Title: ‘Naughty but Nice’: Re-Articulations of Value in Neo-Burlesque Striptease
Abstract: In this chapter I present an Anglo-American study of female 'new' or 'neo'-burlesque striptease, a performance genre that re-emerged in the 1990s, in which performers remove clothes to a state of partial, and very occasionally total, nudity.2 I situate neo-burlesque as a form of popular dance in that, although it is theatricalized and presentational in style, it occurs within the popular entertainment context of cabaret and the body is choreographed according to a movement repertoire rooted in striptease performance, which historically occupies a position of low art. Integral to neo-burlesque performance is the notion of tease, which plays upon a delicate matrix of wit and seduction: it is 'naughty but nice' (Blanchard, 2003, p. B01); 'erotic, not blue' (Athorne, 2005, p. 25) and 'good, clean, British fun' (Shepard, 2005, p. 26). Indeed the introductory description of Amber Topaz's 'Jessica Rabbit number' illustrates the critical components of neo-burlesque striptease: the presence of humour, an erotic play, a solicited audience interaction and the desire to tease.
Publication Year: 2011
Publication Date: 2011-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 1
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