In the “golden age of burlesque”,
the women of bump & grind would perform for upwards of 20 minutes at a
time. The drawn out art of the tease,
blended with a profuse amount of choreography or improvised dance meant that a
single artist was an entire ‘Act’ all to herself. Today the standard burlesque piece averages at about 5
minutes. With YouTube, Netflix, Twitter,
Facebook and other social media outlets dishing out instant gratification we are
mentally geared toward shorts. This
isn’t necessarily bad! It’s just a new standard. Personally I love it when a
performer can tell an entire story in the course of a single song, and can get
bored if the ‘reach’ of an act extends the performer’s ‘grasp’.
With this in mind the concept of
a burlesque show devoted entirely to contemporary long form burlesque, that is
acts averaging 10 minutes or more, and involving varied elements of performance,
is a risky one. However, if you have
been following my sporadic posts over the past 10-12 months you may note that
one troupe in particular has been getting its kicks tackling risky concept shows!
I am, of course speaking of
Sinner Saint Burlesque.
photo by Danny Boulet of WittyPixel Photography
The first of SSB’s 2013 season is
called “Long Kiss Goodnight” and is composed of four feature acts, and a
sprinkling of shorter group numbers. Of
the troupe’s five primary members, four participate in each night’s
performance. The themes of the individual
pieces are surprisingly diverse, sharing only a joint dedication to a longer-form
of act structure. This diversity of
theme provides the necessary variety needed to maintain the attention of a
typically distracted audience and was, for me, very satisfying.
The show’s host, Cherry Manhattan,
spun a story built around a decadent party.
Sporting a lovely RP dialect, a variety of evening and ‘after-evening’
outfits, and playing the role of a gracious, candid, professional party girl,
Cherry was delightful and engaging! Her
mixing of borderline adolescent obsession with kissing, a peppering of pop-culture
references, sophisticated innuendos, and obscure allusions allowed her to connect
with the varied mob that is The Noc Noc’s usual crowd. This was my first opportunity to enjoy Cherry’s
hosting style and I very much hope to experience her again!
The first of SSB’s featured act was
Polly Wood’s 'extended edition, director’s cut' of her Elizabeth Taylor Tribute. Polly’s approach to the longer form structure
of the show was to provide, in sequence, strip tease, reverse strip, strip
tease, reverse strip, and final reveal. In
her interpretation of the famed Hollywood diva, Polly explored two of Taylor’s
most remembered roles: Cleopatra and Maggie the Cat, and executed the costume
changes necessary to play those roles, all without revealing her… well ‘lady
apples’? Polly’s take on Ms. Taylor
leans more to the lighthearted than to the smoldering, walking the line
between tribute and good natured parody, but she successfully captured moments
of iconic Liz Taylor sexiness that the audience very much enjoyed it!
Second was Dona De Couri’s three
part sketch/burlesque act involving a kissing booth, an Andrew Sisters’ style performance
between herself, Polly Wood and Jesse Belle-Jones, and finally a classic strip
tease. The kissing booth sketch was
hysterical! Dona’s initial revulsion, followed by decided enthusiasm provided
the audience with vivid images of her ‘clients’. The musical performance that followed was a
delightful surprise. I love it when performers open up in other ways! Finally, Dona’s skills as a
dancer, and consummate teaser, successfully pleased, entertained and titillated the audience, in the third
movement of her piece.
Next up, Jesse Belle-Jones
becomes the medium for a Grecian Goddess with her interpretation of Actaeon and
Artemis. Okay this was one of my
favorite acts, but I am a huge myth buff! The act begins with a rendition of
SSB’s harem girl group act, a piece that evokes popular images of Sapphos and
the Isle of Lesbos. Then with a little exposition
from our gracious hostess, we are transported to a forest pool where the
Goddess Artemis is caught in the act of bathing. I don’t want to give anything away, but I
will say that this little furry yiffed, the audience was left spell bound, and
Julie Taymor would have approved.
Finally, Evilyn Sin Claire
channels the majesty of the peacock, the mystery of a masquerade, and the
allure of reflection. Have you ever had
a conversation with someone in a mirror?
There is something fascinating about reflections. They capture our attentions, and our
imagination. Even as self aware
individuals there is a child-like feeling of looking into another world. (Well
that could just be me.) Ms. Sin Claire utilizes
this fact beautifully, teasing herself and allowing us to more fully experience
the voyeuristic thrill that is watching a burlesque act. This has to rank as one of my favorite piece
performed by Evilyn. There was a calm
control about her that dominated the audience in a way I’m not sure they were
fully aware of. Few performers have the
effect on me that Evilyn does (I’ll let you interpret that as you wish), and I
am happy to say that once more she left me speechless!
So there we have it. Four featured
acts, with a sprinkling of group participation, all skillfully performed with appropriate flash, flare and sex appeal.
It is a simple but risky concept. It was a show that I believe worked
beautifully. It was a show that I hope inspires and encourages other burlesque artists to up their game, go deeper into their art and make the antici.....PATION last longer for Seattle's burlesque fans.
Sinner Saint Burlesque is one of
Seattle’s oldest, longest, continually operating burlesque troupes, and can be
found at The Noc Noc Every Thursday Night.
I strongly encourage you to attend their run of a “Long Kiss Goodnight”
which plays through March 14th!
Loves! ~ Fosse Jack
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