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What do you get when you cross colorful masks and fart jokes with erotic dancing? Some say you get an ancient Greek play, others claim you're watching burlesque.
The French word burlesque is said to have come from the Italian burlesco which was adopted from the Spanish Burla or ‘joke’. Most linguists agree that it literally means to ‘send up.’ Burlesque, which employs theatrical devices from antiquity, has continued to evolve as a theatrical genre and now includes more styles than ever. There are several reasons for this. In a complex world, humans possess an innate need to relate to the world in parody. Secondly, the urge to laugh at the absurdity of life is more fun to do as a community .
According to some experts, burlesque was born in the 14th century, when Geoffrey Chaucer published his bawdy collections of stories called The Canterbury Tales. Further research indicates that many aspects of burlesque were present in the comedies of ancient Greece almost a thousand years before. These comedic conventions continued when Roman playwrights adapted aspects of Greek comedy for the stage, creating their own brand of satire, farce and parody several centuries later.
According to Brander Matthews in The Development of the Drama, Aristophanes wrote
Matthews provides further evidence that the roots of burlesque began in ancient Greece when he describes the behavior of country boys during the Festival of the God, Dionysus: ‘... there were companies of young fellows, often disguised grossly as beasts or birds, who broke out into riotous phallic dances, enjoyed equally by those who looked on and by those who took part.’ Since one intent of burlesque is to poke fun of sexual mores, politics, topical events and local persona, it’s no coincidence that Greek dancers ‘…grouped themselves in rival bands, the leaders of which indulged in a give-and-take of banter and repartee, certainly vulgar and personal…’. The role of these group leaders is similar to the conventions of burlesque when the emcee and audience engage in spirited exchanges. (The Development of the Drama, Brander Matthews, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1912. pp 74-106)
Women were an integral part of this festival and fulfilled a very special role. Female worshipers of Dionysus called maenads, honored Dionysus through dance to emphasize his '...special relation with women.' Likewise, burlesque, with its emphasis on female dancers, relies upon the sensuality of the feminine. www.carnaval.com/dionysos/
The Roman playwright, Plautus, was deeply influenced by Aristophanes and the 'new comedies' of the poet, Menander. Many poets from this era '...drew their fictional characters from cooks, merchants, farmers, and slaves.' www.theatrehistory.com/ancient/comedy001.html, It is no surprise then, that Plautus developed characters from all social classes and 'was sometimes accused of teaching the public indifference and mockery of the Gods'. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plautus Burlesque appeals to the experiences of the common man which illustrates the ways in which the boundaries between burlesque and ancient humor blur.
Early Greek comedy, which occurred during The Festival of Dionysus, featured theatrical masks, innuendo, lyrical performance and dance. This, combined with the costumed antics of verbally sparring young men, erotic dancing and the presence of a group leader, inextricably links ancient forms of comedy to present-day burlesque.
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