Revealed: More Burlesque than Ever Before!

Pictured: Nasty Canasta, Clams Casino, GiGi La Femme, Peekaboo Pointe & Ruby Valentine. Photo credit: Luke Ratray

REVEALED... Brought to you by the Power Couple of Burlesque (GiGi La Femme and Doc Wasabassco) is a cutting-edge burlesque show with a sinfully dirty twist. This unique and extra-sultry night features the sexiest, most notorious burlesque performers in New York City, as you’ve never seen them before! Revealed promises you more bang for your buck than any other show in town. What surprises will the girls have in store for us this month? Come find out and experience an evening of salacious striptease and skin, where the climax of each number leaves everything…Revealed.

February’s show will feature performances by: The girl who puts the laugher in slaughter, Creamy Stevens, The Five Alarm Fire of Burlesque & Miss Coney Island 2009, Gal Friday, The Girl Dreams Are Made Of, GiGi La Femme, The Borg Queen of Burlesque, Kobayashi Maru, Delinquent Darling, Peekaboo Pointe, and in her Revealed debut, The Black Pearl, Perle Noire.

Every month features Your Gibson Geisha Girl Fantasy, Madame Rosebud as our sexy stage kitten. This month our beloved Bastard Keith will be replaced the Maniacal Rapping Four-Eyed Devil, Schaffer the Darklord!

Doc Wasabassco In addition to Revealed, Doc Wasabassco, “The Kingpin of Burlesque’, produces Wasabassco Burlesque and The NEW Monday Night Burlesque at Public Assembly. Wasabassco hosts monthly shows at Brooklyn venues Living Room Lounge and Sputnik, The Palace of Wonders in Washington D.C., feature shows at Brooklyn hot spots Southpaw and Union Hall, and many fine venues throughout New York! Wasabassco Burlesque is sponsored by Wasabassco Hot Sauce, a delicious blend of wasabi, hot peppers, and spices. Lots of hot sauces are hot, but Wasabassco is bursting with spicy flavor!

GiGi La Femme is a delectable feast for the eyes, heart and soul. One of the most active performers on the New York Burlesque scene, she is a mainstay at many of the city's most critically acclaimed shows and best loved venues from the Bronx to the Battery and beyond. A multi-level threat, GiGi is a striptease artist, go–go dancer, pin-up model, chanteuse, host, and producer. GiGi has appeared in shows including This is Burlesque, Le Scandal, Pinchbottom Burlesque, Starshine Burlesque, Sweet & Nasty Burlesque, and Wasabassco Burlesque. She has graced stages at The Brooklyn Academy of Music, Coney Island, Corio, The Cutting Room, Public Assembly, The Slipper Room, The Palace of Wonders in Washington D.C. and a multitude of venues near and far. GiGi is also a founding member of The Burlesque Alliance, producers of some of the east coast's largest burlesque events.

Revealed Burlesque is on the third Wednesday of every month at 10pm at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st and Avenue A) Tickets ($20) are available by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444 or online at www.horseTRADE.info

So You Think You Can Pinch? Reality Parody Burlesque Show

In 2008, Pinchbottom came to an agreement with a renowned Off-Broadway theater to spend the entirety of their 2009 season -- 12 months of shows -- at that venue. When the Zipper Factory Theater shut its doors suddenly and permanently just three days before the January show was scheduled to premiere, another esteemed Off-Broadway house stepped in to provide a last-minute home for “Murder Most Naked”, which became the best-attended and best-received event in Pinchbottom’s 4-year history.

Now, Pinchbottom is thrilled to announce that they have reached an agreement with that venue, The Bleecker Street Theater, to continue there for the rest of their scheduled Winter Season. So, on February 21, “reality” meets nudity when Pinchbottom presents their second world-premiere theatrical burlesque event of 2009: the 100% fake reality show SO YOU THINK YOU CAN PINCH AMERICA’S NEXT TOP BOTTOM OF TALENT.

