 A flier for Le Cirque Rouge de Gus |
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Read David de Young's account of Le Cirque Rouge de Gus here.
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At the preview show for Le Cirque, I was fortunate enough to have a seat at an albeit severely tipsy table. The tiny theatre quickly became packed as the start of the show neared. I hunched over the table, taking copious and mostly extraneous notes, but nevertheless, let me share one passage:
Somewhere near 8:30 pm…I'm getting a David Lynch (non-creepy) Twin Peaks vibe. A blonde against the wall looks like Laura Palmer; Amy on stage underneath red lights looks like a beautiful version of Julee Cruise. If a dancing, strange-tongued dwarf appears, or a gamine giant, things will get very interesting…uh, Anna just handed me the night's schedule of performances-my first sight? "Twin Peaks" by Jean.
Is David Lynch lingering in the corner?! He should be, by god.
And I'd like to think Lynch would have enjoyed the Thursday performance by a fine group of multi-talented ladies ushering in a Minneapolis chapter of the burlesque revival currently bubbling around the country. Thankfully, however, it wasn't akin to Carmen Electra's siliconed, slicked-up, tanned, toned and overly produced burlesque troupe The Pussycat Dolls. One viewing on a late-night talk show was definitely enough for me. Those ladies may be well-trained dancers, but I'm prone to believing that our pop culture is already nauseously over-saturated with Maxim-quality female images so repetitive, bland and garish we needn't perpetuate any more.
So give me Bettie Page, dammit! I was overjoyed to see the Le Cirque performers were beautiful in a variety of ways. From African-American skin to pale white dotted with sensual tattoos, kinky hair to blonde and choppy, I felt that relief I always feel when seeing realistic beauty in a variety of forms: thank god I really don't need that unhealthy tan or pounds of makeup or some sort of sexuality concocted from someone else's ideal. My strapping Nordic frame actually does have a place on this planet!
I digress…enter the Minneapolis chapter of the burlesque revival, fronted by Amy Buchanan, supported by dancers/performers Mia, Jean, Gina, Jaeneen, Corrin, Karen, Ellen ("internationally-known cellist!"), Cherika, Kirsten Frantzeg and Bells. Burlesque, for me, generally conjures an image of only the striptease, but one musn't forget the cabaret aspects, and the variety of striptease itself. The night consisted of three rounds of performing that included an array of things I certainly wasn't expecting. We were treated to song, dance, striptease, silhouette dancing, fan dancing, balloon dancing, an interesting reverse striptease number and a spot-on Marlena Dietrich impression by Kirsten Frantzeg.
I haven't the space to describe them all in their particular beauty, unfortunately. (I therefore encourage you to attend the official opening later in August to get the full treatment yourself!) The chanteuses gave us sensuous renditions of "Just a Gigolo", "You Hurt Me" and "Sooner or Later". I was introduced to several classic sorts of burlesque stripteases. Fan dancing featured Mia incorporating both an audience member and a large feathered fan to tease the crowd; Cherika performed a silhouette dance behind a white curtain; Mia performed the classic balloon dance, with audience participation of course.
Most enjoyable throughout was the atmosphere of near-raucousness and informality; like David de Young said, it doesn't take as much out of you as an audience member to watch a loosened up yet professional performance. The drummer sat behind his little kit in the corner, blithely smoking and playing. Guest pianists popped out of the crowd to take the stage. Houseboy Aaron morphed into performer as a comic aspect of some of the numbers, then retreated to the corner to tend the needs of the women. Amy flitted from audience member to server to emcee to performer with a dizzying ease.
I'd like to believe that while sitting in that tiny, smoky, stuffy little theatre on Thursday was similar to what it would have been like during burlesque's heyday. Remove the traffic outside and the thump of rock music from Urban Wildlife next door, keep the guy in the corner with the pinstripe suit and fedora, the tittering crowd, the sultry Billie Holiday tunes in between sets and you've got Le Cirque Rouge de Gus. It's the unexpected performances like this one that make me even more happy I'm living here in a community ebbing with talents and ambitions, not to mention beautiful women committed to the art of burlesque.
Location Info:
Le Cirque Rouge de Gus
Artist Info: Le Cirque Rouge de Gus
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