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Burlesque Beat Magazine
11.29.2012
Burlesque Beat Magazine
burlesquebeat.com
Original online format, complete with photography, viewable at:
http://burlesquebeat.com/2012/11/29/montreal-burlesque-festival-2012-the-decadence-begins/
By Photolena
September 27, 2012
Club Soda, Montréal, Québec
When most people think of autumn in Montreal, they might imagine smoked meat sandwiches stacked as high as the eye can see, bowls of poutine slathered with the tastiest gravy and chunks of cheese curd, romantic walks along cobblestone streets in Old Montreal, or the newest touring art show to hit the Musée des Beaux-Arts. They’re right, of course. These are all fantastic images that engage the senses in amusing ways.
When I think of autumn in Montreal, I think of cleavage. Large ample bosoms enveloped in the silkiest of fabrics, covered in mounds of glitter and glam. I think of long, lean, well-muscled male specimens strutting across the velvet stage to the whoops and hollers of both ladies and lads. I think of pretty little French stage kittens sweeping up glittery residue and discarded feathers. And let’s not forget the booze, lots and lots of cocktails to get the creative juices flowing.
I think of Le Festival de Burlesque de Montréal – or, the Montreal Burlesque Festival for the rest of you (but it sounds so much more exotic in French, n’est-ce pas?). Held for the past several years at Club Soda in Montreal’s bustling St. Laurent Boulevard neighbourhood, this gorgeous event space has hosted many great Canadian artists such as The Tragically Hip, the Barenaked Ladies, and Holly Cole, as well as many international artists such as Oasis, Soundgarden, and even Jay Leno. Appropriate then, that producer and ultra-talented burlesque performer Miss Scarlett James chose this spot to put on her big extravaganza.
With 3 evenings of cabaret shows plus a midnight finale, there were so many fantastic performances throughout the weekend, giving me a chance to watch performers I had never seen before. On to highlights of our first night…
Lady Josephine
If you attended the Great Boston Burlesque Expo in 2011, then you may have seen this statuesque blonde win the “Most Beautiful” award. The Lady Josephine – one of my all-time favourites – is a regular at the Montreal Festival and the Toronto Festival as well. It was 3 years ago that I first saw her perform on the Club Soda stage and I was blown away by her eclectic mix of cabaret and mime. I was enthralled by her performance this year – I’ve always thought that her statuesque beauty and classic features were suited to times past, and her 1920s-themed routine definitely cemented that in my mind. Her performance unfolded like a silent era melodrama, full of flamboyant body language and facial expressions. Our long and lean heroine was draped in sheer black layers, striking against her ceramic skin and platinum hair. This was the first time I’ve ever seen a 1920s striptease, but it was truly fantastic – burlesque peels and reveals can be performed both slowly and sensually or with raw energy and in your face, depending on the character and music, but throw in some Lillian Gish melodrama and the reveal is brought to a totally different level of theatre. Considering how flexible this Amazon is, I’m never surprised to see her literally bend over backwards for her audience.
A performer that I hadn’t seen before had me hooting and hollering through her entire performance. The gorgeous Vivian MirAnn, producer of Albuquerque’s Gilded Cage Burlesk & Varieté, amazed us with her Dia de Los… Hell! routine. Dancing across the stage in a beautiful black dress adorned with glittery red flames, you couldn’t help but admire her unique fascinator – rich flowers attached to a Phantom Of The Opera-style half face mask. A burlesque mystery – whatcha got hiding under that mask, lady? Boy, this gal can sure can rock out her burlesque, working her beautiful skirt like a cape. I love me a gal with tattoos and she had beautiful ones that stood out in stunning blue accents against her black outfit. Mrowr! To me, her big reveal wasn’t at the end of the act at the pasties stage, but just before when in black corset, fishnet stockings and red fringe, she ripped off her half mask to reveal a beautiful Dia De los Muertos half-face makeup job.
Bonbon Bombay
One of my absolute favourite performers and a local Montrealer, is the eclectic – there’s that word again, I seem to have a pattern here – and dark BonBon Bombay. I am always excited when I hear that she’ll be performing in a show that I’m going to as she always brings a new, and sometimes dark character to the party. From a potion-making clown to a mime ballerina, her performances are always engaging eye candy. She really brought her A-game to the festival this year with this first of two performances. Channeling her inner Marilyn, she performed an homage to the scene from Let’s Make Love, looking ever the beautiful vixen as she sang My Heart Belongs to Daddy – a song that brings up a whole boatload of sinful and kinky visuals. So many tasty manly-men were under BonBon’s complete control throughout the song, caressing her, holding her, lifting her high up into the air. I have to say, having seen the original film version, she did a fantastic job of modifying the scene to work with her props, the stage space, and push the implied sexuality up a thousand notches with some striptease – not that it wasn’t hot, hot, hot for the 60s to begin with.
