Thread: Burlesque History Research: non-comedy acts in burlesque shows...

I'm doing a bit of research about the history of burlesque and have come a little unstuck.

Researching Lili St. Cyr, it's clear that her acts often had a comedy thread throughout - from her "flying g-string" to making love with a parrot.

But then, researching Sally Rand, I've come a little unstuck in understanding how her acts came to be seen on/connected with burlesque stages.

This (somewhat unreliable) Geocities page suggests that Sally Rand made the move from chorus-girl to leading striptease artist in order to make more money during the difficult American Depression era.

"Sometime in her late 20's, the ever resourceful Sally, having dropped out of Columbia University, when the depression set in, got the idea that she could increase her fame (and not incidentally her bank account) by combining a talent for artistic dance with the always present demand on the part of hormone driven members of the male sex for a glimpse of feminine pulchritude."

Does anyone have a more reliable source for this statement?

It's clear that her acts caused some controversy for being "lewd", as did many of the old theatrical burlesques - could this be the cross-over?

Would Sally Rand's acts have been deemed comedic at the time they were performed, but the humour is lost on a modern audience?

Did Sally Rand ever describe herself as a burlesque performer?

By which means did Sally Rand come to be considered as "burlesque"?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MnA0sEetXM"]YouTube - Sally Rand dances with a very beautiful Balloon[/ame]

In a similar vein, American artist [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loie_Fuller"]Loie Fuller[/ame] crossed over from burlesque theatre into extravagant dance performances... Perhaps Vicky Butterfly will know; were her serpentine acts ever performed within the framework of a burlesque show, or were they always of a different performance world?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIrnFrDXjlk"]YouTube - Danse Serpentine - Loie Fuller[/ame]

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The Columbia University business is misleading, makes it look as though Sally came out of NY, when she was from Missouri. Sally's story is simple--she made a bunch of movies, ran around Hollywood in the 20's, got stranded in Chicago, put together her act, crashed a pre-opening party at the World's Fair in '33 as Lady Godiva and became a star. There are a few interesting twists in there, but that's the jist. As Sally's nephew, I don't recall Sally ever identifying herself as Burlesque , but she certainly played the circuit, and I don't imagine she cared all that much how they typed her so long as folks knew her act was not, per se, a bump and grind show.
As for comedy, I don't think that her fan or bubble acts were comedic at all, although they had charm, and charm has humor built in. Her Nude Ranch activities couldn't be thought of as less than funny, though.

Hi hcbeck,

Welcome to the fourms! Thank-you so much for your knowledgable and rare insight. When speaking publicly, I believe it's very important to know your subject area inside out - I spotted I had a bit of a hole in my knowledge, so threw it out there to find help with filling it in. This is really useful. x

awesome chat- I even enjoyed the thread argument under the Loie Fuller video. The movement is fabulous- can't see where the costume ends and begins which is beautiful.
Great work in bringing this to peoples attention Beatrix and Sally Rand's NEPHEW replying. awesome!!

Oh my goodness! Sally Rand's balloon dance ; possibly one of the most graceful, beautiful, elegant performances i have ever seen!

Well, I'm not sure what you mean about within the framework of the shows?

Skirt dances and Serpentine dances are similar in many ways, and the Serpentines were not un-erotic for their time due to her experiments with lighting innovations... and I suppose it's a matter of opinion how 'burlesque' you consider the shows of the Parisian stage at that time...

But I think entertainment was just slightly different then: I think she was probably seen more as a speciality/variety act and a dance pioneer, there wasn't such a need to categorise performers I guess.

Isadora Duncan used to perform on the music hall stage too, but I'm not sure that makes her a music hall performer. The main outlets for modern/expressive dance back then seem to have been recitals and the popular stage. Recitals seem to have been geared towards the patronage system, so I'm guessing the crossover was fairly financial in motivation?


It always surprises me that there aren't more contemporary dancers working in variety today: patronage and recitals don't seem to be the lucrative fields they once were...

Sorry, rambling on!

Vicky Bxx

Was burlesque even recognised as a separate genre back then? Could it be a case of historical revisionism, putting labels on things that were a bit more fluid and freeform?

(My taste in acts tend to blur the lines between performance art and burlesque so this discussion is rather interesting!)