Burlesque

[pamelaneko]

This is a very interesting article by Dan Savage, and it's making the rounds in the burlesque community.

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-burlesque-shoah/Content?oid=4399613

"...Because without some negative feedback, without criticism, the local burlesque bubble is destined to burst."

When I started burlesque, I tried very hard to spend time w

Comments

[awakesoon]

I feel like I saw a microcosm of what he said would happen in Denver. There was an AWESOME place in Denver two or three years ago that had stellar shows (and one hell of a bar, too). The prices were decent, and the initial shows were spectacular. Then it started to be a showcase for girls who'd taken one or two classes - not what I felt were the dedicated women who'd created the whole phenomenon in the first place, the people who had the passion and creativity for it - and it wasn't entertaining, and they closed down their operation in Summer 2008. It really bummed me out because it had such potential. I hope it doesn't got that way for the whole thing, because it's SUCH a cool concept and way to perform. I hope that your community can get that that point where you all feel safe with each other and can take the opportunity to learn together.

[squidflakes]

The only thing I want to say on this is that it is returning to mainstream, not becoming main stream. Burlesque shows were a staple form of entertainment for quite a long while before the Jesus Freaks of the 70s started saddling it with such a bad reputation.

Course, you probably know a hell of a lot more about that than I do.

[aynatonal]

This is *such* a charged issue that it's hard to tackle the whole of it. I'm going to zoom in on the "audience" question for a minute--who are they and how do we serve them best

[iwontsayplease]

I think burlesque is very close to becoming the next cool thing to hate. It's too everywhere and the standards for performance or forming a troupe are way too low.

And not because I am your friend or anything because I am always too mean about this shit, but your type of burlesque has always appealed to me most. You have lots of new routines that are almost always a little too dirty for some reason, like the banana one. And I like "traditional" burlesque but when there's too much of that, a show gets so damn boring. I'm really glad you stay away from that. It's fun to make unexpected things sexy, and I think you do that pretty well. Also, being topical is a big draw (aka swine flu) because there's always new shit to laugh at, you know?

Anyway, interesting article and I agree so much with everything he said. It's why I didn't often go to shows with you that you were not in - most of the time, I was bored.

[pamelaneko]

I agree that a lot of traditional burlesque is boring! But the problem is that the audience is just so widely VARIED right now. It's impossible to please everyone. MCs are a great example. Some people love the MCs and think the show should include them. Some people prefer to just have one strip routine after another. Some people want to see fetish acts. Some people want to see more fully-clothed dance. So it's very easy to end up putting something out there that is hated by at least a couple vocal audience members.

[fleshandfantasy]

I really wish there was more of a burlesque scene in my area - hell, I don't even know if there is one (maybe there is?) but I've never seen a show and I am jealous of hell of cities that have vibrant burlesque scenes. You + a friend of mine from college who lives in Philly & does burlesque post about it all the time, so I at least like having this vicarious perspective.