When Pinchbottom puts a gaggle of gorgeous burlesque performers in a house on a desert island in a bus on the road in a boardroom on a boat at a circus with a dancing bachelor idol apprentice and someone else's wife's nanny's washed-up celebrity chef and Cory and forces them to compete competitively for the title of "Top Most Best Biggest Everything Ever for all time 2009", what will happen? Only one thing’s for sure... it’s going to be sexy.
The final five contestants strut will their stuff in front of a live audience on Saturday, February 21 at 10:30pm, in an event that purports to be the Grand Finale of a vigorous, vicious, and sensual season of Reality TV.

And what would a reality show be without rejection? For the first time ever, Pinchbottom is asking the general public to take part in the show by sending in their own audition/rejection videos! Submissions to the Loser File should include both horrendous audition footage and video of the submitter reacting as they are brutally rejected from the show in front of millions. Videos can be submitted on You Tube in response to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5NnXt1SNlA, or to the show page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=51186339788

“When the chips are down, and the economy is dire, what do the networks do?” asked Pinchbottom star Nasty Canasta, rhetorically. “Replace expensive high-quality scripted shows with cheap and easy Reality TV. Well, Pinchbottom may not be a major television network (yet), but we certainly are cheap and easy!”

Nasty Canasta and Jonny Porkpie host, as finalists Clams Casino, GiGi La Femme, Harvest Moon, Legs Malone, and Naughtia Nice are judged by cantankerous local celebrities Mr. Kenny Law and Miss Astrid for the show that finally answers the question “What the hell is a burlesque reality show, anyway?”

Producer: Pinchbottom Burlesque
Show Title: SO YOU THINK YOU CAN PINCH AMERICA’S NEXT TOP BOTTOM of talent
Date: Saturday, February 21 at 10:30pm
Venue: The Bleecker Streeet Theater
Address: 45 Bleecker Street, Manhattan
Ticket Info: price: $20 online: pinchbottom.com/tickets or by phone: 212-352-3101

Bettie Page Memorabilia

Bettie Page Portfolio Art Collection

Jim Silke Bettie Page Portfolio Art Collection. One of glamour art's most gifted illustrators, Jim Silke presents a series of beautiful, painted images of his best-known inspiration, the incomparable Bettie Page. Originally created for Bettie Page Rules, this suite includes previously unpublished pencil studies as well as the finished color pieces.

This set of full-color pictures are text free and suitable for framing. The back of the folder pictures all the interior images, so they can be viewed in the store without having to open the package. Contains 6 prints measuring 13 1/2-inches x 10 3/8-inches in a folder.

Get Your Bettie Page Portfolio Art Collection Here

Bettie Page Rules! Book
Bettie Page rules! If ever there was a reason to believe in love at first sight, that reason would be Bettie Page. But what did Bettie offer that the other, more celebrated beauties of her time did not? Legendary pinup artist and entertainment historian Jim Silke dives into these tempting waters and offers his firsthand account of life behind the lens of the 1950s pinup scene with Bettie Page Rules!

This book is bursting at the seams with all-new pinup paintings from Silke, capturing the 1950s' most beautiful women in sizzling detail, not to mention an incredible selection of never-before-seen photos of Bettie. You have to see it to believe it! Book measures 12-inches tall x 9-inches wide and is full color. 128 pages.

Get Your Bettie Page Rules Coffee Table Book Here

Bettie Page Red Lingerie 6-Inch Statue
Bettie Page, the ideal pinup girl from decades past, can now be yours in a whole new way. Brandishing her winning smile, the underground icon wears lingerie and stands atop a round base.

This limited edition statue stands 6-inches tall and captures the charm and sultriness of everyone's favorite adult superstar. You may never be able to bring home the real Bettie Page, but this statue is the next best thing! Be sure to order yours while you still can. Limited edition of only 400 pieces, pre-order now for March 09.

Get Your Limited Edition Bettie Page Red Lingerie Statue Here

Bettie Page Throw Pillow
In addition to being thrown, this pillow can be hugged, kissed, caressed, or anything else that springs into your mind.

