Is burlesque as scary as it looks? Corset is!

[lemonagency]

It’s a grey, drizzling January morning on the kind of day that never sees any light.
But downstairs, in the Volupte Lounge in Central London, it doesn’t matter. Because in here, it’s eternal night.
The curtains are drawn, the lights change (*link removed*) in sequence from purple to orange to shocking pink and even though it’s only 11 in the morning, the two dancers I am due to meet are pinched into corsets with feathers, sequins and flowers.
The look here is sleek hair sprayed so well into place it barely moves and the firm sweep of a thick, Forties-style eyebrow. Behind the bar, an attractive girl keeps her curls in place with a hairnet as she prepares the glasses and bottles for opening time.
Volupte is a club specialising in (*link removed*) burlesque, and I’m here to try out the latest dance craze.
Perhaps it’s the runaway success of the glamorous drama Mad Men set in Sixties America, or the growing popularity of risque burlesque artists such as Dita Von Teese; (*link removed*) or maybe it’s the latest offering from Hollywood, a film starring Christina Aguilera simply called Burlesque.

 

[Sean]

Wow . . . .

 

[LGH1288]

Wow . . . .

Hi Sean -- Really annoying, eh? LG

 

[Shiardyeo]

Wikipedia says:

Burlesque is a humorous theatrical entertainment involving parody and sometimes grotesque exaggeration.The term burlesque may be traced to folk poetry and theater and apparently derived from the late Latin burra ('trifle').

The origin of the term 'burlesque' is contentious with most citing the French burlesque, which was, in turn, borrowed from the Italian burlesco, derived from the Spanish burla ('joke') as its root. Its literal meaning is to 'send up'. In Britain 'burlesque' in verse and prose was first popularised in the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer's satirical The Canterbury Tales. Later many Irish and British satirical writers came to prominence with political and social burlesques in the 18th and 19th centuries such as William Makepeace Thackeray...
In 20th century America the word became associated with a variety show in which striptease is the chief attraction. Although the striptease originated at the Moulin Rouge in 1890s Paris and subsequently became a part of some burlesque across Europe, only in American culture is the term burlesque closely associated with the striptease.[8] These shows were not considered 'theatre' and were regarded as 'low' by the vaudevillians, actors and showgirls of neighbouring theatreland.

Fascinating.

 

[VanillaCreme]

Oh my gosh, I love Burlesque.

 

[Danielle]

i really like burlesque as well....

 

[Dessa]

Lol I love this soo much.

 

[tangerinedream]

No striptease, but still reminiscent of vaudeville.

Plus, she's in a teddy. ;-)

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