The last few kinds of Erotic Dance fall uder the category of Performance Erotic Dance, which will be further classified as BURLESQUE AND NEO-BURLESQUE.
III. PERFORMANCE EROTIC DANCE
A. Burlesque
Burlesque is humorous theatrical entertainment involving parody and sometimes grotesque exaggeration. In 20th century America, the form became associated with a variety show in which striptease is the chief attraction.
Burlesque originated early in 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...The name "burlesque" is derived from the Italian burla, which means "jest." The form began as comic parodies of well-known topics or people.
According to April O'Peel, Burlesque audiences follow their own set of rules! Unlike traditional theatre audiences, Burlesque crowds are actively encouraged to vocally show appreciation for performers. Hoots, hollars, claps, whistles, and requests to "take it off" make audience participation more fun than ever.
1. Gown-and-Glove Dance
Gown-and-Glove Dance is said to be the most traditional form of strip and tease. The performer is dressed elegantly in an evening gown with a back zipper and elbow length gloves. Integrated in the choreography of the dance, she will remove the gloves one at a time...in a slow sensual manner before removing the gown itself.
2. Bump and Grind
According to April O'Peel, the Bump n' Grind is a suggestive dance move that has a very important place historically in Burlesque. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, the bump and grind was considered a very risque dance move albeit very popular with striptease artists. To bump is to thrust your hips forward or to either side (almost violently!). To grind is to move your hips around in a circular fashion. Combine the two movements and you'll be ready to set the stage on fire!
B. Neo-Burlesque
Neo-Burlesque (or "New Burlesque") is the revival and updating of the traditional burlesque performance. Though based on the traditional Burlesque art, the new form encompasses a wider range of performance styles. Neo-burlesque acts can be anything from classic striptease to modern dance to theatrical mini-dramas to comedic mayhem. As with the earlier burlesque, neo-burlesque is more focused on the "tease" in "striptease" than the "strip". Audiences for neo-burlesque shows tend to be mixed; men, women, straight, gay, and everything in between...
Today New Burlesque has taken many forms, but all have the common trait of honoring one or more of burlesque's previous incarnations, with acts including striptease, expensive costumes, bawdy humor, cabaret and more. There are modern burlesque performers and shows all over the world, and annual conventions such as Tease-O-Rama, New York Burlesque Festival, The Great Boston Burlesque Exposition, and the Miss Exotic World Pageant...
New Burlesque tends to put the emphasis on style and tend to be sexy rather than sexual, often involving humor. Unlike modern strippers, who dance in strip clubs to make a living, burlesque performers often perform for fun and spend more money on costumes, rehearsal, and props than they are compensated. Performers will often strip down to pasties and g-string.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Burlesque)
1. Fan Dance
The Fan Dance is an erotic dance performance, traditionally by a woman.
The performer, either entirely nude or apparently so, dances while moving two large fans, typically constructed from ostrich feathers. The essence of the choreography is suggestion, limiting the parts of the body exposed to the audience while focusing attention on illusions of exposure. Performers often evoke illusions of: having already seen what had never been exposed; not being able to shift one's gaze fast enough to see what seems surely to be presently exposed or being aware of currently "seeing" what in fact is not exposed to be seen.
A fan dance can be viewed for erotic stimulation, aesthetic appreciation of grace and beauty, and for simple amazement of the skill of the illusion.
In the 1960s, many gay men took the classic art of fan dancing and created the flagging dance, flag dancing, fanning or fan spinning. In the 1990s, flag dancing has been incorporated into fire dancing.
So what exactly is flag dancing or “flagging"? “It’s a high-energy dance form where colorful flags are spun in patterns with the body as extensions of the music,” says Bryan. Flaggers create eye-popping, almost dreamlike effects by artistically mixing liquid-like movements, technical skill, and amazing athletic intensity. Throw in the strobes and black lights of a nightclub, set the whole thing to a good dance beat, and the results can be fantastically surreal. Flag dancing draws its inspiration from Japanese fan dancing and Polynesian poi dancing (think Hawaiian fire twirlers), and this dazzling style of dance has begun to gain widespread popularity – from Boston to Brazil, from Texas to Thailand.
Flaggers are most common in gay dance subcultures, and to a lesser extent, in the alternative subcultures of poi and fire dancers, where spinners of hard objects or fire may branch out into flagging...
The added weights to the otherwise loose fabric made it possible for the new flaggers to spin and move the fabric through the air in ways similar to fan dancing, but with the added maneuverability of a very flexible material. Flags used by these new flaggers can be of almost any fabric, but silk, organza and lamé are preponderant, with silk being the most favored. Silk flags are usually dyed in vibrant, ultraviolet fluorescent colors, creating an almost hypnotic spectacle when waved rhythmically to music.
2. Bubble Dance
The Bubble Dance is an erotic dance developed by Sally Rand. This was an alternative to the striptease, with some similarities to fan dancing. The dancer (sometimes naked) dances with a huge bubble to make some interesting poses.It is usually performed by women, although it can also be performed by men. The performer does not necessarily have to be nude, although the performer can play "peek-a-boo" with the audience with the bubble. However, this dance can be a great embarrassment to many dancers if the audience threatens to burst their bubble. Today, the bubble dance is less practised in some countries, but still popular in others.
Sally Rand is an American icon, best known for her famous "fan dance." But, as with so many other celebrities, Miss Rand had a multifaceted career and personality that deserves (*ahem*) further exposure.
"Sally Rand" was born as Harriet Helen Gould Beck in the Ozark Mountain town of Elkton, Missouri on Easter Sunday, the 3rd of April, 1904. She was the daughter of Nettie Grove, a Pennsylvania Dutch Quaker, and Corporal William Beck, a veteran of the Spanish-American War. Teddy Roosevelt was President of the United States and there would come a time when little Helen would fall asleep in the great man's lap.
Sally was interested in dance from an early age and, literally, ran away with a carnival as a teenager. She later pursued such career opportunities as night club cigarette girl, artist's model, and cafe dancer...
When the Chicago brought about a fair to bring business to the state, Sally perceived the need for something new: "I had to find a new twist."
She decided on a bubble dance: "I wanted a balloon sixty inches in diameter, which is my height, made of a translucent or transparent material." The only trouble was that the biggest balloons available were a mere 30" in diameter. They were heavy red target balloons used by the War Department. Since no one knew how to make the required equipment, Sally fronted the funds for necessary experimentation herself. After numerous tests, the super-dooper, see-through bubble was born. Once again, Sally was a smash hit, now heading a big show of 24 dancers and 16 showgirls.
Watch out for the last installment of my article in Erotic Dances next week.
Sources:
http://theabcddsofburlesque.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlesque#New_Burlesque
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlesque_(genre)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Burlesque
http://www.themercury.com.au/images/gallery/remote/2009/03/27/70181.jpg
http://www.yodaslair.com/dumboozle/sally/sallydex.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_dance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagging_dance
http://www.theemeraldcurtain.com/sites/flaggercentral/articles/media/colorado-flagger-weekend/
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