms the major part of the act in small strip clubs and bars, but performances in larger venues (such as those done by feature dancers) usually place as much weight on the dance in the earlier sections. Striptease dance routines are usually improvised, except for male strippers who generally choreograph their performances and focus as much on the earlier sections as the later.[36]

Recently pole dancing has come to dominate the world of striptease. In the late 20th century, pole dancing was practised in exotic dance clubs in Canada. These clubs grew up to become a thriving sector of the economy. Canadian style pole dancing, table dancing and lap dancing, organized by multi-national corporations such as Spearmint Rhino, was exported from North America to (among other countries) the United Kingdom, the nations of central Europe, Russia and Australia. In London, England a raft of such so-called "lap dancing clubs" grew up in the 1990s, featuring pole dancing on stage and private table dancing, though, despite media misrepresentation, lap-dancing in the sense of bodily contact was forbidden by law.[37]

"Feature shows" are used to generate interest from potential customers who otherwise would not visit the establishment but know the performer from other outlets. A headlining star of a striptease show is referred to as a feature dancer, and is often a performer with credits such as contest titles or appearances in adult films or magazines. The decades-old practice continued through the late 2000s (decade) to the present day with high-profile adult film performers such as Jenna Haze and Teagan Presley scheduling feature shows through the US.

In December 2006, a Norwegian court ruled that striptease is an art form and made strip clubs exempt from value added tax.[38]

New Burlesque

Main article: Neo-Burlesque

In the latter 1990s, a number of solo performers and dance groups emerged to create Neo-burlesque, a revival of the classic American burlesque striptease of the early half of the 20th century. New Burlesque focuses on dancing, costumes and entertainment (which may include comedy and singing) and generally eschews full nudity or toplessness. Some burlesquers of the past have become instructors and mentors to New Burlesque performers such as The Velvet Hammer Burlesque and The World Famous Pontani Sisters.[citation needed] The pop group Pussycat Dolls began as a New Burlesque troupe.

Male strippers

Main article: Male stripper

The Chippendales, a group of male strippers

Until the 1970s, strippers in Western cultures were almost invariably female, performing to male audiences. Since then, male strippers have also become common. Before the 1970s, dancers of both sexes appeared largely in underground clubs or as part of a theatre experience, but the practice eventually became common enough on its own. Well-known troupes of male strippers include Dreamboys in the UK and Chippendales in the US. Male strippers have become a popular option to have at a bachelorette party.

Private dancing

Main article: Lap dance

A variation on striptease is private dancing, which often involves lap dancing or contact dancing. Here the performers, in addition to stripping for tips, also offer "private dances" which involve more attention for individual audience members. Variations include private dances like table dancing where the performer dances on or by customer's table rather than the customer being seated in a couch.

Striptease and the law

Main article: Legal status of striptease

From ancient times to the present day, striptease was considered a form of public nudity and subject to legal and cultural prohibitions on moral and decency grounds. Such restrictions have been embodied in venue licensing regulations, and national and local laws, including liquor licensing restrictions.

A neo-burlesque stripper at the Miss Exotic World Pageant in 2006, wearing pasties as required in some U.S. jurisdictions

United States

Numerous U.S. jurisdictions have enacted laws regulating the striptease. One of the more notorious local ordinances is San Diego Municipal Code 33.3610,[39] specific and strict in response to allegations of corruption among local officials[40] which included contacts in the nude entertainment industry. Among its provisions is the "six-foot rule", copied by other municipalities, that requires that dancers maintain a six-foot (1.8 m) distance while performing.

Other rules forbid "full nudity". In some parts of the U.S., laws forbid the exposure of female (though not male) nipples, which must be covered by pasties.[2] In early 2010, the city of Detroit banned fully exposed breasts in its strip clubs, following the example of Houston, where a similar ordinance was implemented in 2008.[41] The city council has since softened the rules, eliminating the requirement for pasties[42] but keeping other restrictions. Both cities were reputed to have rampant occurrences of illicit activity linked to striptease establishments.[43][44] For some jurisdictions, even certain postures can be considered "indecent" (such as spreading the legs).[45][self-published source]

