The Burlesque Voice Offstage: Power and Manipulation
The “voice” of the burlesque dancer has taken many forms throughout the years. Dancers had a voice through interviews that were published in newspapers as well as in photographs and how they were portrayed in the media. Others had little control as they were topics of uncensored gossip columns and their images were manipulated through captions and subtext. Well known Burlesque theatre managers and entrepreneurs such as Rose La Rose, Lillian Hunt, and Jennie Lee had extremely powerful voices in newspapers and interviews as well as had strong relations with the media and press (Vogt 12-13). On the other hand, lesser known dancers had little to no voice off stage. Their stories exist in anonymous individual interviews or gossip columns and pictures in popular magazines. Through these findings, it seems that burlesque dancers had to find their “voice” in a variety of ways and depending on their connections in the industry and having more leverage while creating their public image. Burlesque dancers voiced themselves off the stage in many different ways due to the amount of power they may or may not have had.
Works Cited:
Vogt, Julie N. Woman to Woman: Ann Corio and The Rehabilitation of American Burlesque. Diss. University of Wisconsin, Madison. 2010. ProQuest. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.
