“Working On and Against”: Classic Burlesque Conventions in Zyra Lee Vanity’s Irie Love

Abstract

Abstract:‘Classic burlesque’ refers to a style of contemporary burlesque performance that attempts to recreate some of the conventions of mid-century striptease. In this article, I explore the work classic burlesque does to cite, adapt, and preserve elements of historic striptease through its practitioners’ unique relationship with the archive and repertoire of historic burlesque. Though classic burlesque is fraught with much of the cultural baggage of the history it inherits, it creates an embodied act of preservation less concerned with historical authenticity than with preserving an attitude toward striptease that values ‘tease’ and a personal approach over codified technique. Using Zyra Lee Vanity’s Irie Love act as a case study, I offer that many performers choose to navigate the biases of the form because of the creative potential it affords them to challenge dominant histories of burlesque that perpetuate the erasure of marginalized artists. Vanity does so by reanimating the important contributions of marginalized artists in the history of striptease. While exclusionary standards still inform much of the practice, many of the conventions of classic burlesque are mobile and can be an important site of meaning-making for the artists who practice it.