United Kingdom

In Britain in the 1930s, when the Windmill Theatre, London, began to present nude shows, British law prohibited performers moving whilst in a state of nudity.[46] To get around that rule, models appeared naked in stationary tableaux vivants. To keep within the law, sometimes devices were used which rotated the models without them moving themselves. Fan dances were another device used to keep performances within the law. These allowed a naked dancer's body to be concealed by her fans or those of her attendants, until the end of an act, when she posed naked for a brief interval whilst standing stock still, and the lights went out or the curtain dropped to allow her to leave the stage. Changes in the law in the 1960s brought about a boom of strip clubs in Soho, with "fully nude" dancing and audience participation.[33] Following the introduction of the Policing and Crime Act 2009, a local authority licence is required for venues in England and Wales (and later Scotland) where live nude entertainment takes place more than 11 times a year.[47][48]

Iceland

The legal status of striptease in Iceland was changed in 2010, when Iceland outlawed striptease.[49] Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Iceland's prime minister said: "The Nordic countries are leading the way on women's equality, recognizing women as equal citizens rather than commodities for sale."[50] The politician behind the bill, Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir, said: "It is not acceptable that women or people in general are a product to be sold."[50]

In popular culture

Film

Rita Hayworth begins her striptease in Gilda

1940s–1950s

Mary Martin reprised her famous fur coat striptease of "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" in the 1940 movie Love Thy Neighbor and the 1946 Cole Porter biopic Night and Day.[51]

Lady of Burlesque (known in the UK as Striptease Lady) (1943) based on the novel The G-String Murders (1941), by famous striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee, stars Barbara Stanwyck as a stripper who gets involved in the investigation of murders at a burlesque house. A play by Gypsy Rose Lee entitled The Naked Genius (1943) was the inspiration for Doll Face (1945), a musical about a burlesque star (Vivian Blaine) who wants to become a legitimate actress.

Gilda (1946), showcases one of the most famous stripteases in cinematic history, performed by Rita Hayworth to "Put the Blame on Mame", though in the event she removes just her gloves, before the act is terminated by a jealous admirer. Murder at the Windmill (1949) (US title: Mystery at the Burlesque), directed by Val Guest is set at the Windmill Theatre, London and features Diana Decker, Jon Pertwee and Jimmy Edwards. Salome (1953) once again features Rita Hayworth doing a striptease act; this time as the famous biblical stripper Salome, performing the Dance of the Seven Veils. According to Hayworth's biographers this erotic dance routine was "the most demanding of her entire career", necessitating "endless takes and retakes".[52] Expresso Bongo (1959) is a British film which features striptease at a club in Soho, London.

Natalie Wood as Gypsy Rose Lee in the film version of the stage musical Gypsy

1960s–1970s

In 1960, the film Beat Girl cast Christopher Lee as a sleazy Soho strip club owner who gets stabbed to death by a stripper. Gypsy (1962), features Natalie Wood as the famous burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee in her memorable rendition of "Let Me Entertain You". It was re-made for TV in 1993 Starring Bette Midler as Mama Rose and Cynthia Gibb as Gypsy Rose Lee. The Stripper (1963) featured Gypsy Rose Lee, herself, giving a trademark performance in the title role. A documentary film, Dawn in Piccadilly, was produced in 1962 at the Windmill Theatre. In 1964, We Never Closed (British Movietone) depicted the last night of the Windmill Theatre. In 1965, the feature film Viva Maria! starred Brigitte Bardot and Jeanne Moreau as two girls who perform a striptease act and get involved in revolutionary politics in South America.

Also produced in 1965 was Carousella, a documentary about Soho striptease artistes, directed by John Irvin. Another documentary film, which looked at the unglamorous side of striptease, is the 1966 film called,"Strip", filmed at the Phoenix Club in Soho. Secrets of a Windmill Girl (1966) featured Pauline Collins and April Wilding and was directed by Arnold L. Miller. The film has some fan dancing scenes danced by an ex-Windmill Theatre artiste. The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) gives a possibly legendary account of the birth of striptease at Minsky's Burlesque theatre in New York. In 1968, the sci-fi film Barbarella depicted Jane Fonda stripping in zero-gravity conditions whilst wearing her spacesuit. Marlowe (1969) stars Rita Moreno playing a stripper, in the finale of the movie simultaneously delivering dialogue with the title character and performing a vigorous dance on stage. The Beatles movie Magical Mystery Tour has a scene where all the men on the tour bus go to a gentleman's club and watch a woman strip on stage.