If I could afford to have my house cleaned, I would want it to be by L’Diablo’s naughty little maid. You knew right off the bat when she came on stage dressed in her comfortable footwear and pink maid uniform carrying a pink feather duster in her matching pink rubber gloved hands that she was a vamp trapped in a serf’s body. And boy, did she ever have an awakening! Off came the rubber gloves – an interesting peel to say the least – and the comfort gave over to style with a nice sexy pair of black heels. So what was under that horrible pink uniform? I shouldn’t have been surprised to see a very revealing and sexy little French maid’s outfit that came off to reveal the smallest, cutest pink bra and matching fringed bottoms. I’m sensing a theme here… something pink, I think. Lifting her mop bucket over her head, she showered herself, and some of the audience, in the sparkling glitter of glory!
L. Diablo
I originally had the pleasure of seeing Holly Gauthier at the festival a couple of years back, when she performed a stunning hot burlesque act and later showed us her singing skills. Nowadays, she’s focusing on her soulful sound and for the third year in a row has wowed the audience with some sizzling bluesy tunes and a little striptease thrown in – just enough to get everyone hot and bothered. Poured into a sultry black gown, she was quite the vision of elegance and poise on the darkened stage. Her blues set had me wanting to get up and dance, but alas I had no partner and… well, there was no dance floor. I had to be happy with tapping my feet, shimmying my hips, and having another drink.
Jett Adore – he’s the No-Pantser Romancer, and it seems that this is how most of us prefer to see him. But the slow and sensual journey to catch just a glimpse of perfection is such sweet agony. And this was a new act, at least for me. Huge, butterfly-like feather wings spanned the entire stage, making him the focal point of the scene. All eyes were on this gorgeous specimen – an alpha of the species – announcing his beauty and stature for all to see. As if this display was not enough to attract, he cocooned himself within his feathery wings to emerge born anew, molted of his bothersome clothes, in full Jett Adore burlesque glory.
Michelle L'amour
We all know that Miss Exotic World (2005) Michelle L’Amour has the most beautiful and creamy skin ever to be seen, so I can see why she’s “the most naked woman” in burlesque. With her skin as white as snow, how appropriate that she performed her Snow White routine. With her adorable black bob and red bow, she bounced onto the stage in a perfect replica costume. But that’s where any similarity to the Disney Princess ended – apparently eating a poison apple in the city known for it’s Super Sexe won’t put you into a coma. This is the forbidden fruit, opening your mind, lowering your inhibitions, ramping up your libido, and apparently turning little Snow White into Red Hot! Off came the foot length princess skirt, ditched was the restrictive tailored jacket and out came the snowy white legs that led up to those milky thighs, leading up to those creamy b… Where was I? Little miss innocent rocked out in a black sheer little nothing, letting her inner vamp rule the day.
Also appearing in the first night of the festival (you’ll read about their outstanding performances on Day 2 and 3): Scarlett James, Loulou La Duchess du Rière, and the Pink Chardonnays. A big shoutout to the other performers this evening: St. Stella and James & the Giant Pasty, Lili Beth, Dr. Mysterion, and Jazz Dance Factory.
Kudos go out to those that made the Festival such a big success: founder and producer Miss Scarlett James, stage manager Domenic Castelli, emcee Benjamin Marquis, and stage kittens Audrey Ivory and Annabelle.
Olena Sullivan (Photolena) is a Toronto-based model and performance photographer who specializes in onstage burlesque photography. All photos ©Olena Sullivan-Photolena and used here with permission by Burlesque Beat.
Burlesque Beat Magazine
burlesquebeat.com
Original online format, complete with photography, viewable at:
http://burlesquebeat.com/2012/11/29/montreal-burlesque-festival-2012-the-decadence-begins/
By Photolena
September 27, 2012
Club Soda, Montréal, Québec
When most people think of autumn in Montreal, they might imagine smoked meat sandwiches stacked as high as the eye can see, bowls of poutine slathered with the tastiest gravy and chunks of cheese curd, romantic walks along cobblestone streets in Old Montreal, or the newest touring art show to hit the Musée des Beaux-Arts. They’re right, of course. These are all fantastic images that engage the senses in amusing ways.