This throw pillow makes a great house-warming gift or tops off any bedroom set that feels incomplete. Decorate your living room or bedroom with this throw pillow featuring Bettie Page artwork.

Get Your Bettie Page Throw Pillow Here

Dita Von Teese returns to Crazy Horse

Dita von Teese, the raven-haired reincarnation of striptease artistes from 1940s America, is returning to one of the most famous nude revues in Paris, happy to be back in a city with a respect for her craft.

"I feel that Paris is a place that still appreciates its showgirls," she told Reuters in an interview before a two-week run at the celebrated Crazy Horse theatre from Feb. 1.

Von Teese, a familiar figure at the Paris couture shows, has carved a peculiar niche over the years, leading the way as burlesque has grown from simple striptease to becoming an established part of the fashion world.

Two years ago she emerged from a rhinestone-encrusted bubblebath as the first guest star at the Crazy Horse but the new show will have more specially designed numbers, including two songs she has recorded herself.

"I feel I have to raise the bar," she said.

The Crazy Horse has been a Paris institution since 1951, regularly drawing celebrities like Madonna or fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier to see its dancers strut the stage in little more than fluorescent wigs and strobe lights.

"I've always had a real fascination with the Crazy Horse ever since I was a teenager and I found a picture of this line of nearly nude toy soldiers standing at attention," she said, referring to the trademark parade that opens the nightly show.

"I wanted to do something more elaborate this time," she said. "Combine the Crazy Horse style with what I do which is classic American burlesque."

Heil Berlin Burlesque!

The first of the big touring musicals in the Theatre Royal's new season is Cabaret.

Winning a staggering number of stage and screen awards, it was premiered on Broadway as long ago as 1966, but before that the character Sally Bowles had a noted literary and stage history. It all began with stories written by Christopher Isherwood, an Englishman who in 1930 abandoned his medical studies and went to Berlin to teach English. He left Germany three years later, when Hitler came to power, but in that short period he had amassed enough material for successful novels and short stories, with his most famous character, Sally Bowles, appearing in 1937.

In 1951 a number of his stories were adapted by dramatist John Van Druten into the successful play I am A Camera, which was later filmed. The plot, to a large degree based on Isherwood's own experiences, concerned the platonic relationship between a young English man and a wanton English girl in Berlin in the early 1930s. While Isherwood's stories were more concerned with the characters, and used the historical events largely as a background, van Druten's play notably captured the sense of increasingly suffocating evil of the swastika and the jackboot.

Wishing to encourage a new kind of socially responsible musical theatre, and gripped by the drama, eminent American director/producer Harold Prince had long cherished a wish to make it into a musical, though nobody else believed that Isherwood's novella about Sally Bowles would ever make it to Broadway. How could they, if the leading character was a second-rate entertainer in a seedy nightclub, a far cry from Liza Minnelli's Americanised Sally in the movie? Prince pressed on. Because of his hit 1920s pastiche musical The Boy Friend, Sandy Wilson was invited to compose the score, but with two-thirds of it completed Prince decided that Wilson's music lacked the hard edge he wanted, which was something more akin to Kurt Weill's compositions with Brecht. They parted amicably, and Prince turned to the young Broadway team of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb. It was a marriage made in theatrical heaven. The cabaret of the title is both a venue, the sleazy Kit Kat Klub where much of the action unfolds, and a reflection of society in 1930s Berlin.

Cannily, Prince never forgets that he is creating an entertainment, and avoids stressing the Nazi element. He based the idea for the cabaret itself on Maxim's, an infamous club in an old church basement he knew in Stuttgart when doing his military service in the United States army. The club had a midget Master of Ceremonies with a white face and bright red lips, who became the Emcee in the musical.

