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Thread: The burlesque dancer who became empress

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    Thumbs up The burlesque dancer who became empress

    Lo and behold, I'm watching the history channel when I hear about Theodora, wife of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian. She worked as a burlesque dancer in a local theater when she was noticed by him. Long story short, she became one of the most powerful women in her own right in antiquity. Not bad for a girl who started out in a crappy third rate peep show.
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    Default Re: The burlesque dancer who became empress

    I think in this situation they are using the term "burlesque" to say that she was a stage performer... probably low end theatre using a bit of dance and physical comedy. Not really what people think of as burlesque these days.

    Take a look at this for reference:

    http://theopavlidis.com/MidEast/part20.htm

    The part about her throwing barley for geese to eat off her privates... that would totally not fly. That's also not really burlesque, it's more a straight out sex act. I'd put that more in the realm of the donkey shows that go on in Mexico.

    She also seems to have been a prostitute... which was common for that time. Many were highly educated in the arts, so it's no surprise that she took to the stage.
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    Default Re: The burlesque dancer who became empress

    Quote Originally Posted by Kylea2 View Post
    I think in this situation they are using the term "burlesque" to say that she was a stage performer... probably low end theatre using a bit of dance and physical comedy. Not really what people think of as burlesque these days.
    Her act was pretty raunchy.... but apparently she was so hot, the emperor fell in love with her right away and overhauled the entire legal system to marry her. She's also considered a saint in the Eastern Orthodox church.
    Part of her routine consisted of letting geese pick seeds from her genitals
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    Default Re: The burlesque dancer who became empress

    ^^^
    This is why I love documentaries. I'm a fanatic for them. It's been a while since I did some poking around and researching, but I used to love reading about the hetaerae too. I'm going to scoop out this Theodora chick. I get fascinated with historical gender roles and mischievous deviants.
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    Default Re: The burlesque dancer who became empress

    there is also a true story anout a woman who was a sex trade worker prostitute who was so popular she mad a fortune and when the town she was needed a new wall to protect she paid to have it rebuilt at her expense can't remember her name, I could re lok it upBut she had kings as clients .back then were refered to as courtasans and there are many in history that have had great infulance I looked it up once just for fun.
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    Default Re: The burlesque dancer who became empress

    Quote Originally Posted by asianlady View Post
    there is also a true story anout a woman who was a sex trade worker prostitute who was so popular she mad a fortune and when the town she was needed a new wall to protect she paid to have it rebuilt at her expense can't remember her name, I could re lok it upBut she had kings as clients .back then were refered to as courtasans and there are many in history that have had great infulance I looked it up once just for fun.
    Her name was Phryne, and it was the city of Corinth. She was also put on trial for encouraging the women of Athens to worship a Thracian God. Fortunately, one of her lovers was a lawyer. He put her on the stand....topless. Needless to say she was acquitted.
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    Default Re: The burlesque dancer who became empress

    Ah yes, Theodora--the real power behind Justinian the Great. I have posted about her before. If you want all the dirt about her, Justinian, and Belisarius' slutty wife Antonina, you must go get a copy of Procopius' The Secret Histories. But be advised that Procopius is not considered to be an impartial source, since he apparently hated Belisarius and his wife.

    Without Belisarius as his brilliant, right hand general, and his wife Theodora to provide some guts, I doubt anyone would ever remember Justinian as anything but another obscure Byzantine emperor.

    She probably had her own son killed. I doubt she was a very nice woman, but admirable nonetheless. Times were tough back then, lol...
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    Default Re: The burlesque dancer who became empress

    I remember reading on an 'oddities' site about circus performers where there was a woman in Paris with two pussies who had many lovers. She ended up meeting a Latin guy who had two penises and they became lovers for a good while. True story. I'll try to find the link. It was a crazy story!
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    Default Re: The burlesque dancer who became empress

    I wrote a paper on her in college!! Definitely one of the more fascinating women in history (I got an A, btw ) "The Secret Histories" sounds intriguing...
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