When I think of autumn in Montreal, I think of cleavage. Large ample bosoms enveloped in the silkiest of fabrics, covered in mounds of glitter and glam. I think of long, lean, well-muscled male specimens strutting across the velvet stage to the whoops and hollers of both ladies and lads. I think of pretty little French stage kittens sweeping up glittery residue and discarded feathers. And let’s not forget the booze, lots and lots of cocktails to get the creative juices flowing.
I think of Le Festival de Burlesque de Montréal – or, the Montreal Burlesque Festival for the rest of you (but it sounds so much more exotic in French, n’est-ce pas?). Held for the past several years at Club Soda in Montreal’s bustling St. Laurent Boulevard neighbourhood, this gorgeous event space has hosted many great Canadian artists such as The Tragically Hip, the Barenaked Ladies, and Holly Cole, as well as many international artists such as Oasis, Soundgarden, and even Jay Leno. Appropriate then, that producer and ultra-talented burlesque performer Miss Scarlett James chose this spot to put on her big extravaganza.
With 3 evenings of cabaret shows plus a midnight finale, there were so many fantastic performances throughout the weekend, giving me a chance to watch performers I had never seen before. On to highlights of our first night…
Lady Josephine
If you attended the Great Boston Burlesque Expo in 2011, then you may have seen this statuesque blonde win the “Most Beautiful” award. The Lady Josephine – one of my all-time favourites – is a regular at the Montreal Festival and the Toronto Festival as well. It was 3 years ago that I first saw her perform on the Club Soda stage and I was blown away by her eclectic mix of cabaret and mime. I was enthralled by her performance this year – I’ve always thought that her statuesque beauty and classic features were suited to times past, and her 1920s-themed routine definitely cemented that in my mind. Her performance unfolded like a silent era melodrama, full of flamboyant body language and facial expressions. Our long and lean heroine was draped in sheer black layers, striking against her ceramic skin and platinum hair. This was the first time I’ve ever seen a 1920s striptease, but it was truly fantastic – burlesque peels and reveals can be performed both slowly and sensually or with raw energy and in your face, depending on the character and music, but throw in some Lillian Gish melodrama and the reveal is brought to a totally different level of theatre. Considering how flexible this Amazon is, I’m never surprised to see her literally bend over backwards for her audience.
A performer that I hadn’t seen before had me hooting and hollering through her entire performance. The gorgeous Vivian MirAnn, producer of Albuquerque’s Gilded Cage Burlesk & Varieté, amazed us with her Dia de Los… Hell! routine. Dancing across the stage in a beautiful black dress adorned with glittery red flames, you couldn’t help but admire her unique fascinator – rich flowers attached to a Phantom Of The Opera-style half face mask. A burlesque mystery – whatcha got hiding under that mask, lady? Boy, this gal can sure can rock out her burlesque, working her beautiful skirt like a cape. I love me a gal with tattoos and she had beautiful ones that stood out in stunning blue accents against her black outfit. Mrowr! To me, her big reveal wasn’t at the end of the act at the pasties stage, but just before when in black corset, fishnet stockings and red fringe, she ripped off her half mask to reveal a beautiful Dia De los Muertos half-face makeup job.
Bonbon Bombay
One of my absolute favourite performers and a local Montrealer, is the eclectic – there’s that word again, I seem to have a pattern here – and dark BonBon Bombay. I am always excited when I hear that she’ll be performing in a show that I’m going to as she always brings a new, and sometimes dark character to the party. From a potion-making clown to a mime ballerina, her performances are always engaging eye candy. She really brought her A-game to the festival this year with this first of two performances. Channeling her inner Marilyn, she performed an homage to the scene from Let’s Make Love, looking ever the beautiful vixen as she sang My Heart Belongs to Daddy – a song that brings up a whole boatload of sinful and kinky visuals. So many tasty manly-men were under BonBon’s complete control throughout the song, caressing her, holding her, lifting her high up into the air. I have to say, having seen the original film version, she did a fantastic job of modifying the scene to work with her props, the stage space, and push the implied sexuality up a thousand notches with some striptease – not that it wasn’t hot, hot, hot for the 60s to begin with.