The narrative opens on New Year's Eve, 1930, when German politics were in turmoil, her economy in a parlous state, and for relief people frequented the many night bars which catered for every taste. Sally sings at one such club, and soon moves in with young writer Clifford. Their relationship develops as the political mood darkens with the rise of Nazism. Clifford leaves the increasingly dangerous Berlin, but Sally stays, taking her chances under the new regime.

The production runs at the Theatre Royal from Monday to Saturday, February 2 to 7.

Wild West Burlesque!

Burlesque dancer extraordinaire Vivenne Va-voom brings a burlesque show like no other to Denver this weekend (January 23rd and 24th at 8pm). Giddeeeyap cowboys and cowgirls it's time for the Wild West Burlesque!

Saddle up for a wild ride with Denver’s premier burlesque troupe, Burlesque As It Was! The lovely ladies, are heading back in time to the old west for a little Wild West Burlesque show,

Featuring Cowgirl Cuties, a high-kickin’ Saloon Girl Can-Can, acrobatic aerial feats and lots of sexy, scintillating and sometime silly retro striptease, all hosted by the fabulous Big Mama Red!

For more info: Show is at 8PM Friday and Saturday at The Bug Theater: 3654 Navajo in Denver. Visit Burlesque As It Was to purchase tickets until Midnight Thursday. After that GA tix available at the door.

Amber Ray to Headline Burlesque Ball Australia

Burlesque Ball Australia are thrilled to announce that the Headliner this year for The Burlesque Ball is Amber Ray!

Amber Ray’s pageantry is reminiscent of many iconic genres of the past and present and a major force in the evolving future culture of popular art.

Her chameleonic qualities measure vast differences and are sure to startle with grace, confrontation and fantastical flamboyance. She embodies the dream of other mythical worlds, revealing her stature as a provocative exotic creature.

Known for her many characterized adventures based on collaborations with style makers such as Anti-gravity, Susanne Bartsch, Thierry Mugler, ChiCHI Valenti and Johnney Dynell of Jackie 60 Fame, and a thrillingly talented New York City Performance community composed of the freak chic, theater, fashion world, and burlesque.

You will find her most often musing the masses through various stage productions, art installations, sitting for severely talented painters, photographers and designers as well as dazzling at High end events to which she ardently shares her love of style, luster, and her brand of spiritual artistic expression of the whimsical and the real. Amber Ray is an artist, costume designer, singer, Burlesque entertainer and all around creative force of nature residing in NYC. Brace Yourself for her power-packed manifestations of absolute fabulousness.

Other confirmed performers include Vivi Valentine, Vesper White, Lauren LaRouge, Mark Winmill, Lena Marlene and many more still to be announced.

Dates are Brisbane 7th March, Sydney 14th March and Melbourne 21st March.
Tickets are on sale now from www.burlesqueball.com

Cheesecake Burlesque Revue

Smoke hangs in the air of the dimly lit-club when on cue, the swinging beat of Shivas Regal (Theme for Gypsy) starts to play. A red velvet curtain slides open to reveal corseted dancing girls wrapped in feather boas, and not much else.

The women proceed to tease the audience with a flash of leg and a smile from painted ruby red lips.

Save for the cigarette smoke, this scene – from more than 80 years ago in some vaudeville club – could easily be from today with the resurgence of burlesque as a popular form of entertainment.

Local audiences will be able to see for themselves when Cheesecake Burlesque Revue reveals itself behind the red velvet curtain at the Vernon Performing Arts Centre Jan. 31.

Hailing from the B.C. provincial capital – once known for its tea, crumpets and conservatism – Cheesecake has served up burlesque to crowds ranging in age from 20 to 80, said founding member Champagne Sparkles (her stage name), who originally hails from Winfield.

“My grandma has sat front and centre at my shows. In fact, both my parents and grandma will be there (in Vernon.) It’s for almost everybody. It’s fun and taking enjoyment in our bodies. It’s sexy but not sexual,” she said.

The girls have performed from Vancouver Island to Las Vegas, and recently did a PG performance at a roller derby in Victoria.

