| Summary: | Thesis advisor: John H. Houchin === Cabaret, a socially-amalgamated art form, has worn many hats over the course of its often outspoken history. Evidences of this fascinating and crucial European institution date as far back as the thirteenth century and have since been used to categorize any number of venues showcasing acts of critical prowess and refined talent. By contemporary standards, the term ‘cabaret’ applies to “places of entertainment like night clubs that offer a wide variety of showmanship, food and drink, and often dancing both on stage and on the floor.” However, back at the turn of the twentieth century, when it finally materialized as a recognized form of artistic and social activity, cabaret carried a very strict and idealistic agenda. Whatever the precedents or forbearers of cabaret, the fact is that cabaret, as a distinct cultural phenomenon, had an articulate, recent, and undoubtedly relevant chronology – one that flourished for about half a century between the opening of the first and most famous cabaret in 1881 in Paris, and the political crises of Europe in the 1930s that curtailed the freedoms of thought, expression and experiment that characterizes cabaret in its most potent form. In regards to such impertinent critiques of society – which the arts are hardly foreign – the significance of cabaret, as a catalytic point of artistic convergence as well as a port for mounting populist opinion, holds particular resonance not only in historical contexts, but in modern circumstance as well. Despite the innumerous adaptations, the regional and period variations cabaret has spawned over the years; besides the evolving (albeit vague) definitions of what cabaret was at any given time, cabaret, as an art form, retains many of the inherent intents and purposes that date back to its avant-garde birth. Arguably then, cabaret, a veritable social platform for criticism, holds palpable merit for contemporary artists and the societies they represent, considering cabaret has and perpetually will serve as a synthesizing mechanism to bridge not only the popular art mediums of the day, but the social classes as well. Through research and example, I have isolated the characteristics and social forces behind cabaret that distinguish it from other performance genres in hopes to identify the current potential cabaret poses on an ever-evolving global culture. === Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2005. === Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. === Discipline: College Honors Program.
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