Burlesque is built on a wink and a smile. It’s the art of theatrical tease, a vintage form of erotic and ironic cabaret, where the emphasis is not on revealing but on concealing skin, while still feeding the audience titbits of fantasy-invoking bare curves. It’s the rare space where a woman can be sexy and funny at the same time, because the most beautiful curve on a woman’s body is her smile.
I'm at the Obs Theatre in Cape Town. It’s 8pm and the show is about to start. I sit in the second row. Audience participation is expected at this type of thing, and I’m shy. Diva-Disa Star, one of the sexy geniuses behind Black Orchid Burlesque, takes to the stage. She takes off one pair of gloves and there’s another pair underneath. She keeps going and going and it’s spectacular. Her moves are fluid, sensual and effortlessly undulating, and we’re all in suspense.HURLY BURLY: Star, a glamorous and petite Burlesque dancer. What is this lady like this like at home? She told us she has 5 cats. Sounds very homely. And she says they love nestling in her wardrobes amongst all the soft fabrics of all her beautiful burlesque outfits.
Diva-Disa Star and her ex business partner Scar-Lit Hearts began teasing the city of Cape Town nearly four years ago when they started Black Orchid Burlesque, at a time when noone else in the country was doing Burlesque. The troupe follow the neo Burlesque genre: the vintage glamour of the femme fatales of the past mixed with a little bit of rockabilly cool. Boylesque, a movement big in the UK, is now done by Black Orchid as well. It’s an amalgamation of body-building poses and cabaret dance mixed into the art of Burlesque, and it’s gaining popularity in South Africa.
The show ends on an amazing high with Boylesque queen Jessy Jester. With his dark magnetism and otherworldly grace he’s like some kind of sexy space alien come to earth. Fluttering his impossibly long eyelashes, like giant butterflies resting on his cheeks, he slowly unzips his corset. Midway through he changes his mind, sliding the zip back up teasingly. The audience shivers with antici...pation.
CLOWNING AROUND: Jessy (left) and Star (right), from the Black Orchid Burlesque troupe, photographed at one of Cape Town’s great entertainment venues, Vaudeville. The pair run workshops on Saturdays at the venue teaching wannabe Burlesquers.
Jessy stresses that the art form of Burlesque “comes from the ladies.” I ask him how he got involved. “When I met Star, who had her company already up and running, she said to me
she was starting up a Boylesque troupe. Having a love of all things out-of-the-ordinary (not forgetting the glitter - what is a performer without sparkle?!), I jumped at the opportunity and haven’t looked back since. Also, having the title of the first Boylesque performer in South Africa gives me some bragging rights!”
STRIKE A POSE: Jessy in fool regalia
With a wink and a smile I’ll end with a quote from Burlesque great Dita Von Teese: “Burlesque stars are made, not born.” In other words, you can dance Burlesque too.
For more information on upcoming shows, workshops or to book Black Orchid for an event contact Fox on: info@blackorchidburlesque.com
Photos courtesy of Karl Lilje
Published on Hy-Se-Sy-Se
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