This is Burlesque Rocks NY!

Photo by C. Patrick Wade

Recently I had the pleasure of seeing This is Burlesque at Corio, NY. This is my experience...

In the Dim and Intimate setting at Corio, all eyes are already on the stage, so far empty except for the framed red velvet curtain.

Then the girls emerge and allow patrons to have photos taken with them prior to the show.

The menu? There is food, but I'm not much interested in eating. The Cocktails however, caught my eye. Drinks such as Gypsy Rose Lee, Tempest Storm and Satan’s Angels. And, of course, Champagne.

The crowd is about 50/50 in the gender department and tonight the club is hosts a very enthusiastic bucks night and a far more enthusiastic hens night!

Miss Exotic World Angie Pontani is the first act to emerge on stage. Looking very much Burlesque Queen wearing an amazing steel boned fishtail corset dress she wowed the crowd to almost silence. (With exception to the hoot or odd whistle.) She teased her way free of the corset dress to reveal pasties to die for, pink Swarovski crystals.

Between acts a Lil Miss Lixx playing the cheeky maid comes on stage to fetch the discarded clothes and has to bend over… bending over quite a lot actually “oops!”.

Next, PeekaBoo Pointe who is touted as “The fastest twirler from East to West!” gets her gear off faster than any other Burlesque show I’ve been too and reveals her talent of seriously fast twirling!

The next act features Helen Pontani who performed a seduction in an amazing Feathered skirt and tap danced all the way to a the splits. What can I say? The girls got talent!

Melody Sweets was amazing. She has the voice as well as the looks and performs a fan dance while she singing. Melody is clearly talent and manages to capture the very essence of heyday burlesque.

We were lucky enough to be there for Lil' Miss Lixx's 1st performance. After downing a few shots for courage she danced her way through a cute act with Maracas’. The patrons are then all invited to come on stage for their own round of shots. Mmm free shots.

Angie Pontani, Coney Island’s “Miss Cyclone” does an amazing dance to French music with ballerina theme and performs the entire act classicly on her toes.

At this point I've had a few drinks and I'm sure I'm enjoying myself too much and not taking notes on all of the performances, such as a can-can number and a finale featuring all of the girls, it's just too easy to get caught up in the fun :)

For a great night out in New York I highly recommend see This is Burlesque. You can order drinks from your table, they also have a well thought out menu with food available and in this amazing setting, adding its own touch of Glamour to the New York Burlesque Scene. So get in there Guys and Dolls, you’d be mad not to find out what all the fuss is about!

Checkout This is Burlesque
Web: http://www.thisisburlesque.com
Address: CORIO, 337 West Broadway at Grand Street, NYC (212) 966-3901

Here's a sneak peak of what you can expect:

The Pontani Sisters Bring Burlesque

The world of burlesque is booming. NY1's Stephanie Simon filed the following report on the revival of this unique genre of performing arts.

Variety shows, like the one at Corio in SoHo, are reviving the brazen, bawdy world of burlesque. One of the many popular neo-burlesque shows that have popped up in the city in recent years is Angie Pontani and the Pontani sisters in "This is Burlesque."

"So everything in this show harkens back to the golden age of the burlesque artist," said Pontani. "So we have strip tease artists that are a lot of class and sass. We have variety artists like tap dancers. We have our host, Murray Hill, who is a funny, slapstick-comedy guy."

There is a comedic take on the strip tease – and nearly-naked tassel twirling.

Pontani originally wanted to be an actress, but thought it just was not glamorous enough for her.

"I was like, well I don't to be an actress because they don't get to wear head dresses and like rhinestone costumes, so that was unfulfilling for me," she said.

Fellow burlesque performer and burlesque expert Lynn Sally explained that burlesque in New York City dates back to the 1860s, with theater-length shows that parodied classical texts.

"The one thing that still remains today that was true in the 19th century is that burlesque is about parody," said Sally. "It is about poking fun and making fun of not only yourself, but also the larger social order."

Sally, who has a PhD in performance studies, says the burlesque revival started in the 1990s after Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's crackdown on strip clubs. But, she says the revival also sprung as a reaction to the grunge movement.

"A desire to return to glamour, because it's fun and it's also a representation of self that for a lot of people is a little more interesting than a baggy pair of jeans and a t-shirt," Sally said.

A burlesque show like Potani's attracts a diverse crowd.

"It's great fun," said one attendee, who happens to be a grandparent. "The girls are good to look at. They are talented and I wish I was their age."

"It's awesome," said another show attendee. "The girls are awesome."

"I love it," said a third. "It totally turned me straight. The girls are so beautiful. It's like a dream."

Fans say any way you dress it up – or undress it – burlesque is guaranteed fun.

For more information on Corio, which is on the corner of West Broadway and Grand Street in SoHo, go to ThisIsBurlesque or CorioNYC.

For details on Angie Pontani and the Pontani Sisters, go to Pontani Sisters.com.

Finally, to learn more about Lynn Sally, go to www.myspace.com/drlucky or Lukki.com.