Cabaret

Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue - a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting around the tables (often dining or drinking) watching the performance. The turn of the 20th century introduced a revolutionized cabaret culture. Performers included the spectacular Josephine Baker and the legendary infamous Brazilian drag performer João Francisco dos Santos (aka Madame Sata), both of African descent. The venue itself can also be called a "cabaret." These performances could range from political satire to light entertainment, each being introduced by a master of ceremonies, or MC.

Related Topics:
Comedy - Song - Dance - Theatre - Restaurant - Nightclub - Josephine Baker - João Francisco dos Santos - Political satire - Master of ceremonies

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The term is a French word for the taprooms or cafés, where this form of entertainment was born, as a more artistic type of café-chantant. It is derived from Middle Dutch cabret, through Old North French camberette, from Late Latin camera. It basically means "small room."

Related Topics:
French - Café-chantant

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Cabaret also refers to a Mediterranean style brothel - a bar with tables and women who mingle with and entertain the clientele. Traditionally these establishments can also feature some form of stage entertainment: often singers & dancers - the bawdiness of which vary with the quality of the establishment. It is the more sophisticated - higher end - cabaret which eventually engendered the type of establishment and art-form which is the subject of the remainder of this article.

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This meaning and often some form of live entertainment

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