Footnotes to Dance History
Pantomimes (the ones with music, song, and dance), vaudeville shows, honky-tonks, medicine shows, circuses and burlesque theatres were having an explosion of entertainment choices. They were popular with the general public for their prices and their approachability. No one had to dress in diamonds to see them. No one had to interpret or translate any language to enjoy them. No one had to sit for three hours.
The minnesingers and troubadours still entertained as they had centuries ago, playing places called The Palace, instead of performing in the real thing. They still traveled. Phrases such as "on the road," "one-night stands," and "born in a trunk" came from this era. Where the word "vaudeville" came from is uncertain. Some theatre historians suggest it came from "voix de ville", a reference to songs or voices of the city and streets. A drinking song "Val de Vire" may have been the source.
As ballet grew into its own as entre'acts during operas, so vaudeville grew into its own from "intermezzi." These were brief bits between scenes of operas that pandered to local and lower tastes. The French operas called their "pieces (or "comedies") de vaudevilles". In England, light operas, operettas and holiday pantomimes were more and more popular. Historians believe that the word vaudeville became synonymous with the variety show in both France and England in the early late 1700s and early 1800s. A group of comedians from Philadelphia toured the East Coast in 1762, and a circus called "Ricketts" played in Philadelphia in 1792.
The vaudeville genre offered more for your money. That very variety of single performers, duos and lines of kicking limbs kept audiences wanting more. British performers helped create the frenzy for this new form of entertainment, and American dancers, singers and comedians were quick to cash in with novelty acts, animal tricks, magical wonders and precocious children.
Not all the variety shows were lowbrow. Many included opera singers and ballet dancers. But all had one thing in common at first--the rowdy audiences. Some theatrical houses encouraged eating and drinking during the shows. Poor or boring acts suffered the indignity of having leftovers thrown at them to hasten their exit from the stage.
Good performers and "oddities" could stay employed year round. People who were heavily tattooed, extremely obese, overly thin, tall, short, flexible or unusual in some aspect, also enjoyed a salary. Many times the once shunned segment of society drew in greater crowds as people paid an extra fee to ogle them.
Just as every pantomime had its Grand Dame, played by a male, early variety shows had their "Professor." A grand speaker and orator, a showman in every way, the Professor would lecture the audience, pointing out special aspects of the unique acts they were watching, usually "seen never before in the world." Each audience was convinced it was seeing the "only," the "best," the "tiniest," or the "greatest." He would rouse them to tremendous applause or take them beyond hype to a near hypnotic state.
It was a street corner performer's dream to get on a circuit, then to move from one-horse towns to the big cities where he or she could stay in one place for several weeks. The good news that anyone could perform nearly anywhere without a license, or often talent. The bad was the same as now - how does anyone make a decent living at this, much less save for retirement.
Even our rock shows today mirror this form of entertainment. Lesser bands open for the mega-watt names. The star rarely opens a musical production. The prima ballerina and her cavalier are preceded by lesser raking dancers. There is a grand finale of either technical expertise, tremendous numbers onstage or pyrotechnic special effects. Hype and anticipation are carefully cultivated from the opening curtain or chords.
And there were differences. Minstrel shows, medicine shows, wagon shows and others had their own special touches to help distinguish them from the epidemic of collections of traveling artists. Unfortunately, many acts in these shows were not politically correct. Parodies were popular but the humor was cruel. Stereotypes became cemented in audiences' minds. Native Americans, African Americans, the Chinese and other races, plus those once called "freaks," suffered the most.
The cheaper shows did not help improve the performer's reputations either as "ill-bred," "loose" (applied to women), and "scoundrel" became common slang terms tossed at them along with rotten eggs, decaying tomatoes and limp lettuce.
In the next Footnotes, we'll dissect these varied offerings a bit more, and learn how this motley crew lead to the musical theatre we enjoy now.