A new trend is broadening nightlife in the Twin Cities and around campus by bringing back vaudeville.
While both the West and East Coasts saw burlesque acts boom around the year 2000, the nightlife trend has just begun to hit its stride in the Midwest, and even close to campus.
When English senior Krista Burton went to see a Lili’s Burlesque Revue show with her sister, she was “dying” to be in it, she said.
“It’s so woman-friendly,” Burton said. “It’s like a very sensual celebration of women.”
Burlesque can best be summed up as an old-fashioned striptease. The act consists of women of all body shapes stripping to leave most of their upper body nude, except for little pieces of decorative fabric glued to their nipples.
The shows also include other routines such as juggling, magic acts, bullwhip artists, acrobatics and comedy routines.
Two burlesque acts in the Twin Cities vie for the spotlight on weekends. Lili’s Burlesque Revue in downtown Minneapolis has shows Fridays and Saturdays, while Le Cirque de Rouge de Gus has Saturday-night performances at the Loring Pasta Bar. Both acts take the stage at 10 p.m.
Jason McLean, Loring Pasta Bar owner, said burlesque is making a comeback because of its simple nature and exaggerated theatrics.
“There’s a vein of humor in it,” McLean said. “It’s the simplicity of the flirtatious nature of burlesque.”
McLean said he decided to bring Le Cirque Rouge de
Gus to his restaurant midsummer 2004, when the troupe’s producer Amy Buchanan approached him. At the time, he had been looking for interesting nighttime programming, he said.
When asked how striptease is different from stripping, Karen Vieno Paurus, Lili’s Burlesque Revue singer, said, “(The dance) is focused on the tease. We like to use little sayings like, ‘Sell the sizzle, not the steak.’ “
Michelle Langner, Lili’s Burlesque Revue emcee/singer, said, “It’s very classic Ö I mean, we’re talking about using feathers, boas, a look in the eye.”
Langer said burlesque isn’t as much about the end result, but rather the process.
“I think it’s a different kind of energy, of playfulness,” he said.
Tawnya Konobeck, a Lili’s Burlesque Revue performer, said burlesque is closer to performance art and theater, in which each skit has a different character.
“We get to have a new song, a new persona, a new outfit,” she said. “It’s like its own little theater production every time you get up there.”
Burton said that most of the time, more women than men attend Lili’s Burlesque Revue. She said she assumes it’s because women find burlesque empowering rather than degrading.
“Women are shocked to see other women who aren’t perfect presented in a way that shows they’re sexual beings,” Burton said. “But it’s not disgusting, like stripping down a pole. We’re not being objectified – we’re doing it for fun.”
Freelance editor Anna Weggel welcomes feedback at [email protected].
