burlesque

Gurlesque: The New Grrly, Grotesque, Burlesque Poetics

admin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Edited by Lara Glenum, Arielle Greenberg

The problem with books with two introductions is that one can inevitably doom the other and, at worst, the entire book. This just might be the case with the contra(dictory)dance of introductions to the anthology Gurlesque, edited by poets Lara Glenum and Arielle Greenberg. According to Glenum, Gurlesue poetry “assaults the norms of acceptable female behavior by irreverently deploying gender stereotypes to subversive ends.” Both editors relate this poetry to cultural movements like riot grrrl, burlesque, kitsch, camp, and more.

For Greenberg, Gurlesque is “not a movement or a camp or a clique.” (Okay, so what is it then?) It is “just something [she] saw...born of black organza witch costumes and the silver worn-out sequins mashed between scratchy pink tutu netting and velvet unicorn paintings and arena rock ballads…” Her list continues and is reminiscent of the sub/counter culture detritus that has wound up at mall stores like Hot Topic. I really wanted to love the idea of Gurlesque and was looking forward to some in-depth and sophisticated rendering. Unfortunately, Greenberg sounds like a chatty scenester at a party, making the anthology seem little more than a self-serving, self-validating effort.

Luckily, Glenum’s introduction is more intellectually sound and includes some interesting theory; however, both seem resistant to lay any more than spotty groundwork about what Gurlesque is or isn’t, at the same time that they see the selected poems as being exemplary of this “idea”. From Greenberg: “Being in this anthology doesn’t mean anything about the poets in particular: we are just trotting these poems out on our sideshow stage because of what we see in them.” And from Glenum: “I am not insisting that this genealogy forms a common knowledge base for Gurlesque poets…I intend the above merely as a loose sketch of aesthetic tendencies and impulses, an artistic and theoretical heritage from which the Gurlesque draws its manifold, relentless energies.” Yet wouldn’t the artifact of the anthology prove more than a loose sketch?

So what about the actual poetry? What does Gurlesque poetry look and read like? I asked a poet friend who said “pile on the cum, pile on the vomit, heap on the porn.” Poet Ariana Reines doesn’t disappoint with lines like “First he spit on my asshole and then start in with a middle finger and then the cock slid in no sound come out only a maw gaping, grind hard into ground.” While this might seem like a performance of pornographic crassness, it could be seen (and I tease this from the Exoskeleton poetry blog) as skillfully employing the savvy irony of our cultural moment: self-consciously using played out shock-for-shock’s sake.

These aren’t easy poems to read. They aren’t your grandmother’s poems, and they aren’t Hallmark greeting card poems. They aren’t like most poems you would read in a book grabbed off the shelf in Barnes & Nobles, or even the library. If you make it through the bric-a-brac of the introductions, you get a good sense of some very new and innovative (if not all that good or likable) poetics.

Readers might be jarred by Chelsey Minnis’ excessive use of ellipses, to the point of frustration. The visual disorientation of the work gives the reader the sense that so much else is going on around and outside the poems, they become part of a much wider extended dialogue in which the reader is invited to imagine the activity in the pauses. Excerpts from Geraldine Kim’s “Povel” recalibrate our sense of poetry, prose, and the quotable. Lines like “I was barn./I was razed./I was mot this flame with no’s sum else blue’s blame noir yearning down the house” from Heidi Lynn Staple’s “Fonder a Care Kept” are going to test even the most adept readers of contemporary poetry.

There is a great deal of variety in this anthology, and as a woman of color, while I was happy to see Asian American women represented, I was strongly disappointed by the apparent lack of work by African American, Latina, or Native American women. While I suppose it is possible (though unlikely) that such women of color aren’t writing Gurlesque, it seems more plausible that when it depends on one’s field of vision that this is an effect of “just something I saw.”

