leg business
19th-century slang for ballet — a term that says everything about how stuffy Victorian audiences viewed the art form.
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Born ~1850 · no dated citations yetDefinitions
19th-century slang for ballet — a term that says everything about how stuffy Victorian audiences viewed the art form. While ballet enthusiasts might emphasize artistry and technique, the more prurient gallery crowd called it 'leg business' because the dancers' costumes showed more leg than conventional Victorian standards allowed. It's now a charming period phrase that captures the tension between art and audience gaze.
The critic sniffed that it was nothing but leg business dressed up in French names, though the house was sold out every night.
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(slang) Ballet.
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