Burlesque Baby is a show run by Courtney L’amour that allows first-timers to get some stage time in front of a welcoming audience, while also giving established performers a chance to test out new routines. There is an in house team who give feedback for each routine, which helps the performers to tweak and refine their act to perfection. As I found my seat, I noticed a screen beside the stage displaying performers' names and their picture – this is a great idea for introducing the audience to any unfamiliar names and faces.
MC Constance Cravings in her Ringmaster (or mistress) outfit kicked the night off well with sleek satin and glittering jewels a-plenty. Her rendition of “Welcome To Burlesque” was comical and a great intro to burlesque etiquette for new-comers. Her intro for each performer was witty and quick, which was quite refreshing having been to many a show where the host tends to babble. After the break, Constance further flexed her fashion flair with a gold number that was as classy as her ringmaster get up was quirky.
Our first performer was Lola Lipizzaner with a lively tribute to a pop-culture classic, The Simpsons. The intro to her routine explained that she would be doing her routine based on two times that Homer got himself into trouble, I can understand how it would be difficult to find one song from the show that is long enough to do an entire routine with. Lola began with a little trailer park seduction in country singer garb, then switched gears to reveal her hidden glitz and glam as she helped “put the spring in Springfield”. One of my favourite things about Lola is she always has excellent pasties, and this routine was no exception.
Our next performer is a recent arrival in Wellington, Valerie Vendetta, who wowed the audience with a stellar hoop routine. From the moment she started, her hoops became an extension of her own body, twirling about her with high energy and oozing relaxed confidence. The best moves are the ones that make you wanna buy some hoops just to figure out how the hell they did it, which is how I felt several times during her performance. There is a lot of effort that goes into a hoop performance but Valerie gave an air of effortlessness and fun, even recovering from a dropped hoop like nothing had happened. I’m excited to see more of her work in the future.
Continuing the variety of the night was Ellie Kat, who Constance introduced by singing “one of these things is not like the others” eluding to the fact that Ellie, being a drag performer, actually kept all of her clothes on. Looking straight out of the 1950s in a darling sundress and matching heels, Ellie outdid most of the ladies in the audience for sheer style. Her performance was hilarious and a wee bit naughty, with just a dash of audience participation, which all added up to a great routine.
Our next newbie, Little Bastet, brought us a belly dance eliciting thoughts of ancient Egypt. Despite its' name, belly dancing involves a lot more than just the belly, there is a lot of muscle control that goes into the isolating of various body parts to achieve the fluid movements that Little Bastet performed so flawlessly. Her costume was eye-catching and exotic. Paired with a seemingly all-knowing smile and enduring eye contact, the overall effect gave the routine a very sensuous feel.
Our final routine of the first half was a crack-up character piece from Lady Sane, with a very 1920s feel despite the song, My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Marilyn Monroe, being released in 1960. This act was neo-burlesque at it’s best, with energetic movement from an excellent dancer. The one note I would make is that the red fans, which made an appearance at the end of the routine to tease the reveal of the pasties, seemed an out of place addition to the act that didn’t quite fit with the rest of the black and white costume. That being said, ostrich feather fans are quite expensive, and having a different set for every routine is unrealistic especially for beginners.
After a 15 minute interval which ended up running a little over 30 minutes, we were back into the action with our pole performer for the evening, Carina. This talented lady had a rather large fan base in the audience who whooped and hollered and her spins and dives. Pole dancing can be very physically taxing yet Carina made it look simple and flawless. I missed most of her floor work, but her posing and pole work were excellent, she owned the stage with her confidence and conviction, not afraid to encourage the audience to get loud with their enjoyment.
After some behind the scenes deconstruction to remove the pole, and another song from Constance, our next performer burst into life on the stage. Missy Martini was like a firework, rocketing across the stage leaving a trail of sparkles in her wake. Her choreography was outstanding and her glitter glove peel was right on the beat and very effective. Considering the high energy of the routine and the liveliness of Missy herself, perhaps the costume could have done with some livening up with a little bling here and there, but that is just a tiny footnote on an otherwise awesome performance.
Bringing back the audience participation was Ellie Kat with “Putting it Together” in which the “it” was the (un)lucky audience member. Ellie’s outfit was as bizarre and outrageous as her final ‘product’ and her routine was full of comedy and anticipation for the final reveal. When the song came to its' climax and the ‘art’ received its' final touches, the audience was treated to… well, I’m not sure what to call it, but it sure was something!
Not to be outdone, Lola Lipizzaner is next out to give us a second helping of pop culture goodness, with a routine dedicated to the late and great Leonard Nimoy. Reprising her Star Trek routine from a previous Nerdlesque!, Lola does excellent work of setting the scene and building her character, adding a clever extra touch of alien body markings to take her routine up that extra notch. Starting as a lowly “red shirt”, Lola finds her sexy side and reveals a glittering Command Gold bra beneath which hide her Sciences Blue pasties. Above the pasties were the words “R.I.P SPOCK”, a fitting tribute that I’m sure Nimoy himself would have applauded.
Our third dose of second helpings was served in the form of Little Bastet with a feline routine that was the perfect juxtaposition of her earlier routine. Where before her moves had been fluid and flowing, here they were accentuated and forceful. Unfortunately, I missed a big chunk of this routine due to vision restrictions, but what I did see was determined and a fitting tribute to the great cats, worshipped by the culture from which Little Bastet adopted her name.
Bringing the evening to a stunning close was an Australian performer, Vermilion Vulpine. This fan dance was just the right mix of cheeky and charming, the black and white fans paired perfectly with the sexy tuxedo-esque costume. Her backbends and arm work were excellent with some very saucy teasing as she removed her outfit. Her pasties fit the tuxedo theme well with rather cute black and white stripes, but once again the red edges and tassels felt out of place with the rest of the costume. Her finishing pose was a skilful backbend that was sadly not visible for the most part, once again due to vision restrictions.
There is one comment that a lot of the second half acts share, and that is the lack of visibility for any low/floor moves. Due to the set up of the Fringe Bar, with a low stage and limited seating area, any floor work or seated chair moves are completely lost to anyone past the third row. Many people were seen abandoning their seats in favour of standing at the bar to get a better view of what was happening on stage.
This is something to bear in mind, both for performers and audience; if you want to see everything you either need to be in the front 2-3 rows or on the high stools at the back of the room and if you want everything in your routine to be seen you need to keep it up high.
Considering the number of newbies at each Burlesque Baby, I am always blown away by the quality of the performances and tonight was no exception. I look forward to seeing any of these names in the billings of future shows.
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