“We wore underwear up to our chins,” laughed Sparkles. “We also did a show at the Sid Williams Theatre (in Courtenay) and it was a sea of grey hair.”

Although influenced by the golden age of burlesque (the girls do an homage to past performers such as Sally Rand, known for her ostrich feather fan and balloon bubble dances), Cheesecake is part of the burgeoning neo-burlesque scene.

“It has gone over fabulously. We are well-supported by audiences and sponsors. We have businesses that like to work with us,” said Sparkles whose cohorts go by such colourful monikers as Kitten Kaboodle, Lolly Lushbottom and Mz. B Haven.

Since forming two-and-a-half years ago, Cheesecake artists have been able to learn from some of the best burlesque performers of the ‘50s and ’60s.

At the recent Miss World Exotic Pageant, an annual burlesque pageant and convention in Las Vegas, the women met such artists as Tempest Storm, who appeared in Russ Meyer’s cult classic film Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill!

“The younger women hosted the older women, and we were able to ask them what they like and don’t like about neo-burlesque,” said Sparkles. “It’s a different environment now. It was even more risqué then than what we do now.”

To keep up with the times, the girls have added modern touches to their shows, from pumpin’ electro music, slow and sensual moves, cute comedy and lavish costumes, which they create themselves.

“We would be drag queens if we could, but we can’t,” joked Sparkles. “We have some modern themes in our shows. Some are crazy and out there and some are sultry.”

Proud and passionate, the girls share a love of performing and come in all shapes and sizes, backgrounds and experiences.

Sparkles, who during the day is a biologist with her own environmental consulting company, was first influenced to perform after she saw burlesque artist Catherine Delish twirl her tassels at a club in Vancouver.

Her first performance, in a friend’s living room, came after attending a burlesque workshop, where participants made their own pasties, and learned the history and choreography of the art form.

“It started with a group of friends and went from there to be a professional group,” she said. “Our first performance was at a party in Victoria. The place was packed with 250 people. I was terrified. I was shaking so hard, but the audience went crazy. They loved it.”

For those still a little shy about the words “strip” and “tease” – this is a burlesque show, after all, and not the Superbowl – Cheesecake performers don’t bare much beyond garter belts, bustiers and well-placed pasties.

“It’s about the tease and the occasional peak.”

To add even more spice to the mix, audience members are encouraged to join the girls on stage for the KamiKasi Burlesque contest.

This is the perfect chance for those who want to join in, be in the spotlight, and do something they have always secretly wanted to do, said Sparkles.

After the show, the girls will be selling pasties, fringe panties, tassels, T-shirts and other naughty and nice gifts.

“We want to make people feel good about themselves, to go home and shake it,” said Sparkles.

The Cheesecake Burlesque Revue happens Jan. 31 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults, $23 for seniors and $20 for students at the Ticket Seller, 549-SHOW.
By Kristin Froneman

Imelda May: Burlesque Singer

With her unique fusion of rockabilly, blues and jazz, Imelda May has already made a huge impact on the live scene, performing frequently alongside Jools Holland, who’s a big fan.

The singer has now released her debut album, Love Tattoo, described as “a timeless collection of jazz-a-billy, delivered in Imelda's contemporary, direct and inimitable style”, and comes to Liverpool for an intimate live date at Live Lounge at Baby Blue, on February 11.

Dublin-born Imelda got her first break through UK boogie- woogie maestro Holland, and has also shared the stage with an impressive array of musical talent, including the late Kirsty MacColl, Alison Moyet, Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross, Van Morrison and Scissor Sisters.

Her influences of Billy Holiday, Dinah Washington and queen of rockabilly, Wanda Jackson, can be heard in her unique blend of music.

Her sassy, burlesque-inspired style and performances last year earned Imelda the nomination of Best Burlesque Singer 2007, as well as her movie debut as the singing voice in the forthcoming American gangster move, Dark Streets.

Check out Imelda May performing Johnny got a Boom Boom:

You don't just watch Imelda perform, you experience it, "She holds her audience by the scruff of the throat, reaches down and tears out your heart".

