hello! first, i wanna say thank you for what you do. i have a d&d campaign that takes place in a greek-inspired region, and i frequently find myself coming to this blog to look for inspiration and information thats difficult to find on google, so thank you for doing that! second, i had a question. in my campaign, i want to have this tacky kind of burlesque tavern. i thought it would be fun to mix some elements of greek culture in there (like styles of dance or clothing) but i dont want to disrespect the culture by like, "sexy-ifying" it as would be expected for burlesque. so i wanted to ask if there's anything that exists in greek history that could be compatible with that aesthetic without being butchered? ty!
Hello! It's wonderful that the blog has enriched your experience in D&D!
Regarding your question, burlesque in its strict sense does not exist in the Greek culture but there are a couple of things that could be considered "close enough". First of all, since burlesque itself was invented in early 19th century, I assume we are talking about Modern Greek culture? We should take into account whether what you are imagining also involves some degree of sex work, which historically happened at times with burlesque. In any case, before I go to my modern Greek suggestions, we could consider that:
in Ancient Greece there was a dance called Codrax which could either stand on its own or was often employed as an interval during comedies. The dance was downright obscene and sometimes comical to match the vibes of the show. The dancer was masked and often also played the zills.
in the Byzantine empire, women could work as actresses, dancers and acrobats. They often worked in festivals and celebrations in the hippodrome. Many of those were also sex workers and they were definitely perceived as sex workers but not all of them actually did sex work.
in Ottoman Greece, sex workers would be in taverns-brothels and they would often dance accompanied by music. The dance at the time was quite like belly dancing, the Greek-style belly dance called tsifteteli.
So now let's go to Modern Greek entertainment. There are two types of entertainment that could resemble burlesque a little bit; some types of old buzúkia and epitheórisi (revue).
Old Buzúkia
Buzukia is a Greek form of music entertainment that is still very popular today but it has been continuously evolving throughout time. The period that is relevant to our topic was between 50s-70s. Buzukia is generally a late night live music scene which also offers food and alcohol. The main focus of the show has always been the music and the singing and they were so embraced by Greek society that most of the successful commercial Greek singers have performed in buzukia for a great part of their career. Before the 70s, the show program of buzukia could vary considerably and especially the most well known ones would also feature ballets and dancers. The dance shows could have a theatrical aspect to them (ie performative dancing where some sort of simple story is easily conveyed) and the dances could be sensual. The outfits were often pretty sexy, with feathers and orientalist influences. However, it was supposed to be sexy and sensual without being too tacky and without being too provocative. There were buzukia where stripping and / or sex work was involved, however the vast majority in this type of entertainment had nothing to do with it and was pretty mainstream. There are two Greek celebrities who in movies often had roles of this type of buzukia dancers I describe here specifically, the dancer-actress Martha Karagianni and actress-singer Zozo Sapountzaki, the "Queen of the Night", as she is called (she's 91 and thriving!).
Martha Karagianni:
Zozó Sapountzaki / Greek Buzukia '68:
And this Zozo video for some costume inspiration:
(By the way Zozo at her 91st birthday party in May:
It has nothing to do with your question but I felt like saying it. I am gonna add an evil eye emoji for good measure 🧿)
Now of course there is lightness but there is no humour in all this or the humour is minimal.
Epitheórisi (revue)
Revue is a theatrical genre that has been huge in Greece up until the noughties. Revue is a satirical and comical theatrical play which does a lot of commentary on political and social matters. The Epitheorisi, like Revue in general, features most of the time dance intervals or sketches with burlesque or burlesque-like ballets. The dances are sexy but again they are not too tacky / cheap or too vulgar. They can be tacky / suggestive but there is a limit usually. The ballets often sing as well and their lyrics may be comical or satirical in the context of the play.
Some recent epitheorisi plays.
An epitheorisi poster of 1894.
And OF COURSE Zozo in an Epitheorisi play.
So in Buzukia you get the tavern / restaurant and sensual aspect of it whereas in Epitheorisi you get the theatrical and funny / tacky vibe. So if you blend these things I told you, you can create some sort of possible Greek situation. Like, a small Epitheorisi number in a well known Buzukia centre. And the character can be from a simple member of the ballet, talented in dancing or singing or a little humour, to an absolute diva that can combine it all. Just take note that it was never too obscene and even though the clothing could be very sexy, there was no stripping beyond underwear unless then it became a different type of situation that involved sex work. And also there is more orientalism in Greek entertainment than in western burlesque.