Argentina Revue shows were popularized in
Buenos Aires from the 1920s, mainly in the Teatro Maipo.
Tita Merello became one of the most famous vedettes of the time. In the 1950s vedettes of
Cuban origin appeared, like
Blanquita Amaro Amelia Vargas and
Rosita Fornés. They had all the glitz, grace and glamor that characterized the era, and shared the stage with local stars like
Nélida Roca. In the 1960s figures appeared like
Zulma Faiad,
Nélida Lobato,
Susana Brunetti,
Norma Pons, Egle Martín and the
Puerto Rican Iris Chacón, called the "Vedette of America". The 1970s and 1980s gave way to other stars like
Graciela Alfano and the sisters
Ethel and
Gogó Rojo. Others who arose at that time and remained in force in the following years were
Susana Giménez Moria Casán and Bettina Vardé. and the man-vedette
Jorge Perez Evelyn. In the 1990s, new vedettes appeared, some of whose fame would spread to the next decade, such as
Cris Miró, María Fernanda Callejón, the
Puerto Rican Lourdes Chacón and
Monica Ayos. In the first years of the 21st century there has been a return of the revues in the
Avenida Corrientes with figures like
Florencia de la V,
María Eugenia Ritó,
Adabel Guerrero, and
Valeria Archimó.
Mexico The image of the vedette in Mexico arose from the beginning of the 20th century with the so-called "Carpas" and the
Revues. Some venues such as Teatro Principal, the Teatro Colón and the Teatro Arbeu were considered cathedrals of the revues and burlesque in
Mexico City. There arose figures like
Lupe Vélez, who, before being consecrated as a star in
Hollywood, was considered one of the queens of the frivolous theater. The main figure of the time was
Maria Conesa "The White Kitten", who also had a very long career spanning theater, film and television. Other outstanding figures then were Esperanza Iris, Celia Montalván, Lupe Rivas Cacho,
Amparo Arozamena,
Prudencia Grifell, Celia Padilla,
Delia Magaña, Lupe Inclán, Aurora Walker, Amelia Wilhelmy and
Mimí Derba, among others. Conesa, Montalván and Rivas Cacho, were even immortalized in a famous
foxtrot called
Mi querido capitán (My dear captain). In the 1950s saw a resurgence of nightlife in Mexico City. Venues like the Tivoli, the Waikikí, the Margo (after the Teatro Blanquita), the Follies Bergere and the Teatro Lírico, among others, became the main forums for the blossoming of the vedettes. Special mention should be made of the
Exoticas, a group of vedettes that caused fury in Mexico's nightlife in the late 1940s and early 1950s. These "Exoticas" were characterized by using extravagant names, and their shows included African, Tahitian or Oriental dances. The most famous of the "Exoticas" was
Yolanda Montes "Tongolele", one of the most important dancers of Latin America, in force for more than sixty years. Together with
Tongolele, the most famous were
Su Muy Key The Chinese Doll, and
Kalantan. Other famous "Exóticas" were Trudi Bora, Turanda, Joyce Cameron, Tanabonga, Tundra, Gemma, Eda Lorna, Kurumba, Bongala, Tula Montenegro, Brenda Conde, Josefina del Mar and Naná. Parallel to the success of the Exoticas, appeared in Mexico the famous "Rumberas", dancers of Afro-American rhythms. The Rumberas created their own cinematographic genre: The
Rumberas film In the called
Golden Age of Mexican cinema. The Rumberas films reflected the life of the women in the night centers and cabarets. The main exponents of the genre were the Cubans
María Antonieta Pons,
Amalia Aguilar,
Ninón Sevilla and
Rosa Carmina as well as
Meche Barba. These women were complete vedettes who never needed to explicitly teach their bodies, captivating audiences only with their dances and other stage talents. The Rumberas also performed shows and live performances in important venues. With the decline of the Rumberas film in the mid-fifties, some rumberas broadened their horizons and ventured into vedette shows. Particularly remembered are the live shows of Amalia Aguilar and Rosa Carmina, who filled stadiums in countries in Central and South America. The Cuban
Rosita Fornés deserves special mention. She reached the final consecration in Mexico before conquering the rest of the continent. In the 1960s the splendor of the vedettes in Mexico lost force. Even so, worthy of mention are the shows offered in venues such as the Blanquita Theater or "El Patio" by the stars such as