Whether it's her infectiously unique fusion of rockabilly, blues and jazz, her extensive self-penned repertoire, her sassy burlesque-inspired performances or her distinctive interpretation of classic standards, her appeal is both seductive and undeniable.

You can grab Imelda May's rocking debut album Love Tattoo online:

Kitty’s Dolls Burlesque Dancers Risque it all

Stripping down to the bare essentials during the credit crunch is second nature to this pair.

Katerina Stojanovic and Hazel Robinson started peeling off the layers as burlesque dancers to pay off their student loans – so they found it easy to adapt their new show to reflect the downturn as the rest of the nation suffers from a shortage of cash.

The cheeky performers, who believe it or not say they were the shy girls at school, have been revealing almost everything in front of fans for more than a year after running up debts at university.

So the now professional dancers, aka Kitty Kane and Lily Bow Peep, were just as resourceful when the recession found its latest victim in their act.

Katerina, 23, and Hazel, 24, form half of Kitty’s Dolls – a burlesque troupe currently teasing the Welsh population with their suggestive dance routines as part of a 19th-century tradition made popular again by American performer Dita Von Teese.

Treforest corseteer Katerina makes most of their outfits, but the girls say with rising costs they have recently been feeling the pinch.

“It’s an expensive career,” said Kitty, a fashion graduate who discovered burlesque after she began designing and making her own corsets for other performers.

“We travel all over the UK and the outfits can cost a lot, so I make them where I can and we pick up pieces around our homes to work into the act.”

Kitty’s latest favourite act involves her peeling off a boiler suit to wash a car tyre in a bikini.

And Hazel, a box office attendant of Pontcanna, Cardiff, has even found a way to make the credit crunch sexy by making light of it with her newest routine.

“I’ve got a credit crunch act, I call it the Bare Necessities,” she said.

“I heard the song on the radio and listened to the lyrics for the first time and realised they were so relevant at the moment.

“I’m in a bit of debt so it’s a case of life imitating art!

“I play a damsel in distress who’s inundated with bills and ends up selling her kisses – it’s a complete DIY job, I made all the props.”

Kitty’s Dolls, who practise both classical and neo-burlesque, blend comedy and vaudeville with flesh-baring sketches – but retain their modesty with an array of props from glittering tassels to huge 1920s fans made of red feathers.

“We’ve had some people shout out rude things when we’ve done old men’s pubs,” said Kitty.

“A lot of them don’t understand it and want us to take all of our clothes off, but we’re not strippers – burlesque is all about the tease.”

With the passion for all things burlesque growing, Kitty is now looking to expand on her troupe, which is completed by her sister Militsa, aka Mitzy Bear, and Molly Dainton’s Lily Bell.

With her classic features, porcelain complexion and poster- girl red pout, Kitty certainly looks the part, but the redhead claims anyone can do it.

“At school I was so shy, and I was never a performer.

“Then, after supplying corsets for all these dancers, I decided I wanted to have a go myself.”

Blonde drama graduate Hazel, who met Kitty in a nightclub when they bonded over their shared tattoo and passion for learning trapeze, agrees: “I used to be really self-conscious, but when I’m on stage I become someone new.

“I think of myself as Lily Bow Peep and she’s a very different person.

“You don’t have to have a stick thin figure, be tanned and beautiful – burlesque is about being buxom and we have fun with it. It’s not about what size or shape you are – burlesque dancers are good role models for women.

“Anything goes and we love the comedy side of it, so you have to have a good sense of humour.”

Kitty added: “Shops like Ann Summers have made it more acceptable for women to be seen in their underwear.

“I have so much fun, it’s like going out and dancing with your friends but you’re doing it on stage in front of all those people – it’s the best feeling.”

Hazel admits learning burlesque has benefits off-stage. “Burlesque celebrates the female form – so it helps when it comes to your love-life too.”

“Performance is really important when the economy’s gloomy. People need cheering up.”

