A little bit of naughty is a little bit nice. She's a whole lot of glam, sweat, sugar, sex, spice.

Friday, July 08, 2011

A little bit of naughty is a little bit nice. She's a whole lot of glam, sweat, sugar, sex, spice.

I love all things glitzy and glammy, in an off-center, tongue-in-cheek kind of way. I don't love show tunes or Broadway by default, and I freakin' loathe Liza Minnelli, Celine Dion, and red carpet award ceremonies of any kind. My very favorite movie ever is Hedwig and the Angry Inch, I spent countless weekend nights doing the Timewarp, and I have a deep, abiding love of vintage-sinspired lingerie.

Somehow it was only this week that I made it to my first burlesque show.

In all fairness, growing up in Alabama didn't afford a lot of opportunity to see scantily-clad women who could sing, do magic tricks, or maybe breathe fire. Even after moving to Atlanta, the kids took up a lot of time, and it just never came to pass.

Friday night, I traveled back to my hometown to see the Magick City Sirens, Birmingham's first burlesque troupe. It was started in 2007 by their gorgeous house mom, Jezzabelle von Jane. I'd seen her picture on Facebook and honestly have a little girl crush. I was originally supposed to see them in May, but there was a big, public brouhaha about their show being cancelled at the last minute. The venue owner apparently didn't have a good understanding of what burlesque entailed.

And to make sure you know, burlesque is not stripping. Most burlesque performers, both male and female, aren't nude. They may be in their best, most revealing lingerie, but there's generally no full-on naked to be had. They are singers and dancers and comedians and magicians and whatever-elses you would find in any other performance troupe. They just happen to be racy, lacy, and pastied.

The Sirens were beautiful, certainly, and each in her own way. These ladies ran the gamut of small to extra large (says the curvy Amazon), and they were totally risqu -fied in their corsets and stockings and sparkly bits. In the interest of full disclosure, I was myself totally sassified in black lace and pencil skirt with my glittery pink shoes. Dress for the job you want, right?

What I loved about this was the courage those lovelies had to parade themselves, each in their full, beautiful glory, in front of anyone and everyone. Make no mistake: these are real women, even the one who had a boob job. (I won't tell you which, because that's not my secret to share. You'll have to see them live and figure it out yourself.) They are disproportionate and curvy and imperfect by societal and mass-medial standards. And they were stunning.

They were also talented and sweet and lots of fun to chat with after the spectacularly fun show. I've decided that I want to be them when I grow up. I might even hurry up and make that leap into adulthood if it means new shoes and frillies!

Seriously, there's something very alluring to me about that kind of performing. I can sing, I'm relatively coordinated, and I clean up nicely. I'm also boisterous and bawdy, though I know a couple of people who argue that I'm intense and maybe just a little crazy. And I have issues—with my sexuality, with the public and private image of my body, and with being on in front of strangers. Wrap all of that up in satin and sequins, and I'm totally in.

The Magick City Sirens will be performing again at Al's on Seventh in Birmingham on July 24^th. Plan to join me and Harley, please. Just be sure to save my seat at the very front—keep it open and warm—in case I decided to join them on stage.

Posted by StephQJ on Friday, July 08, 2011 in Burlesque, Magick City Sirens | Permalink