Sonia Furió,
Ana Luisa Peluffo and
Ana Bertha Lepe. In the midst of the fury of the
Rock and Roll era, were famous figures like Malú Reyes and Emily Cranz. Actresses such as
Jacqueline Voltaire and
Irán Eory also performed shows as vedettes. The 1970s and 1980s are considered the golden era of the vedettes in Mexico, thanks to a massive revival of nightlife in the country's capital. Mexico City was flooded with nightclubs, cabarets of all levels and burlesque theaters where the vedettes began to bloom. Among the most important nightclubs that illuminated the capital of the country are the Terazza Casino, the Capri (from the Hotel Regis), the Imperial, the Minuet, the Rio Rosa, La Fuente, El Conjunto Marrakech, La Copa de Champagne, El Cordiale, El Rondinella, El Clóset, El Quid, El 77, the Impala Bar and the Belvedere of the Hilton Continental Hotel. Some cabarets such as La Burbuja, Montparnasse, Las Fabulosas, El Can-Can, Los Globos, King Kong and Savoy also reached a great boom, while theaters like El Iris, El Blanquita and the
Teatro Fru Fru presented burlesque shows, where the shows were more audacious and explicit. In addition, thanks to television, movies and magazines, the vedettes in Mexico reached their highest point of popularity. Many of them also ventured into the cinema, within the so-called
Mexican sex comedy. On the other hand, the popular television program
Variedades de medianoche (Varieties of the Midnight) contributed to the boom of these women and launched to the fame to dozens of them. Among the legendary vedettes that illuminated the nightlife of Mexico City are
Olga Breeskin also known as "Super Olga" who achieved great fame for her spectacular performances where she danced surrounded by dancers and exotic animals while playing the violin;
Angélica Chaín, who achieved fame first in magazines, then start a career as a vedette and finally consecrate herself in the cinema; Amira Cruzat, famous for her show known as
The Dressing Room of Amira Cruzat;
Lila Deneken "The Number One", important singer and the first Latin American star to present a show at the
Monte-Carlo Sporting Club; the Argentine
Zulma Faiad who settled in Mexico much of the decade of the 1970s and reached a great fame in cinema and night centers; Gloriella, popular star of the burlesque and numerous movies;
Princesa Lea, very popular for presenting a show in which she bathed in a glass of champagne;
Lyn May, of Chinese ancestry, pioneer of the nudes and one of the principal stars of the burlesque;
Rossy Mendoza, known popularly as "The Body" or "The Shorter Waist", thanks to her impressive anatomy;
Sasha Montenegro, who on par of her film career performed live shows that attracted the public because of her popularity; The Brazilian Gina Montes, famous by her appearance in a popular TV Show;
Grace Renat,
The Goddess of the Night, who scandalized at the time with her controversial theatrical spectacles in the enclosure of her property, the Theater Fru-Frú;
Wanda Seux, called "The Golden Bomb" and considered the "Barbie" of the vedettes for her thin figure and blonde hair;
Thelma Tixou "The Girl of the Golden Body", native of Argentina, famous for her stature and imposing physique, and star for several years of the famous cabaret El Capri,
Isela Vega, popular Mexican film actress, who scandalized audiences with her provocative shows in the stage, and
Princesa Yamal, famous by her Arabian exotic dances. Other outstanding figures were Brigitte Aubé, Cleopatra, Alejandra del Moral, Mora Escudero, Gioconda, Ivonne Govea, Iris Cristal, Yolanda Liévana, Norma Lee, Mara Marú, Miss Melina Mey, Gina Morett, the transgender Jessica Muriel, Valeria Pani, Noelia Noel, Olga Ríos, Merle Uribe and Judith Velasco Herrera, One of the last great vedettes in Mexico was
Francis García, a transvestite artist who was the main star of the Teatro Blanquita for more than a decade. In recent years, large night centers have virtually disappeared from Mexico. Some actresses and singers perform shows of vedettes in other venues, such as the
Palenques. Among them are figures such as
Costa Rican
Maribel Guardia, Mexicans
Lorena Herrera,
Mariana Seoane, the transgender
Alejandra Bogue and
Ninel Conde and the Cubans
Niurka Marcos and Lis Vega.