Ichijo's Wet Lust (1972), Japanese director Tatsumi Kumashiro's award-winning Roman porno film featured the country's most famous stripper, Sayuri Ichijō, starring as herself.[53] A British film production of 1976 is the film Get 'Em Off, produced by Harold Baim. Alain Bernardin the owner of the Crazy Horse in Paris directed the film,"Crazy Horse de Paris" [1977]. Paul Raymond's Erotica (1981) stars Brigitte Lahaie and Diana Cochran and was directed by Brian Smedley-Aston. The Dance routines were filmed at the Raymond Revuebar Theatre.

1980s–1990s

In addition to lesser-known videos such as A Night at the Revuebar (1983), the 1980s also featured mainstream films involving stripping. These included Flashdance (1983), which told the story of blue-collar worker Alexandra (Alex) Owens (Jennifer Beals), who works as an exotic dancer in a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania bar at night and at a steel mill as a welder during the day. Stripping also was part of "genre" films, such as horror thriller Fear City (1984), by Abel Ferrara, about a mass-murderer who terrorizes dancers working at a seedy strip club in Times Square, New York City. The erotic drama 9½ Weeks (1986) depicted Kim Basinger stripping to the tune of "You Can Leave Your Hat On" by Joe Cocker. Stripped to Kill (1987) was an exploitation film from Roger Corman about a lady cop who poses as a stripper to catch a murderer; which was followed by a sequel of the same name. Ladykillers (1988), was a 'whodunnit' murder mystery involving the murders of male strippers by an unknown female assailant. Blaze (1989) features Lolita Davidovitch as notorious stripper Blaze Starr. Starr herself appears in the film in a cameo role.

Massive Attack : Eleven Promos. "Be Thankful For What You've Got" (1992), directed by Baillie Walsh, includes one dance routine by Ritzy Sparkle at the Raymond Revuebar Theatre. Exotica (1994), directed by Atom Egoyan, is set in a Canadian lap-dance club, and portrays a man's (Bruce Greenwood) obsession with a schoolgirl stripper named Christina (Mia Kirshner). Showgirls (1995) was directed by Paul Verhoeven and starred Elizabeth Berkley and Gina Gershon. Striptease (1996), was an adaptation of the novel starring Demi Moore. Barb Wire (1996), starred Pamela Anderson (of Baywatch fame), who performs a wet striptease. The Full Monty (1997) is a story of British ex-steel workers who form a Chippendales-style dance revue and decide to strip naked to make an extra buck. It featured songs including an updated version of David Rose's big hit The Stripper and Tom Jones's version of "You Can Leave Your Hat On". The Players Club (1998) starred LisaRaye as a girl who becomes a stripper to earn enough money to enter college and study journalism.

2000s–present

Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000) is a feature film starring Daryl Hannah. The female cast of the film researched the film by dancing at strip clubs and created their parts and their storylines to be as realistic as possible. The Raymond Revuebar the Art of Striptease (2002) is a documentary, directed by Simon Weitzman. Los Debutantes (2003) is a Chilean film set in a strip-club in Santiago. In the Cradle 2 the Grave a 2003 action film a woman named Daria, played by Gabrielle Union performs a striptease to distract a man named Odion, played by Michael Jace from the infiltration of a night club owned by a crime lord named Jump Chambers, played by Chi McBride. Portraits of a Naked Lady Dancer (2004) is a documentary, directed by Deborah Rowe. In Closer (2004), Natalie Portman plays Alice, a young stripper just arrived in London from America. Crazy Horse Le Show (2004) features dance routines from the Crazy Horse, Paris. Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) portrays the erotic dance routines and nude tableau-vivants which featured at the Windmill Theatre before and during World War II. The film Factotum (2005) (by Norwegian director Bent Hamer) concludes with Matt Dillon (in the role of Henry Chinaski - an alter ego of Charles Bukowski, who wrote the novel on which the film is based) having an artistic epiphany whilst watching a stripper in a strip club. I Know Who Killed Me (2007) stars Lindsay Lohan as Dakota Moss, an alluring stripper involved in the machinations of a serial killer, and features a long striptease sequence at a strip club. Planet Terror (2007) stars Rose McGowan as Cherry Darling, a beautiful go-go dancer who aspires to quit her job. In 2009 a DVD called, "Crazy Horse Paris" featuring Dita Von Teese was released. Magic Mike (2012) features a male stripper Mike Lane (Channing Tatum) guiding a younger male stripper in his first steps into stripping in clubs.

