Preview
SEXY CIRCUS CABARET
Empire Burlesque Follies
Runs Thursday, November 13
The Palace Night Club
When someone shows up for an interview in a pink tutu, you know it’s going to be interesting.
The person in question is 21-year-old Calgarian Lola Lush and she’s bringing a sexy circus to The Palace Night Club next week. Her troupe goes by the name of Empire Burlesque Follies and Lush describes its cabaret show as a cross between burlesque and circus.
As one of the core performers in the Follies, Lush is chasing a dream to make it big in a type of show business that was at its peak more than 100 years ago. During the day she works at Earl’s, but it’s not the spicy Thai chicken salad or Albino Rhino beer that make her heart sing. Instead, when it grows dark out, Lush’s thoughts turn to burlesque and performing in front of an audience.
"When I was 17, I wrote a poem about burlesque and the next thing I know I was hitchhiking to Vancouver to be in a show," she says. "It was manifested and all of a sudden I was there."
By "there," Lush means she found herself in the middle of Vancouver’s mini burlesque renaissance – a phenomenon she hopes to re-create in Calgary.
Often associated with smoky clubs and strippers, burlesque is actually a form of social satire that in Canada dates all the way back to the 1870s. Burlesque shows of the past featured dancers, singers and skits that often mocked the upper class of the day. Keeping in that tradition, Empire Burlesque Follies provides its own version of social commentary in a variety show fuelled by double entendre and bawdy talk.
"I’m inspired by everything from toilet bowls to office chairs," Lush declares. "I’m actually Gypsy Rose Lee turned to trash with a hectic tutu on."
Whatever else she is, Lush is undoubtedly an unabashed performer who, as part of her act, lights her breasts on fire and juggles a globe of light behind a screen.
"My claim to fame is juggling light," says Lush, who performed her act in San Francisco in front of Marilyn Manson during that city’s annual burlesque extravaganza, Tease-O-Rama.
Lush, like many of the burlesque stars that have preceded her, is a combination of vaudeville-inspired comedian and outrageous exhibitionist – the kind you can’t help but laugh with.
Joining this whirlwind of tutu and trash talk is a host of other performers migrating from Vancouver for a one-night stand in Calgary.
Included in the lineup is Babette la Fave, founder of the Follies, who is billed as a sexy circus showgirl and magician. Nicknamed "Grimms’ fairy tales’ Little Bo Peep," la Fave is known for dark performances that combine illusion and escape.
Also on the bill is Dimitry, who claims to be "Canada’s only male burlesque dancer." Inspired by such historical performers as Eddie Cantor, Dimitry is known to use a top hat and cane in ways that were previously unknown and better left unmentioned.
Then there’s Ana Bon Bon, a talented musician who is a fan favourite in Vancouver. Playing the blues, show tunes and her own compositions, all on a squeeze box, Bon Bon has achieved that unusual position for a burlesque performer – respectability. In the past she has opened for such acts as Ray Condo and the Subhumans.
Rounding out the show and charged with keeping everything on track is Christine "Tiny" Taylor. She is one of the stars of the television comedy series The Juicy Danger Show and has been called "the Iggy Pop of comedy" by The Globe and Mail.
As for Lola Lush, her choice of vocation may be a bit kinky, but, like any person seduced by the lure of showbiz, all she asks for is a place to perform.
"I’ve got to go out and live my dream," she says, adjusting her tutu. |
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