Burlesque - DPChallenge Forums

09/17/2010 09:54:45 AM · #1

Burlesque is an artistic composition that, for the sake of laughter, vulgarizes lofty material or treats ordinary material with mock dignity - a ludicrous or mocking treatment of a solemn subject.

09/17/2010 10:09:41 AM · #2

Sounds like my kind of challenge, though I can't help but associate the term burlesque with scantily clad ladies performing on stage.

09/17/2010 10:17:24 AM · #3

Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:

Sounds like my kind of challenge, though I can't help but associate the term burlesque with scantily clad ladies performing on stage.

Yes, but burlesque shows generally fit the above definition.... the nude chorus is merely part of the mocking and it helps sell tickets.

09/17/2010 10:24:52 AM · #4

I'd wonder if in voting, anything that did not fit the showgirl/striptease idea would be blasted with low votes as DNMC. Perhaps there is another way of describing it?

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

09/17/2010 10:41:59 AM · #5

Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:

I'd wonder if in voting, anything that did not fit the showgirl/striptease idea would be blasted with low votes as DNMC. Perhaps there is another way of describing it?

Seeing that DPC voters tend to vote higher for landscapes and water drops and bug macros than for nudes, I don't see that being an issue... LOL

Strikeslip

Canon EOS-5D

09/17/2010 10:53:47 AM · #6

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:

...for the sake of laughter, vulgarizes lofty material.... a ludicrous or mocking treatment of a solemn subject....

I would think this might annoy the many self-proclaimed saints here at DPC, LOL!
:-D

09/17/2010 11:11:44 AM · #7

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

I would think this might annoy the many self-proclaimed saints here at DPC, LOL!
:-D

Sound like it's right up your alley!

KarenNfld

09/17/2010 11:12:13 AM · #8

Noooooooooooo naked girls!!

09/17/2010 11:15:40 AM · #9

Originally posted by KarenNfld:

Noooooooooooo naked girls!!

I don't need nekkid girls to mock lofty material.

09/17/2010 11:26:45 AM · #10

Originally posted by KarenNfld:

Noooooooooooo naked girls!!

Naked girls drinking from wine glasses. Now everyone is happy.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

09/17/2010 11:31:11 AM · #11

A nice Pinot Noir for the ladies? Or perhaps Madams would prefer the Cabernet Sauvignon?

Citadel

Nikon D7500

09/17/2010 11:43:05 AM · #12

A little Chelsea Dagger anyone? :)

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEXHeTcxQy4

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

09/17/2010 12:03:47 PM · #13

According to Wiki, the history of burlesque as a genre:

Originally posted by Wikipedia:

History

Burlesque originated around the beginning of the Victorian era, when the social rules of established aristocracy and working-class society clashed. The genre often mocked such established entertainment forms as opera, Shakespearean drama and ballet. The burlesque was a logical descendant of ballad opera and other forms of comic musical entertainments.
Madame Vestris produced burlesques at the Olympic Theatre beginning in 1831 with Olympic Revels by J. R. PlanchÃ©. In the early burlesques, the words of the songs were written to popular music in the same way that had been done earlier in The Beggar's Opera. Later in the Victorian era, burlesque mixed operetta, music hall and revue, and some of the large-scale burlesque spectacles were known as extravaganzas.[1] W. S. Gilbert wrote several burlesques early in his career, including Dulcamara, or the Little Duck and the Great Quack (1866), La VivandiÃ¨re, or, True to the Corps! (1867) and Robert the Devil (1868). In the 1870s, Lydia Thompson's burlesque troupe, with Willie Edouin, became famous for their burlesques, by such authors as H. B. Farnie and Robert Reece, both in Britain and the U.S.

Burlesque became the specialty of London's Gaiety Theatre and Royal Strand Theatre from the 1860s to the early 1890s. In the 1860s and 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. Beginning in the 1880s, composers like Meyer Lutz and Osmond Carr contributed original music, and the shows were extended to a full-length two or three act format.[2] Nellie Farren, as the theatre's "principal boy," and Fred Leslie starred at the Gaiety during that period, and Leslie wrote the libretti for many of these pieces under his pseudonym, "A. C. Torr".[3] John D'Auban choreographed the Gaiety burlesques from 1868 to 1891.[4][5] In the early 1890s, musical burlesque went out of fashion, and the Gaiety Theatre's focus changed to the new genre of Edwardian musical comedy.

The dialogue for many of the burlesques was written in the form of rhymed couplets, and was full of bad puns. For example, in "Faust up to Date" (1888), a couplet reads:
Originally posted by Faust up to Date:
Mephistopheles: "Along the Riviera dudes her praises sing."
Walerlie: "Oh, did you Riviera such a thing?"

By the 1880s, the genre had created some rules for defining itself:
1. Minimal costuming, often focusing on the female form.
2. Sexually suggestive dialogue, dance, plotlines and staging.
3. Quick-witted humour laced with puns, but lacking complexity.
4. Short routines or sketches with minimal plot cohesion across a show.

That's the origins of Burlesque. Of course, in the popular mind the term has become associated with the more recent, American take on it:

Originally posted by wikipedia:

Development of American Burlesque

While the American form of burlesque has its origins in 19th century music hall entertainments and vaudeville, in the early 20th century American burlesque re-emerged as a populist blend of satire, performance art, and adult entertainment featuring striptease and broad comedy acts that derived their name from the low comedy aspects of the literary genre known as burlesque. Here the term "burlesque" was used loosely to describe these adult revue shows in which striptease acts would performâ��often with themes, characters or gimmicksâ��but classic striptease and "hootchy kootchy" dance were already forms in themselves and not automatically "burlesque" by default.

In burlesque, performers, usually female, often create elaborate sets with lush, colorful costumes, mood-appropriate music, and dramatic lighting, and may even include novelty acts, such as fire breathing or contortionists, to enhance the impact of their performance.

There ya have it in a very large nutshell :-)

R.

Lockke

Nikon D90

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

09/17/2010 12:25:28 PM · #14

Help I'm in a nutshell, I can't get out, help me I'm in a nutshell!

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

09/17/2010 12:26:19 PM · #15

Originally posted by Lockke:

Help I'm in a nutshell, I can't get out, help me I'm in a nutshell!

Uh oh... I think he's "cracked".

PGerst

Canon EOS-20D

09/17/2010 12:31:41 PM · #16

Steve, I'm not sure, but your profile pic may qualify as burlesque.

Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:

Sounds like my kind of challenge, though I can't help but associate the term burlesque with scantily clad ladies performing on stage.

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

09/17/2010 12:33:23 PM · #17

Originally posted by PGerst:

Steve, I'm not sure, but your profile pic may qualify as burlesque.

Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:
Sounds like my kind of challenge, though I can't help but associate the term burlesque with scantily clad ladies performing on stage.

I agree :)

PGerst

Canon EOS-20D

09/17/2010 01:25:14 PM · #18

Your's too Leroy. :)

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:

I agree :)