Revealed: cutting-edge burlesque with a dirty twist

Brought to you by GiGi La Femme (pictured left) and Doc Wasabassco, Revealed is a cutting-edge burlesque show with a sinfully dirty twist. This unique and extra-sultry night features the sexiest, most notorious burlesque performers in New York City, as you've never seen them before! Revealed promises you more bang for your buck than any other show in town. What surprises will the girls have in store for us this month? Come find out and experience an evening of salacious striptease and skin, where the climax of each number leaves everything...Revealed.

January's show is going to be hot and WET! Featuring water themed performance by: The Intoxicating Anita Cookie, NYC's Most Delicious Dish, Clams Casino, The Girl Dreams Are Made Of, GiGi La Femme, The Borg Queen of Burlesque, Kobayashi Maru, Delinquent Darling, Peekaboo Pointe, and Alabaster Beauty, Ruby Valentine.

Every month features Your Gibson Geisha Girl Fantasy, Madame Rosebud as our sexy stage kitten and your charming and inebriated host, Bastard Keith! Revealed Burlesque is on the third Wednesday of every month at 10pm at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st and Avenue A) Tickets ($20) are available by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444 or online at www.horseTRADE.info

Doc Wasabassco In addition to Revealed, Doc Wasabassco, "The Kingpin of Burlesque', produces Wasabassco Burlesque and The NEW Monday Night Burlesque at Public Assembly. Wasabassco hosts monthly shows at Brooklyn venues Living Room Lounge and Sputnik, The Palace of Wonders in Washington D.C., feature shows at Brooklyn hot spots Southpaw and Union Hall, and many fine venues throughout New York! Wasabassco Burlesque is sponsored by Wasabassco Hot Sauce, a delicious blend of wasabi, hot peppers, and spices. Lots of hot sauces are hot, but Wasabassco is bursting with spicy flavor! www.wasabassco.com

GiGi La Femme is a delectable feast for the eyes, heart and soul. One of the most active performers on the New York Burlesque scene, she is a mainstay at many of the city's most critically acclaimed shows and best loved venues from the Bronx to the Battery and beyond. A multi-level threat, GiGi is a striptease artist, go-go dancer, pin-up model, chanteuse, host, and producer. GiGi has appeared in shows including This is Burlesque, Le Scandal, Pinchbottom Burlesque, Starshine Burlesque, Sweet & Nasty Burlesque, and Wasabassco Burlesque. She has graced stages at The Brooklyn Academy of Music, Coney Island, Corio, The Cutting Room, Public Assembly, The Slipper Room, The Palace of Wonders in Washington D.C. and a multitude of venues near and far. GiGi is also a founding member of The Burlesque Alliance, producers of some of the east coast's largest burlesque events. www.gigilafemme.com

Horse Trade Theater Group is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work, it has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade's Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent Theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York - the first and only festival of its kind in New York City.

"Worth considerably more than the paltry $20 admission fee it demands, the neo-burlesque show Revealed offers up a substantial helping of coquetry, comedy and camp, along with other, pinker, softer words beginning with the letter C." -Anna King, New York Press

"Yes, there's full nudity, and I for one approve, but the best part of the fun is in the gaudy creativity on display." Jon Sobel, Blogcritics Magazine

"An ideal date night for the decadent." -Not For Tourists Guide

"You can't go wrong at Revealed if you're looking for a night of escapist fun and classic entertainment. And you can drink in the theater. Doesn't get much better than that." -Larry Litt, New York Theatre Wire

Here's some of GiGi La Femme's earlier work in Starshine Burlesque:

Student Burlesque dancer's licence to thrill

By day she's Stephanie Lynch, a hard-working student...but after dark she gets sultry. That's when Stephanie becomes Sofire Rosa - professional belly dancer and burlesque performer.

The 22-year-old has been belly dancing for seven years and a professional for the last three.