If I could afford to have my house cleaned, I would want it to be by L’Diablo’s naughty little maid. You knew right off the bat when she came on stage dressed in her comfortable footwear and pink maid uniform carrying a pink feather duster in her matching pink rubber gloved hands that she was a vamp trapped in a serf’s body. And boy, did she ever have an awakening! Off came the rubber gloves – an interesting peel to say the least – and the comfort gave over to style with a nice sexy pair of black heels. So what was under that horrible pink uniform? I shouldn’t have been surprised to see a very revealing and sexy little French maid’s outfit that came off to reveal the smallest, cutest pink bra and matching fringed bottoms. I’m sensing a theme here… something pink, I think. Lifting her mop bucket over her head, she showered herself, and some of the audience, in the sparkling glitter of glory!
L. Diablo
I originally had the pleasure of seeing Holly Gauthier at the festival a couple of years back, when she performed a stunning hot burlesque act and later showed us her singing skills. Nowadays, she’s focusing on her soulful sound and for the third year in a row has wowed the audience with some sizzling bluesy tunes and a little striptease thrown in – just enough to get everyone hot and bothered. Poured into a sultry black gown, she was quite the vision of elegance and poise on the darkened stage. Her blues set had me wanting to get up and dance, but alas I had no partner and… well, there was no dance floor. I had to be happy with tapping my feet, shimmying my hips, and having another drink.
Jett Adore – he’s the No-Pantser Romancer, and it seems that this is how most of us prefer to see him. But the slow and sensual journey to catch just a glimpse of perfection is such sweet agony. And this was a new act, at least for me. Huge, butterfly-like feather wings spanned the entire stage, making him the focal point of the scene. All eyes were on this gorgeous specimen – an alpha of the species – announcing his beauty and stature for all to see. As if this display was not enough to attract, he cocooned himself within his feathery wings to emerge born anew, molted of his bothersome clothes, in full Jett Adore burlesque glory.
Michelle L'amour
We all know that Miss Exotic World (2005) Michelle L’Amour has the most beautiful and creamy skin ever to be seen, so I can see why she’s “the most naked woman” in burlesque. With her skin as white as snow, how appropriate that she performed her Snow White routine. With her adorable black bob and red bow, she bounced onto the stage in a perfect replica costume. But that’s where any similarity to the Disney Princess ended – apparently eating a poison apple in the city known for it’s Super Sexe won’t put you into a coma. This is the forbidden fruit, opening your mind, lowering your inhibitions, ramping up your libido, and apparently turning little Snow White into Red Hot! Off came the foot length princess skirt, ditched was the restrictive tailored jacket and out came the snowy white legs that led up to those milky thighs, leading up to those creamy b… Where was I? Little miss innocent rocked out in a black sheer little nothing, letting her inner vamp rule the day.
Also appearing in the first night of the festival (you’ll read about their outstanding performances on Day 2 and 3): Scarlett James, Loulou La Duchess du Rière, and the Pink Chardonnays. A big shoutout to the other performers this evening: St. Stella and James & the Giant Pasty, Lili Beth, Dr. Mysterion, and Jazz Dance Factory.
Kudos go out to those that made the Festival such a big success: founder and producer Miss Scarlett James, stage manager Domenic Castelli, emcee Benjamin Marquis, and stage kittens Audrey Ivory and Annabelle.
Olena Sullivan (Photolena) is a Toronto-based model and performance photographer who specializes in onstage burlesque photography. All photos ©Olena Sullivan-Photolena and used here with permission by Burlesque Beat.
The Daily Lobo
11.1.2012
Burlesque
Performers revive vintage art form
By Nicole Perez
New Mexico Daily Lobo
A naked woman sprayed glitter into her hair, teasing it with her other hand, in a tiny changing room backstage at Low Spirits Bar & Stage. She strutted onstage to a track by Slim Shady, wearing a vest and suit pants, and stripped down to a thong and pasties, all the while playing with pink daggers and a noose. And according to burlesque performer Vivian MirAnn, self-confidence and body image are the last things on performers’ minds.
“I think we all go through our fat days and our thin days. It is live theater, so you have to be really confident to roll with it,” MirAnn said. “It becomes less of a body issue and more comfortable with, if something gets hung up, can I find the string to my mask? Can I get my corset off? When you go through the paces of taking off clothing, you kind of forget to think ‘Does my stomach look good? Are my thighs fat?’”
