Photo by Martin Cotton

Cherry Typhoon is a tropical storm of burlesque energy. This whirling dervish of striptease action blew everyone away at the 2009 Montreal Burlesque Festival competition, winning the coveted Rosita Royse Award. Many of Cherry Typhoon’s burlesque routines involve traditional and pop Japanese music, as well as the kimono and giant fans used in traditional dance. She subtly subverts the conventions of Japanese expression and femininity with large doses of humour and fun.

The self-described “Sweetie, Spicy, Chubby Tiny Dynamo!” has been performing burlesque in Tokyo since 2003, when she formed the Murasaki Babydoll troupe with Violet Eva. The troupe made their North American debut in 2005 at Tease-O-Rama, then went on to win the Best Troupe awards at Miss Exotic World 2006. Cherry Typhoon has been performing solo both in Japan and abroad since 2007.

Anaïs La Nuit: You were in Montreal for last year’s festival. And you’ve been to Montreal before, for the Fringe Festival. What do you think of our city?

Cherry Typhoon: Montreal is full of culture! That’s the first and biggest reason why I am interested in this beautiful city. I love the attitude of people who enjoy music, art, drama, festivals, and of course, BURLESQUE! Montreal has very long winter and after that, people enjoy beautiful summer. I love to live with the natural environment. This is the second reason why I love Montreal. Third… you know! There are a lot of great performers. Montreal Burlesque Festival is my favourite!

ALN: In your performances, you play with aspects of Japanese culture. Why do you do this? What are you trying to say about Japan?

CT: I had grown up in a very Japanese family. I often wear kimono, listen to traditional music, and have danced Traditional Okinawan dance for 17 years. Japanese culture is my blood, soul and nature. But unfortunately, these days Japanese young people sometimes disrespect our own culture. Of course western culture is beautiful and great! That is attractive! But I would like to say, Eastern-Asian culture is beautiful and it has historical background. I would like to express Japanese culture or mood by doing burlesque. And I would like to encourage Japanese women to be free and feel positive for thinking their own body. That is my message. But you may know, I have a lot of numbers and not always kimono! Ha-ha!

ALN: How did you discover burlesque? How long have you been performing?

CT: I have performed burlesque five years, solo for four years. When I was 19 years old, I saw Miss Erochica Bamboo perform in Kyoto. I was really touched, but I didn’t know what is that. I didn’t know the word ‘burlesque.’

In 2005, I went to New York and performed as a member of Murasaki Babydoll. I saw Miss Erochica Bamboo again, and there was a lot of great burlesque dancers, like Miss Indigo Blue, Miss Dirty Martini…and so on. And Miss Indigo Blue recommended me to go to Tease-O-Rama. Then I went and discovered burlesque, twill and brilliant world!!!

ALN: Is burlesque popular in Japan? What is the burlesque community like there?

CT: In Japan, the burlesque community is very tiny. There are only seven to ten solo performers, and only one troupe (Murasaki Babydoll). So to be honest, burlesque is not popular in Japan. But these days, little by little, more people seem to be interested in burlesque.

I wish some day there will be a big burlesque festival in TOKYO. When my dream comes true, please come and jump into Japanese burlesque world!!!

Cherry Typhoon will be performing at the International Gala night, Friday September 24.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Anaïs La Nuit: You were in Montreal earlier this year for the Grand Burlesque Show ~ what were your impressions of our city? Do you think that it is “the Paris of North America”? And how do you like our poutine…?

Gentry de Paris: I love Montreal for so many reasons, but mostly because everyone speaks franglais!  I love how one start a sentence in one language, mais la phrase se termine en l’autre langue. Ca me convienne perfectly because I was born & raised in California, but have lived in Paris for 10 years. I still think half in French/half in English.

And the poutine! There’s something magically delicious about the mix of deep fried carbohydrates, drenched in gravey and topped in rubbery cheese. I ate it every day during my last visit.

But no, I don’t think Montreal is anything like Paris. You have skyscrapers and friendly people in Montreal…we don’t have either in Paris. The language is our only common link.

ALN: What do you think about the current burlesque revival?

GdP: Burlesque never really left the American pop culture consciousness. If you play the song “The Stripper,” any man, woman, or child of any age will instinctively know that you’re supposed to strut about as if you’re wearing a giant feather boa and take off your clothes in the traditional teasing way.

For me, it all sort of came together while dancing with a troupe of pin-up girls after having watched “Gypsy” too many times. Some friends opened a cabaret and my first burlesque act was born. And when I found the “Showgirl Supply Store” in Las Vegas and bought entirely too many feather head dresses, then needed a place to wear them.

When I lived in the US, there wasn’t a “Burlesque scene,” but a very strong retro-loving subculture in San Francisco & Los Angeles.  But I don’t think you have to like a certain type of music or retro aesthetic to appreciate Burlesque. What person anywhere, of any age & gender doesn’t like to watch a pretty girl take off her pretty costume?

ALN: Did you ever expect that it would become as popular as it is now?

GdP: I’m surprised it’s not more popular!  Burlesque is nothing but fun. It’s fun for the performers, its fun for the audience, and it’s even a welcome change for the technicians who watch us from the wings.