She is also president and founder of Sheffield University's belly dance society, teaches weekly classes and regularly dances at events around the city, including a spicy routine at the Shiraz restaurant on Abbeydale Road.

Stephanie, originally from Liverpool but now living in Walkley, explained that she sort of fell into burlesque.

"I went along to an event with a friend and loved it, so thought why not give it a go."

And the girl has brains as well as beauty - she's presently studying biomedical sciences at the University of Sheffield and intends to go on to study for a diploma in paramedic studies at Hallam when she graduates.

Away from her studies, she's now a regular on the burlesque scene and has performed to admiring audiences around the country.

Now she's coupling that experience with her business acumen to put on Sheffield Univeristy's first ever burlesque evening on March 7, when she and two other local acts will perform in the Raynor Lounge.

"The tickets aren't officially on sale at the Students' Union box office yet," said Stephanie. "But half have gone already, so it should be a great night."

The routine will see her strip down to her lingerie and tantalising tassels - and no one will enjoy it more than her boyfriend.

"He loves my routine," she said. "So much so he's bringing all his mates along to see me."

Stephanie, who intends to raffle off her lingerie after the show, said she doesn't find performing embarrassing.

"When I'm on stage I adopt my alter-ego. I'm not Stephanie the shy student but Sofire Rosa."

But what do her mum and dad think of their daughter's talent?

"Everything is done tastefully and my mum thinks it's brilliant. But I haven't told my dad yet."
By Nick Ward

January Burlesque Video Roundup

The burlesque revival was running strong at this 6th annual festival in New York City. Featuring: Angie Pontani, Murasaki Babydoll, Amber Ray, The World Famous *Bob*, Trixie Little and the Evil Hate Monkey, The Amazing Knicker Kittens, Incredible Edible Akynos, Peekaboo Pointe, Lux La Croix, Ruby Valentine.


Daiquiri Dusk Performing a contortion burlesque act for chessecake in Capitol, Glasgow City.


Vudu Doll stripping to Science Fiction Double Feature (Trixie/ Lips) with Interchangeable Parts on Halloween Night , October 31st 2008.


The new Trashy Lingerie Burlesque Troop, The Trashy Girls debuts at Club Kress in Hollywood on Halloween with lead singer Drea singing Big Spender.

Pinups for Pitbulls

Deirdre Franklin thinks it's no accident that her fellow burlesque dancers and pinup models feel a kinship with pit bulls.

"They're people who chose to be on the outside and do it their way, who are used to being the underdog," she said. "They identify with the pitbull - they want to change the stereotype."

Changing the stereotype is one thing that Franklin - her stage name is Little Darling - hopes to do with her calendar, "Pinups for Pitbulls." Her other goal is to beat last year's total of more than $10,000 raised to support pit bull rescue.

Her involvement with bully breed rescue started with one dog that she wasn't able to save, when a woman brought a stray pit bull into an animal shelter where Franklin was a volunteer.

"She thought she was saving its life by bringing it in," Franklin said. "I took the dog and put her in the kennel - she was a sweetheart, totally gentle." But the shelter had a policy of euthanizing all pit bulls, and would neither let Franklin adopt the dog nor release it to a pit bull rescue.

Franklin's anger at the death led her to adopt another pit bull from a rescue group. With no experience with the breed, she was fearful. But the dog she adopted, Carla Lou, who'd been left for dead in a Texas basement, "came right out of the cage and was an angel," Franklin said.

Beautiful and quirky in their high heels, red lipstick, and in many cases, elaborate tattoos, these women are more than eye candy.

Models go through an application process to get into the calendar, and the photos feature them with their own dogs and text telling their stories, from heartbreaking rescue tales to one model's description of her dog wagging her tail "so hard that her butt wiggles."

The models must take part in fundraising events, too. Franklin says most dancers don't go to school to learn burlesque, so they're accustomed to doing research and creating their own routines to new and old music. "It's their art form," Franklin says. "They work very hard to create something that's only two minutes long and no one might see again."

By Linda Lombardi/savannahnow.com