MirAnn was the founder, director and executive director of this year’s Son of the Creepshow Peepshow, a burlesque show held once a year at Low Spirits. Performers of all shapes and sizes flocked from Georgia, Colorado and Tennessee to show Albuquerque how they move their hips, jiggle their junk and dance their asses off.
Performer Helen Wheels said she saw an ad for burlesque ladies’ nights in her local newspaper, and although it took her a while to be comfortable with her body, she said it wasn’t long before she was a full-fledged performer.
“I wanted something to do that was just for me, and have a lot of fun,” she said. “Because I’m a bigger girl, I wasn’t sure that I could do it, but some of the best performers in the country are our bigger girls, and it is so much fun. It took me a while to get there, it really did, but just the support and the reaction is really what brings it to me and makes me feel more comfortable and more empowered.”
Heather “Marquix Coquette” Wilkinson said burlesque was a natural transition from dance, which she did when she was younger.
“It just came naturally; I’m okay being naked, I like to dance, I like people cheering for me, I like being the center of attention, so it just worked out for me,” Wilkinson said. “I don’t do my hair, I don’t do makeup normally during the day, and I have so much fun; it’s like getting to be a different person.”
Wheels was a guest performer from Colorado Springs, and the Peepshow also featured the burlesque troupe Tease ‘n Tassels, of which MirAnn is a member. Tease ‘n Tassels is currently on a tour across the United States, and will barely make enough money to cover the travel costs. MirAnn, an Albuquerque native, said the burlesque community was wary when Tease ‘n Tassels formed, because its members thought audiences would get bored with more frequent shows.
“We were told that Albuquerque’s too poor, too working class, and they wouldn’t support it,” she said. “But burlesque actually historically belongs to the working class. We knew if we could get the word out there that these performances were happening and not gear them to be a highbrow theater kind of thing, that we would appeal to the masses.”
MirAnn works as a tattoo artist, and because the burlesque business isn’t lucrative, she said most performers make their own costumes. MirAnn has more than 230 sewing patterns for vintage dresses, bras, slips and leggings, and she said she raids thrift stores for material. Even when something is brand new, she said it often has to be modified for easy removal.
“It has to be cut or modified so that it can come off easily,” she said. “Underwear is usually very heavily modified. It’s a lot of rhinestoning, a lot of sequins, a lot of fringe, a lot of embellishments. It’s very rare that something comes off the rack and winds up onstage unchanged.”
MirAnn said burlesque differs from stripping and pornography because there’s a theatrical element to the shows. The strips often tell a story, and the audience doesn’t have as much interaction with the dancers: it’s literally a peep show.
“We try and behave like ladies and do well onstage, and not be raunchy and not be like a strip, what people would expect from TD’s,” she said. “They (the audience) know it’s not prostitution, it’s not grabby-grabby. I think it’s a little more reverent, people treat it a little more respectfully.”
http://www.dailylobo.com/article/2012/11/burlesque
http://www.dailylobo.com/multimedia/10674
Burlesque
Performers revive vintage art form
By Nicole Perez
New Mexico Daily Lobo
A naked woman sprayed glitter into her hair, teasing it with her other hand, in a tiny changing room backstage at Low Spirits Bar & Stage. She strutted onstage to a track by Slim Shady, wearing a vest and suit pants, and stripped down to a thong and pasties, all the while playing with pink daggers and a noose. And according to burlesque performer Vivian MirAnn, self-confidence and body image are the last things on performers’ minds.
“I think we all go through our fat days and our thin days. It is live theater, so you have to be really confident to roll with it,” MirAnn said. “It becomes less of a body issue and more comfortable with, if something gets hung up, can I find the string to my mask? Can I get my corset off? When you go through the paces of taking off clothing, you kind of forget to think ‘Does my stomach look good? Are my thighs fat?’”
MirAnn was the founder, director and executive director of this year’s Son of the Creepshow Peepshow, a burlesque show held once a year at Low Spirits. Performers of all shapes and sizes flocked from Georgia, Colorado and Tennessee to show Albuquerque how they move their hips, jiggle their junk and dance their asses off.
Performer Helen Wheels said she saw an ad for burlesque ladies’ nights in her local newspaper, and although it took her a while to be comfortable with her body, she said it wasn’t long before she was a full-fledged performer.
“I wanted something to do that was just for me, and have a lot of fun,” she said. “Because I’m a bigger girl, I wasn’t sure that I could do it, but some of the best performers in the country are our bigger girls, and it is so much fun. It took me a while to get there, it really did, but just the support and the reaction is really what brings it to me and makes me feel more comfortable and more empowered.”