Television

BBC Panorama (1964) episode produced for the last night of the Windmill Theatre in 1964. Richard Dimbleby interviews Sheila van Damm.

Get Smart (1967) CONTROL scientist Dr. Steele also works as a stripper, with her lab located at the striptease theatre.

"If it Moves it's Rude-The Story of the Windmill Theatre" (1969). A BBC television documentary on the Windmill Theatre.

For the Record: Paul Raymond (1969), the British stripclub owner Paul Raymond told his own story, on LWT.

Peek a Boo (1978), alternative name The One and Only Phyllis Dixey, stars Lesley-Anne Down, Christopher Murney, Michael Elphick, Elaine Paige and Patricia Hodge. Drama documentary on Phyllis Dixey.

'Allo 'Allo! Helga frequently does a striptease in front of General Von Klinkerhoffen.

Neighbours (1985) The character of Daphne is originally a stripper at Des's bucks party, and eventually goes on to marry him.

Married... with Children (1987–1997) often featured Al Bundy, Jefferson D'Arcy, and the NO MA'AM crew spending a night at the Nudie Bar.

Soho Stories (1996) BBC2. A series of 12 documentary programmes screened from October 28, 1996 to November 20, 1996. Some programmes featured the Raymond Revuebar Theatre.

Humor es...los comediantes (1999) Televisa. In her first appearance on this series, Aida Pierce portrayed her elderly alter ego, Virginola, who drinks a bottle of youth serum, and then performs a striptease, taking off her sweater, skirt, scarf, and even her wig, revealing a black sheer bodysuit and pants...and Pierce herself. Pierce began cohosting the series the next year.

The Sopranos (1999–2007). Business was often conducted at the Bada Bing strip club.

Normal, Ohio (2000)

Stripsearch (2001–), an ongoing Australian reality television show which centers around the training of male strippers.

Sex in the 70s-The King of Soho (2005), ITN. A television documentary on Paul Raymond.A longer version of the documentary was produced in 2008 after the death of Paul Raymond under the title,"Soho Sex King-The Paul Raymond Story".

in Sos mi vida (2006), there were two striptease scenes which performed by Natalia Oreiro and Facundo Arana.

Degrassi: The Next Generation (2007), In the two part season 6 finale titled Don't You Want Me, Alex Nunez resorts to stripping after her mother and herself do not have enough money to pay the rent on their apartment.

Various episodes of the Law & Order series have the cast conducting interviews in strip clubs.

True Stories: Best Undressed (2010) A documentary about the Miss Nude Australia Contest which is for dancers. Partly filmed from the Crazy Horse Revue, Adelaide, Australia. Screened 22-6-2010 on Channel 4.

Confessions of a Male Stripper (2013), The Dreamboys were featured in an hour-long documentary special on Channel 4 exploring the life of male strippers.

Theatre

Mary Martin became a star with her fur coat striptease performances of "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" in Cole Porter's Broadway musical Leave It to Me![51]

The Full Monty (2000) is an Americanized stage adaptation of the 1997 British film of the same name, in which a group of unemployed male steelworkers put together a strip act at a local club.

Jekyll and Hyde (1997). The character of Lucy Harris (originally portrayed by Linda Eder) works as a prostitute and stripper in a small London club called The Red Rat, where she meets a multi-dimension man named Doctor Henry Jekyll, who turns into his evil persona Mr. Edward Hyde. Lucy performs the song ‘Bring on the Men’ during a show at the Red Rat (which was later replaced with ‘Good ‘n’ Evil’ in the Broadway production, some claiming ‘Bring on the Men’ was too ‘risqué’.).

Ladies Night is a New Zealand stage comedy about unemployed male workers who put on a strip show at a club as a way to raise some money. A version was also written for the United Kingdom. There are many parallels with The Full Monty, although Ladies Night predates that film.

Barely Phyllis is a play about Phyllis Dixey which was first staged at the Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield in 2009.

See also