Va Va Voom!
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Welcome to the Ranch
Halfway between Hollywood and Las Vegas on the hot, dusty
path to Helendale California, the Exotic World Burlesque Museum stands
as a historical monument to keep the tassel of burlesque twirling. Inside
resides former striptease artist Dixie Evans, the Marilyn Monroe of
burlesque in the 1940s who is now the museum's curator. The ranch was the private residence of
dancer Jennie Lee (aka the Bazoom Girl), when Evans came out to aid Lee
before her passing. At the time Lee, had her own private tribute to burlesque
with the Exotic Dancer's Hall of Fame. "I saw she had all these boxes of
costumes and pictures," says Evans. "Her husband and I started hanging the
photos on the walls, six pictures a night. Soon it spilled out into the other
rooms. We did one at a time because that's all we could afford." The Exotic World Burlesque Museum has been
open to the public for the past decade and now serves as the definitive shrine
to burlesque. The museum is bursting with memorabilia from the original stars
of the striptease heyday including the bejeweled G-string of 1950s bombshell
Blaze Starr, the famous feather fans of Sally Rand's act in the 1930s and the
glove collection of 1940s superstar Gypsy Rose Lee. Evans herself gives a tour
with a wealth of information on the numerous starlets of the bygone era � and
for a lucky few, she'll give a little taste of her striptease number.
La La Land
Los Angeles is the home of glamour, showbiz and beautiful
women, so it's not surprising that it would be the hub that birthed the new
burlesque movement. With the reigning queen Dita Von Teese [see interview HERE] becoming the iconic symbol of
the modern pinup performer, her peers on the Tinsel Town circuit include the Velvet
Hammer and the Pussycat Dolls. Each troupe interprets burlesque in
their own way.
Known for sticking strictly to the rules of old-school
'40s-style striptease, using their own individual creative ideas and finding
rare musical tracks, the Velvet Hammer formed in 1996 by Michelle
Carr. It started as a one-off performance by a group of ballsy girls who
put together a show modeled after old-time striptease just to see if they could
pull it off. Shows soon took place on an annual basis in the posh setting of
the historical El Rey Theatre. Just as full of grit as they are of glamour, the
Velvet Hammer troupe consists of strong females, many of whom come from
formative years spent in punk bands and the Silver Lake artist community.
Performer/director Rita D'Albert says the girls she's worked with are
very purist in their craft of sticking to the burlesque style as it was done in
its original form. "Burlesque really is a kind of a folk art form in that
people didn�t have professional dance training. It was about self-expression
and meant to be light-hearted with some imagination."
With the influence of Hollywood looming large, the Velvet
Hammer also works to break down stereotypical body types � most of the girls
are in their 30s, sporting tattoos to reflect their rock 'n' roll roots, and
many flaunt voluptuous shapes, unashamed to shake a dimpled thigh. "We're
constantly told by fashion magazines that if you're not in your 20s and a
certain height and certain weight, then you should quietly go away," says
D'Albert. "We think that is an incredible waste, especially since that leaves
out so many girls who have so much to offer and so much experience."
Up on the Sunset Strip, The Pussycat Dolls formed in 1993 out of Johnny Depp's Viper Room club.
They are led by choreographer Robin Antin, who creates their costumes
and coordinates their steps as a group, gyrating and grooving to pop music and
show tunes. "I grew up as a dancer," says Antin. "I worked jobs but I never felt fulfilled. So I started putting
together my own thing with four of my friends." Inspired by Bob Fosse's work on
stage and films such as Cabaret,
Antin assembled a cast complete with costumes bursting with color and flash to
pull off a show of pure sexy entertainment � with a secret weapon of celebrity.
"A couple of the girls lived with actress Christina Applegate at the time,"
Antin says. "She's a dancer so I put her in the group too." From there the
troupe began regular shows at the Viper Room and a slew of celebrities caught
the act and wanted to join in. "Carmen Electra came in for a few shows and Gwen
Stefani saw it so she wanted to be a part of it,� recalls Antin. "The night Gwen
performed, Christina Aguilera was in the audience and then she wanted to do
it!� Antin got the urge to take the show to the next level in 2002 and produced
a large-scale seven-week run at the Roxy Theater, which created a national buzz
and drew in celebrity guests including Brittany Murphy, Nikka Costa and
Charlize Theron.Antin explained she is
now working to make the Pussycat Dolls into a brand name. She recently signed a
record deal with Interscope Records, is creating a clothing line and planning a
perfume and makeup line to follow. Antin says she also hopes to plant regular
shows in London, Las Vegas and Japan. She says the troupe's motto, "Inside
every woman is a Pussycat Doll" speaks to the fact that her show is all about
fun. "Everyone just responds because it's sexy and it's cool � I always have
girls coming up to me after the show and saying they want to join us!"
Off the main drag of trendy Melrose Avenue is club Forty Deuce, a discreet little bar that
owner Ivan Kane describes as "giving the vibe of a back-alley striptease." The
walls are covered in glossy wood paneling, VIP guests sink into buttery red
leather chairs and a sliver of a stage reaches out to a catwalk bar encircling
a posse of bartenders whose job is as much making drinks as it is to catch the
clothing tossed off by the dancers. Kane boasts a strict casting of
professional dancers who shake in styles that are flavored with everything from
�60s surf a go-go to salsa. However, he is first to admit that his idea of the
striptease strays a bit from more purist takes on the art: "Yes, I intended to
do burlesque striptease here, but I'm not intending it to be anything along the
lines of what the Velvet Hammer or Dita does. My idea was to turn it on its ear
a bit. But it's still all about the tease, incredibly sexy and done with a lot
of class."
Rounding out the L.A. burlesque scene is the Girly Freak Show formed by Slymenstra
Hyman, former member of the shock rock band Gwar. This bizarro variety show
features comedic performances, circus-style stunts including Hyman hooking
herself up to Tesla coils to become a human lightning rod as well as burlesque
acts. [see related feature HERE] At a recent show, Miss Kitty Diggins was the featured stripteaser of the night.
Diggins is founder of her own show, the Kit Kat Follies, and is one
dancer determined to do burlesque for a living, constantly on the road
performing coast to coast. She has seen the burlesque trend evolve over the
past few years and says there are vast differences in interpretations: "In LA,
the performer and their style really plays by the rules. There's definitely
more of an emphasis on being retro-proper and the '40s-'50s pinup style." She
adds, "Girls on the West Coast put a lot more emphasis into being
perfectionists in how they look. New York has more of a performance art element
in the burlesque. There's a lot more creative license there, they take more
risks and they don't take themselves as seriously."
NEXT
Shakin' it in NYC and at Tease-O-Rama...