Heather “Marquix Coquette” Wilkinson said burlesque was a natural transition from dance, which she did when she was younger.
“It just came naturally; I’m okay being naked, I like to dance, I like people cheering for me, I like being the center of attention, so it just worked out for me,” Wilkinson said. “I don’t do my hair, I don’t do makeup normally during the day, and I have so much fun; it’s like getting to be a different person.”
Wheels was a guest performer from Colorado Springs, and the Peepshow also featured the burlesque troupe Tease ‘n Tassels, of which MirAnn is a member. Tease ‘n Tassels is currently on a tour across the United States, and will barely make enough money to cover the travel costs. MirAnn, an Albuquerque native, said the burlesque community was wary when Tease ‘n Tassels formed, because its members thought audiences would get bored with more frequent shows.
“We were told that Albuquerque’s too poor, too working class, and they wouldn’t support it,” she said. “But burlesque actually historically belongs to the working class. We knew if we could get the word out there that these performances were happening and not gear them to be a highbrow theater kind of thing, that we would appeal to the masses.”
MirAnn works as a tattoo artist, and because the burlesque business isn’t lucrative, she said most performers make their own costumes. MirAnn has more than 230 sewing patterns for vintage dresses, bras, slips and leggings, and she said she raids thrift stores for material. Even when something is brand new, she said it often has to be modified for easy removal.
“It has to be cut or modified so that it can come off easily,” she said. “Underwear is usually very heavily modified. It’s a lot of rhinestoning, a lot of sequins, a lot of fringe, a lot of embellishments. It’s very rare that something comes off the rack and winds up onstage unchanged.”
MirAnn said burlesque differs from stripping and pornography because there’s a theatrical element to the shows. The strips often tell a story, and the audience doesn’t have as much interaction with the dancers: it’s literally a peep show.
“We try and behave like ladies and do well onstage, and not be raunchy and not be like a strip, what people would expect from TD’s,” she said. “They (the audience) know it’s not prostitution, it’s not grabby-grabby. I think it’s a little more reverent, people treat it a little more respectfully.”
http://www.dailylobo.com/article/2012/11/burlesque
http://www.dailylobo.com/multimedia/10674
The Daily Lobo
11.1.2013
Burlesque’s Backstory
By Nicole Perez
New Mexico Daily Lobo
[email protected]
Burlesque is an 120-year-old, purely American art form, according to The Son of the Creepshow Peepshow executive director Vivian MirAnn.
She said the roots of burlesque began in Great Britain, when performers dressed as the opposite sex and performed comedy skits. The female performers would never show much of their bodies to the crowd, but the performances were still considered raunchy for their time.
“The fact that they had corsets on or they might show an ankle, and that was considered really risqué,” she said.
When the performance style traveled to the United States, Americans took it a little further, flaunting wrists and lower décolletages. Eventually, Americans were baring everything for the world to see. But MirAnn said the idea of teasing the audience with bare skin remains, no matter how far the performer goes.
“The tease was always a principle part of burlesque. It wasn’t ‘Let’s get our clothes off as fast as possible,’ it was ‘Do I show you, or do I not? Do you want to see? Oh no you don’t,’” she said. “It’s always very teasing.”
MirAnn said burlesque used to be accompanied by sideshow acts such as fire eating, sword swallowing and juggling. But when it was revived in the ‘90s, she said the sideshows were left in the dust. MirAnn always tries to include sideshows in the performances she organizes, because she said she wants to stay true to the art form’s roots.
“After a while, people go what they call ‘titty blind,’ so after you stare at girl after girl after girl, you just see a vacuum,” she said. “If you shake it up every few acts, people aren’t expecting it and it’s like ‘Whoa, oh my God, someone’s taking their clothes off.’ It keeps things fresh and they don’t know what’s happening.”
Burlesque has evolved from peeping ankles to almost full nudity, and MirAnn said each state has individual laws that dictate how much skin can be shown. In Tennessee, the crease under the breast cannot be shown in a public venue, but MirAnn said one of her friends is trying to overturn that rule.
