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Burlesque

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]

For other uses, see Burlesque (disambiguation).

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. TorrMeyer 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]

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

Cabaret

Nightclub act

Striptease

(1999) A Glossary of Literary Terms. Seventh edition. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College Publishers

Abrams, M. H.

Adams, William Davenport (1904) London: Chatto & Windus

A dictionary of the drama

Allan, Kirsty L. 'A Guide to Classical Burlesque – Funny Ha Ha or Funny Peculiar?'

Allan, Kirsty L. and Charms, G. 'Diamonds From the Rough – The Darker Side of American Burlesque striptease'

Allen, Robert Clyde (1991). Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.  0-8078-1960-3

ISBN

Baldwin, Michelle. Burlesque and the New Bump-n-Grind

Briggeman, Jane (2009) Burlesque: A Living History. BearManor Media, 2009.  978-1-59393-469-9

ISBN

DiNardo, Kelly. "Gilded Lili: Lili St. Cyr and the Striptease Mystique"; Archive of articles, video, pictures and interviews about neo-burlesque.

. (1957) Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. Princeton: Princeton University Press

Frye, Northrop

Hedin, Thomas F. (2001) The Petite Commande of 1664: Burlesque in the gardens of Versailles, The Art Bulletin

. (1903) Good Old Gaiety: An Historiette & Remembrance London: Gaity Theatre Co

Hollingshead, John

(2006), The Oxford Dictionary of Music, Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-861459-4

Kennedy, Michael

Kenrick, John.

A History of The Musical Burlesque

Sanders, Andrew (1994). The Short Oxford History of English Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press.  0-19-811201-7

ISBN

Stanton, Sarah and Banham, Martin (1996). Cambridge Paperback Guide to Theatre, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  978-0-521-44654-9

ISBN

Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, Oxford: Oxford University Press.  0-19-869164-5

ISBN

Wilson, Frederic Woodbridge (1992), 'Burlesque' in The , ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7

New Grove Dictionary of Opera

Zeidman, Irving: The American Burlesque Show. Hawthorn Books, Inc 1967,  192808, OCLC 493184629

OCLC

From the collection of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University

Ruckus! American Entertainments at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

– slideshow by Life magazine

Classic Burlesque: We Aim to Tease

at Musicals101.com, The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre, TV and Film

History of Burlesque

Allan, K., The Curious Adventures of Kittie

"A Guide to Classical Burlesque – Funny Ha Ha or Funny Peculiar?"

The History of Burlesque