Written by: L, June 2nd 2010

Behind the Burly Q

admin — Tue, 04 May 2010 16:01:00 +0000

Directed by Leslie Zemeckis

First Run Features

We can't deny that we're in the midst of a Burlesque Renaissance, at least in New York City—go to any club downtown and see for yourself. But there's also no denying that the art form has undergone a drastic change since its heyday, if not in the style of performance then in how its performers are received. Today there's something kitschy about women stripping down to pasties and shaking it 'til their tassels twirl. What was once our version of pole dancing has developed an innocent gloss with time. Nostalgia has helped us to appreciate burlesque for both its titillation and its humor, and to consider its performers not only strippers but also gifted comediennes.

In Behind the Burly Q, countless dancers from burlesque's "golden age" remind us that, even then, humor was always key, but that we shouldn't forget what the art form's really about. One former dancer recalls a remark made by her husband long after she'd stopped: "You weren't a stripper; you were in burlesque." She replied, "Well honey, what do you think I was doing in burlesque? I wasn't playing the piano."

This tongue-in-cheek attitude must have rubbed off on director Leslie Zemeckis, as she does her best to keep the film light even when approaching the darkest of subjects. Like many of those working the strip club circuit today, burlesque dancers of the thirties typically grew up underprivileged and often abused, with little hope for advancement. Some of the most famous performers, like Lili St. Cyr, carried their demons well into celebrity, falling into depression and drug use. Still, all of Zemeckis' interviewees look back on the era fondly, even when discussing their own struggles, and Zemeckis underscores their resilience with jaunty vaudevillian music throughout.

It's impossible to estimate how arousing burlesque was for audiences contemporary to its prime, but according to Behind the Burly Q, its performers were admired and courted by movie stars and politicians alike (including a young JFK). Burlesque brought them money and adoration, more than they could have garnered in any other profession available to them, and many of them truly enjoyed what they did. In fact, some dancers performed well into middle age, Ann Corio into her 80's. The film retains that same bawdy, shameless joy, while still managing to give proper reverence to its subject—and its originators.

Written by: Caitlin Graham, May 4th 2010

Bliss Bodice and Bamboozlement Bloomers

admin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:39:00 +0000

By Under the Root

That which is covered or veiled in chiffon, silk or lace can intrigue more frequently than the rawly exposed. The scene that continues once the screen fades makes me smile more than any clinical documentation. (Obvious, boring, lacking subtlety...) Also, most agree that some sort of underwear is a practical necessity. Under the Root offers comfortable and charming designs of historically inspired but contemporary coaxing clothing. All items are hand-made, custom, made-to-order vintage reworkings that are not your corporate-endorsed inflatable Stepford silicon lingerie by any stretch of the imagination. And referring to 'clothing' and 'imagination' in the same paragraph is a delightful change. Inspirations include the burlesque, cabaret, can-can (not Cancun), circus, vaudeville (not Victoria's Secret), theater and stage.

I was reminded not only of literature, but also Toulouse-Lautrec's sketches and paintings of the female performers of Montmartre, such as the The Clowness (1895), depicting Cha-U-Kao. Despite their relative rarity in the rings, women have clowned throughout history, from Dorian Mimes in ancient Greece, to the 'Glee Maidens' of Medieval England. The seventeenth century French court jester Mathuine is credited with a joke used in circuses well into the 19th century: she was escorting a woman in to see the King when the lady sneered, “I don't like having a clown on my right side.” Mathuine promptly stepped around her and replied, “I don't mind at all.” I have no doubt that the “Tinker Bloomettes”—flamboyant elaborate pleats of turquoise and magenta—would have flattered her and could also wear well on stage today, or at a more private locale. Drama queens of any gender can invest in some arm spats.

The Bliss Bodice and Bamboozlement Bloomers are made of 'repurposed' butter-yellow ribbed cotton jersey and are trimmed with narrow dove gray lace. The straps are black grosgrain. If you favor petroleum-based buttfloss, that's your business, but if you're looking for something interesting to look at and delightful to wear, seek it 'Under the Root.'

Photo depicts Banniki Bloomettes by Under the Root.