“It’s completely illegal to show the crease of the breast, but one of our friends is mired in a court battle to change that,” she said. “She started the underboob liberation front.”
http://www.dailylobo.com/article/2012/11/burlesques-backstory
Burlesque’s Backstory
By Nicole Perez
New Mexico Daily Lobo
[email protected]
Burlesque is an 120-year-old, purely American art form, according to The Son of the Creepshow Peepshow executive director Vivian MirAnn.
She said the roots of burlesque began in Great Britain, when performers dressed as the opposite sex and performed comedy skits. The female performers would never show much of their bodies to the crowd, but the performances were still considered raunchy for their time.
“The fact that they had corsets on or they might show an ankle, and that was considered really risqué,” she said.
When the performance style traveled to the United States, Americans took it a little further, flaunting wrists and lower décolletages. Eventually, Americans were baring everything for the world to see. But MirAnn said the idea of teasing the audience with bare skin remains, no matter how far the performer goes.
“The tease was always a principle part of burlesque. It wasn’t ‘Let’s get our clothes off as fast as possible,’ it was ‘Do I show you, or do I not? Do you want to see? Oh no you don’t,’” she said. “It’s always very teasing.”
MirAnn said burlesque used to be accompanied by sideshow acts such as fire eating, sword swallowing and juggling. But when it was revived in the ‘90s, she said the sideshows were left in the dust. MirAnn always tries to include sideshows in the performances she organizes, because she said she wants to stay true to the art form’s roots.
“After a while, people go what they call ‘titty blind,’ so after you stare at girl after girl after girl, you just see a vacuum,” she said. “If you shake it up every few acts, people aren’t expecting it and it’s like ‘Whoa, oh my God, someone’s taking their clothes off.’ It keeps things fresh and they don’t know what’s happening.”
Burlesque has evolved from peeping ankles to almost full nudity, and MirAnn said each state has individual laws that dictate how much skin can be shown. In Tennessee, the crease under the breast cannot be shown in a public venue, but MirAnn said one of her friends is trying to overturn that rule.
“It’s completely illegal to show the crease of the breast, but one of our friends is mired in a court battle to change that,” she said. “She started the underboob liberation front.”
http://www.dailylobo.com/article/2012/11/burlesques-backstory
The Local IQ
8.26.2012
Burlesque Takes The Stage
Sunday, 26 August 2012
Photo by La Loca Linda Pinup-ology
ABurlyQ! Burlesque and Sideshow Spectaculár showcases a resurgent art with classes and two nights of shows
By Alexandra Swanberg
You can wear the vintage clothes, use a typewriter, listen to oldies music — many people are doing it, or anything else they can to get a taste of old-school living. Nostalgia for early 20th century Americana never seems out of fashion, but local burlesque troupe the Gilded Cage Burlesk and Varieté boasts a show that will make people forget modern times almost altogether.
For its second year, ABurlyQ! Burlesque and Sideshow Spectaculár features two nights of burlesque shows with around 60 performers and 15 classes over the weekend — from beginner to professional level. Gilded Cage founder and producer Vivian MirAnn started her burlesque career three years ago, and between now and then she’s discovered that many people still don’t think of Albuquerque as being a part of the United States, much less a go-to for experiencing the vintage culture to which burlesque belongs. The burlesque movement has grown since her beginnings in Albuquerque from two shows a year to three or four every month, a resurgence she attributes to a broader movement of people’s interest gravitating toward all things vintage. “I think in a way they get the sense that it was a simpler time,” she said. “I think it started coming back because for so many people it’s an antithesis to the modern world.”
In a way, burlesque is a safer form of sexual expression for people to experience, which is why it began to fall out of favor, MirAnn said. Back when it was strongly associated with vaudeville and performances included sideshows, seeing an ankle or wrist was titillating enough for audiences. Over time, she said, audiences got too antsy if there wasn’t enough skin and the sideshows started to fall out of favor as a result.
By the ’70s and ’80s, burlesque couldn’t compete with the strip clubs and XXX clubs and appeared to be a dead art — until the 1990s, when people wanted to revive the art that reminded them a time they yearned to bring back, she said.
Despite its beginnings in a very different time, the art is still influenced by modernity to different degrees, depending on the performer. Some performers are purists, selecting vintage costumes, using vintage music and staying true to vintage style in all aspects they can. On the other hand, there are some who use modern music costumes to play out tech-inspired plot lines. And of course there is plenty of hybrid performers in between.
“The burlesque umbrella is getting grayer and grayer, it used to be really easy to define. Nowadays, people are taking it in so many different ways,” MirAnn said.
