Cabaret - Definition and Overview

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 19th century introduced a revolutionized cabaret culture with such performers including 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.

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".

Famous cabarets include:

• Moulin Rouge and Lapin Agile in Paris, France
• Cabaret Voltaire in Zürich
• Els Quatre Gats in Barcelona, Spain

• Cabaret is also the name of a 1966 Broadway musical.
• Cabaret is also a 1972 film based on that musical.