MY FIRST VISIT TO A BURLESQUE NIGHT.
I went to a
Burlesque show on February 11th, 2007 at Manchester’s Tiger Lounge.
I’m a regular customer at the bar, and though they have hosted these
increasingly popular events before, this was a first for me. I have to say I
was impressed. More shows followed, at Tiger Lounge and other venues. The
reviews index can be seen here /burlesque.contents.htm.
This was no
tacky stag night ‘get ‘’em off’ strip show, but carefully choreographed
performance art with a sharp erotic edge. The ladies, with names like Fanny
Divine, Ruby Fortune, Dolly Mae & Daison Merriere, came from Angel Cake
Burlesque www.burlesquebeauties.co.uk.
Too many modern strip shows
forget the element of ‘tease’ as they cater for an audience who have no
patience for anything but instant total gratification. The ladies of Angel Cake
redress the balance without forgetting to undress themselves. They slowly
stripped down to tassels and panties, in some very imaginative short dance
routines. The best to my mind was the
last dance, in which the girl, dressed as an alluring Ally Cat, with painted
whiskers, and a furry tail, rummaged and cavorted in several ‘clean’ rubbish
bags until she found a carton of milk, which she both drank and poured over
herself in very alluring ways before removing her wet corsetry to music from
The Aristocats.
The girls
were stunning as can only be expected. Surprisingly more girls were watching
than men, which I hadn’t expected.
This was
strong evidence that the revival of Burlesque performance art as championed,
promoted and popularised by Denise Von Teeze, former wife of rock star Marilyn
Manson, is now well under way. There was a very 1950’s feel to the event. The
ultra-cool Tiger Lounge setting with its portraits of Bettie Page and plush
‘fake’ tiger-skin hangings décor helped this.
The one thing missing from the traditional. ‘Burlesque’ shows were crap
comedians. It was a common thing in US
style Burlesque for the dancing girl sets to be broken up by appearances by
dire comedians, who’s job was to drive customers away to get their drinks in between
acts. Any comedian capable of getting a laugh or attention was quickly fired.
At Tiger lounge, the support act
was, by contrast, an excellent rock band, The Straight Jackets, who played a
terrific thirty-minute set, though in a relatively small cozy bar like Tiger
Lounge getting served was no challenge anyhow. Other music was provided by
young DJ Liam Revenge who was also great.
The
atmosphere was terrific, with many girls in attendance dressing in stunning
sexy and daring outfits of their own – the best two were singled out by the MC
and awarded bottles of Champaign.
All in all, a hugely enjoyable night of good clean. Mucky’ fun.
Arthur Chappell
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