What makes them all burlesque, and especially differentiates the acts from stripping, is that it is about the performance, the art of the tease. It’s not just taking your clothes off on stage to some music, MirAnn said, and performers put a lot of effort into choreographing pieces that can be humorous or dramatic.
For ABurlyQ!, the troupe selected a variety of performance styles to showcase. Additionally, to avoid rehashing what local audiences are used to seeing in this format, they started requiring that acts not have been seen on an Albuquerque stage within the last year. As a result, they are bringing in a lot of talented stage acts from all over the country and beyond.
Regardless of the style of burlesque, the experience is very much akin to what audiences experienced in burlesque’s heyday. The troupe does their best to make the audience feel welcome, supplying them with noisemakers, candies and snacks, tiaras, a bar — all the necessary accoutrements to get raucous. Performers feed off that energy, especially when it comes down to the full reveal when a performer is down to her pasties and g-string.
“It feels like you’re stepping back into that time period and the appeal is something that people just can’t resist,” MirAnn said. “It’s an actual, visceral connection to how it was back in the day.”
Burlesque Takes The Stage
Sunday, 26 August 2012
Photo by La Loca Linda Pinup-ology
ABurlyQ! Burlesque and Sideshow Spectaculár showcases a resurgent art with classes and two nights of shows
By Alexandra Swanberg
You can wear the vintage clothes, use a typewriter, listen to oldies music — many people are doing it, or anything else they can to get a taste of old-school living. Nostalgia for early 20th century Americana never seems out of fashion, but local burlesque troupe the Gilded Cage Burlesk and Varieté boasts a show that will make people forget modern times almost altogether.
For its second year, ABurlyQ! Burlesque and Sideshow Spectaculár features two nights of burlesque shows with around 60 performers and 15 classes over the weekend — from beginner to professional level. Gilded Cage founder and producer Vivian MirAnn started her burlesque career three years ago, and between now and then she’s discovered that many people still don’t think of Albuquerque as being a part of the United States, much less a go-to for experiencing the vintage culture to which burlesque belongs. The burlesque movement has grown since her beginnings in Albuquerque from two shows a year to three or four every month, a resurgence she attributes to a broader movement of people’s interest gravitating toward all things vintage. “I think in a way they get the sense that it was a simpler time,” she said. “I think it started coming back because for so many people it’s an antithesis to the modern world.”
In a way, burlesque is a safer form of sexual expression for people to experience, which is why it began to fall out of favor, MirAnn said. Back when it was strongly associated with vaudeville and performances included sideshows, seeing an ankle or wrist was titillating enough for audiences. Over time, she said, audiences got too antsy if there wasn’t enough skin and the sideshows started to fall out of favor as a result.
By the ’70s and ’80s, burlesque couldn’t compete with the strip clubs and XXX clubs and appeared to be a dead art — until the 1990s, when people wanted to revive the art that reminded them a time they yearned to bring back, she said.
Despite its beginnings in a very different time, the art is still influenced by modernity to different degrees, depending on the performer. Some performers are purists, selecting vintage costumes, using vintage music and staying true to vintage style in all aspects they can. On the other hand, there are some who use modern music costumes to play out tech-inspired plot lines. And of course there is plenty of hybrid performers in between.
“The burlesque umbrella is getting grayer and grayer, it used to be really easy to define. Nowadays, people are taking it in so many different ways,” MirAnn said.
What makes them all burlesque, and especially differentiates the acts from stripping, is that it is about the performance, the art of the tease. It’s not just taking your clothes off on stage to some music, MirAnn said, and performers put a lot of effort into choreographing pieces that can be humorous or dramatic.
For ABurlyQ!, the troupe selected a variety of performance styles to showcase. Additionally, to avoid rehashing what local audiences are used to seeing in this format, they started requiring that acts not have been seen on an Albuquerque stage within the last year. As a result, they are bringing in a lot of talented stage acts from all over the country and beyond.
Regardless of the style of burlesque, the experience is very much akin to what audiences experienced in burlesque’s heyday. The troupe does their best to make the audience feel welcome, supplying them with noisemakers, candies and snacks, tiaras, a bar — all the necessary accoutrements to get raucous. Performers feed off that energy, especially when it comes down to the full reveal when a performer is down to her pasties and g-string.
“It feels like you’re stepping back into that time period and the appeal is something that people just can’t resist,” MirAnn said. “It’s an actual, visceral connection to how it was back in the day.”
