At the height of their popularity in the early and mid-20th century, burlesque halls were overwhelmingly segregated spaces. Although women of colour performed as shake dancers in nightclubs, they rarely shared the stage with white dancers. It was up to them to make a name for themselves in an industry in which their identities were easily obscured, exoticised, and even forgotten.
Here, we're celebrating some of the Black women who broke into the world of mainstream burlesque, and in turn forged pathways for future generations of Black performers and challenged standards of beauty.
Some of these women, Eartha Kitt and Josephine Baker among them, enjoyed illustrious careers and maintain their fame today. Then there are others, like Lady Ernestine, who are known only for their stage names and little else. What all of these women have in common is the drive to prove their talent to a society that expected little of them. They changed what it meant to be a sex symbol, proudly owning their Blackness and their bodies in a way that the American public certainly didn't see every day.
Click through to get to know some of the most prominent Black burlesque performers.
Josephine Baker
Baker, a 1920s burlesque icon known for her skimpy outfits, energetic dance moves, and signature sense of humour, was initially barred from being a chorus girl for being "too skinny and too dark." She only got the chance to perform when another dancer dropped out, but her career skyrocketed on the stages of already-integrated Paris.
She enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle, surrounded by fine clothes, jewellery, and exotic pets — all of which she purchased for herself. It's been said she received as many as 1,500 marriage proposals, and at one point, she was one of the world's most photographed women.
But she wasn't just known for her immense beauty and talent as a performer. Baker also made a name for herself within the civil rights movement in the '50s and '60s, fighting publicly with pro-segregation columnist Walter Winchell. She passed away in 1975 and is remembered on May 20, which the NAACP named Josephine Baker Day
Photo: General Photographic Agency/Getty Images.
Jean Idelle
A true trailblazer, Idelle was the first Black woman to perform alongside white women and is credited with breaking the colour barrier in burlesque. She performed throughout the 1950s in the U.S. and Canada, often with her signature ostrich feather dance.
Although she retired in 1960, Idelle performed for the Burlesque Hall of Fame in 2012, at the age of 82 — and naturally stole the show.
Photo: Jet Magazine.
Toni Elling
Born Rosita Sims, Elling began her burlesque career in 1960, when she was 32. Though she was considered a little old for a dancer-cum-stripper, Elling's sheer talent proved her doubters wrong. She took her act around the country and even overseas (as far as Japan).
Although Elling retired from performing in 1974, she has continued to work as a teacher and role model for younger generations of dancers. To this day, her overriding message is to keep burlesque artful — not overt.
Photo: Brian Cahn/ZUMAPRESS.
Lady Ernestine
Lady Ernestine, also known as The Exotic Queen, was a prominent performer in the '50s and '60s, but unfortunately, little else is known about her today.
Photo: Jet Magazine.
Marie Bryant
Bryant made her debut as a jazz club dancer when she was 15 in 1934. Only a year later, she had made a reputation for herself as an actor, singer, and dancer — a total triple threat. Bryant's career took off in several directions at once, as she performed around the country, recorded songs, and even broke into the film industry.
Although Bryant appeared in front of the camera several times, she made history as one of the first Black people to work on the technical side of a film. It was behind the scenes of a Gene Kelly picture that she started working as a dance instructor and choreographer.
Bryant continued to work with high-profile students, including Cyd Charisse, Ava Gardner, and Lucille Ball, and even opened her own studio before her death in 1978.
Photo: WATFORD/Mirrorpix/Getty Images.
Eartha Kitt
Before Kitt was known for "Santa Baby " or for her role as Catwoman, she lived in poverty and faced discrimination for her mixed-race heritage. Kitt joined the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, the first ever African American modern dance company, when she was a teenager. She toured with the company as a featured singer and dancer until she was offered the chance to perform solo in European nightclubs.
She soon returned to the States and took Broadway by storm. Her performances stood out from the rest, thanks to her knowing sex appeal — one critic wrote that she "can make a song burst into flame."
Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images.
Ada Overton
Overton rose to fame in the early 1900s, making a name for herself as a gifted performer who made dances like the cakewalk and buck-and-wing her own. As a dancer, she was said to be as strong as she was graceful, flaunting her modern interpretations of indigenous African dances onstage for royalty and the white elite.
As Overton's career blossomed, she changed her first name to Aida, in honour of the Haitian spirit of fertility, and viewed her work as social activism for Black women and actresses. Overton performed until her death in 1914, at the age of 34. She's remembered as one of the first African American women to find success as a performer and she served as a role model for future generations of Black entertainers.
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