United States The term "vedette" is not commonly used in the United States or other Anglo-Saxon countries, where they are called "
showgirls" instead.
Las Vegas is considered, after Paris, as the main venue for revue shows and musicals worldwide. Briton
Lydia Thompson became a leading dancer and actress in burlesques on the London stage. She introduced Victorian burlesque to America with her troupe the "British Blondes", in 1868, to great acclaim and notoriety. Of the most famous American vedettes, stand out
May Yohé, one of the most valued figures of the vaudeville at the beginning of the century; The aforementioned
Josephine Baker, who ended up consecrating herself in France, where she was more popular than in her own country;
Fanny Brice, star of the famous
Ziegfeld Follies, queen of the theater, revues and later also star of cinema and the radio;
Sally Rand, actress and dancer, specializing in fan dancing, which she popularized at the Paramount Club, and who because of the postures considered indecent she adopted with the dance was sometimes arrested. Also conceived the famous dance of the bubble;
Zorita, famous for her shows where she played double roles and for her dances where she used boas and other exotic animals;
Evelyn West, also known as "The Hubba Hubba Girl", a burlesque legend of the forties, fifties and sixties;
Ann Corio, who also works in several Hollywood films;
Mae West, who achieved tremendous fame, first in theater and then in
Hollywood, where she scandalized censorship for her provocative behavior and spicy phrases. In the 1950s and 1960s, she achieved fame in her shows, which included groups of dancers and bodybuilders;
Gypsy Rose Lee, immortalized in the famous autobiographical musical
Gypsy. Her innovations consisted of a casual style, against the spasmodic movements of other strippers (she emphasized the joke during the striptease) and brought a keen sense of humor to her performances. She was one of the main stars of the
Minsky's Burlesque, with whom she worked four years. While working with the Minsky brothers she was arrested several times. Another important figure of this time was Novita "The Pixie of Burlesque", one of the founders of the Exotic Dancers League (EDL). In the 1940s and 1950s, the exotic dancer
Lottie 'The Body' Graves also shone in the burlesque. She was known as "The Black Gypsy Rose Lee". In the 1950s and 1960s
Jennie Lee was considered one of the queens of burlesque. In the 1960s and 1970s some burlesque figures peaked in the United States, particularly at the shows offered in Las Vegas. These included
Tempest Storm,
Lili St. Cyr,
Blaze Starr,
Kitten Natividad,
Tura Satana,
Bambi Jones Princess Cheyenne, and
Satan's Angel. The most important figure in recent years has been
Liza Minnelli. Today, among the most famous vedettes in the United States are
Dita Von Teese, who was the star of Crazy Horse,
Julie Atlas Muz,
Michelle L'amour,
Amanda Lepore,
Catherine D'lish,
Miss Dirty Martini, the British
Immodesty Blaze,
Angie Pontani,
Jo Weldon and the
Singaporean
Sukki Singapora, the first international burlesque artist in Singapore. Singapora became the first burlesque artist in the world to be invited to tea at
Buckingham Palace as a recognition of her contribution to the arts as an Asian model.
Other Other prominent vedettes who have appeared in the world are the
Puerto Rican Iris Chacón, the
Venezuelans
Haydée Balza and
Diosa Canales, the
Cubans
Chelo Alonso and
Rita Montaner, and the
Peruvian Amparo Brambilla. ==In popular culture==