Vaudeville-style comedians, preceding and introducing each performer, were the only elements left from the original form. Striptease was now the main attraction at burlesque shows.
One hundred years later, all pretenses to high-brow art had been gradually abandoned. When it was exported from Victorian England to the United States in the 1840s, American elements were added: minstrel show performances, stage magic, contemporary athletics, and, most importantly, exotic dancing. In the modern sense of the word, burlesque was a popular form of theatrical variety show featuring risqué comedy, parody, and pastiche. If there’s one word associated with these famous women, it’s “burlesque.”