Written by: Erika Mikkalo, July 1st 2009

A Wink and a Smile

admin — Sun, 17 May 2009 23:02:00 +0000

By Deirdre Timmons

First Run Features

Deirdre Timmons' documentary A Wink and a Smile is a love letter to Seattle's thriving burlesque scene. Our tour guide is Miss Indigo Blue, veteran performer and headmistress of the Academy of Burlesque, which offers classes including a six-week Burlesque 101 course culminating in a public performance. The film focuses partly on the ten women who took the Fall 2007 course. We learn about their diverse backgrounds and reasons for being attracted to the art of burlesque, and follow them as they develop their routines for the performance.

As the women learn to dance with feather boas between their legs and apply pasties, the film also takes us beyond Burlesque 101—a smart decision, as it allows us to better understand what the students are working toward and what attracted them to burlesque in the first place. Miss Indigo Blue discusses the history and makeup of the burlesque scene in Seattle, and we're treated to full performances by a diverse cross-section of the city's most daring and talented burlesque artists. They show that burlesque can mean any number of things and involve complex props, body paint, professional-level dancing, humor, men, drag, and social and cultural commentary of all kinds. In addition to being entertaining and titillating, a routine by a great performer can truly be an artistic achievement.

With the proliferation of reality shows on TV offering drastic makeovers and consistently delivering against-all-odds radical transformation narratives, it's easy to assume that A Wink and a Smile will do the same in regards to the Burlesque 101 students. However, Timmons doesn't exploit her subjects and set us up to be shocked or entertained by the fact that a woman of any particular age/size/type would or could do burlesque. In the end, the biggest surprise is that after learning more about burlesque and its endless possibilities, it's not a surprise to see any of these women morph into burlesque performers. A Wink and a Smile is a unique and joyous celebration of the human body, mind, and spirit—complete with tassels.

Written by: Kiri Oliver, May 17th 2009

This is Burlesque

admin — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:16:00 +0000

Corio

New York, New York

To go to a burlesque show is to indulge in somewhat of a lost form of entertainment. It’s as much about the experience as it is about the actual show. Sure, a line of beautiful women can strut around on stage in their skivvies, but if the nostalgia factor isn’t there, then it’s just another striptease. Thankfully, Corio's This is Burlesque showcase has that Golden Era feel down to a science.

The adorable downtown Manhattan venue is committed to kitsch, with 1950s-style adverts plastering the walls and bluesy renditions of contemporary hits pumping through the speakers. Plus, it delivers what is, in my opinion, the staple of any good burlesque show: scenes from classic showgirl movies. While anxiously awaiting showtime, I listened to a dead ringer for Sinatra croon Beyoncé's "Naughty Girl" while enjoying scenes from Ball of Fire projected on the back wall of the stage.

The highlight of the show, oddly enough, is a large middle-aged man in a colorful suit and Buddy Holly glasses by the name of Murray Hill. As emcee for the evening, Hill is a throwback to Andy Kaufman's irreverent alter ego Tony Clifton, with his fabulously obnoxious heckling of both the audience and the performers. Unlike Clifton, though, Hill manages to remain terribly likeable, mainly because there's no one he makes fun of more than himself.

Burlesque stars Angie and Helen Pontani, Peekaboo Pointe, and Melody Sweets provide a poised but still titillating counterpoint to Hill's antics. Sweets is particularly infectious as the troupe’s sole singer-striptease artist. From her flawlessly classic vocals to her polished, stylized movements, Sweets is a performer in every sense of the word. Her coy, sassy numbers are only matched by Peekaboo Pointe’s hilariously over-the-top second act strip.

Between the uber-raunchy Hill and the excitable young crowd, This is Burlesque is perfect for bachelor and bachelorette parties. (On the night that my friend and I attended, we had a group of ladies next to us who were treated like royalty!) Beware of the menu, though; it’s prix fixe and the price is pretty steep, but the lovely servers, with their old school hospitality, enhance the experience and make it worth the price.

Written by: Caitlin Graham, October 11th 2008