I think it’s ironic that it this supposedly liberated post-modern society, that the most innocent form of striptease, which is universally admired across all gender and age demographics, is still only sponsored by alcohol companies.

ALN: Who and what inspires your burlesque performances?

GdP: Ah ha!  It’s a secret. No, I’m kidding I don’t have any one source, inspiration comes in the most unexpected ways. For example, I was walking my dog, he insisted on peeing in front of a pawn shop, I noticed an industrial theatre-sized smoke machine in the window for a very good price. And voila! The idea for my next number was born.

And I got another idea from a friend’s Twitter. And the best one ever came from hysterical phone conversation with Indigo Blue.

Ideas come from everywhere, but actual technique I leave to the professionals.  I’ll block out the basics for a choreography, but my ballet teacher takes the choreography from “good” to “professional.” And I wouldn’t have such great costumes if it weren’t for my corset maker who is always teeming with genius ideas.  Likewise for my lighting. I’ll design something, but my lighting designer has a million ideas of how to make my numbers more dramatic and theatrical.

It takes a village to be Gentry de Paris!  I would never take credit for everything or have people think that I do everything myself. Luckily over the years I’ve built a good network of theatre and dance professionals.  And I love performing in venues like Club Soda where you can see acts they way they were meant to be performed…with big props and complicated mis en scene.

ALN: What is the burlesque scene in Paris and the rest of Europe like? How does it differ, and how is it similar, to what’s happening in North America?

GdP: We don’t have a Burlesque scene in Paris. There is not one Burlesque club, and I find it lamentable. There are a handful of beginners who throw together low-production value shows in inappropriate venues, without proper stages or lighting… I don’t think they help to convert, inform or even really entertain the general public.

Unless you saw Dita at the Crazy Horse or my show at the Casino de Paris last year… there isn’t a way for the general public to see real Burlesque the way it was meant to be staged. I wish this would change. I work almost every weekend, but it’s always at private parties or corporate events. Burlesque shouldn’t be for the elite, but that’s the way it is in Paris for the moment.

ALN: What do you love about burlesque? What’s your favourite thing about being an international burlesque star?

GdP: My fellow performers! That’s what I love best! I love that I have a group of friends across the globe who love corsets and feathers and “the first strains of Harlem Nocturn” as much as I do!  There’s no way I could do this for a full-time living if I didn’t have the support my Burlesque colleagues/likeminded lunatics!

Thank you for this interview. Please sign take a second to visit my website and sign up for our no-spam mailing list www.GentrydeParis.com

Watch Gentry de Paris perform at the Montreal Burlesque Festival’s Gala Night (September 25). Read the rest of this entry »

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Seska Lee is an active and lively personality in the Montreal burlesque community. She performs solo and as part of Team Burlesque, a select group of performers who share the common desire to make the Montreal burlesque scene vibrant and diverse. She also works in the online sex industry, managing and maintaining several adult websites. In addition to all this work, she is a runner, a writer, a vegan, an activist, an entrepreneur, a model and a morning person.

Anaïs La Nuit: Who is Seska Lee?

Seska Lee: She, as a burlesque performer, is an upbeat, slightly naive version of myself. She can also be seductive and dark from time to time.

ALN: What is your involvement in Team Burlesque? What are the pros and cons of being involved in a troupe versus performing as an individual?

SL: Team Burlesque is not actually a troupe. It is the name Miss Sugarpuss, L. Diablo and I use when we perform together. We enjoy collaborating on trio numbers and on whole shows, but we also take the opportunity to perform solo for all sorts of other shows: cabarets, fundraisers, corporate gigs, etc. It is also the name of a blog of mine and a Facebook group Miss Sugarpuss started.

ALN: What does burlesque mean to you?

SL: Burlesque is a form of performance art to me. At its core it is about striptease and entertainment, but one can also use this form of stripping to tell a story or make commentary.

ALN: What are the politics of burlesque? Can burlesque be a political act?

SL: Not everyone sees burlesque as a means to be political, but I think it can be if you want it to. When it is done in a creative way taking your clothes off can be a very powerful tool in grabbing the public’s attention. It isn’t simple exhibitionism  – with costumes, musical accompaniment, humour and attitude you can express so much. It is an in-your-face display of your body and spirit.

ALN: In an essay about how to use burlesque to push one’s political agenda, you wrote: “The revival of burlesque at its most powerful is about taking archetypes and stereotypes and combining them with music and movement to address the issues of body image, sex politics, corporate corruption, gender dynamics, whore stigma, economic disparity…” How have you done this in your own performances?

SL: These days I am less of an activist when it comes to my burlesque performances. I am very much interested in modern vaudeville and kitsch. However, when I began I was one of the few active sex workers who was also a burlesque performer and this in and of itself was a political statement. It definitely caused a stir. My first performance was a commentary on stereotypical porn star appearances (which I am always facing as a porn performer who does not fit the popular cookie cutter version of a woman) and my second show was mainly about sex work in general with numbers to the Breakfast at Tiffany’s soundtrack as well as sex work themed sketches.

ALN: Who are your burlesque inspirations?

SL: I am inspired most often by non-burlesque performers such as the Muppets, but I do admire other performers such as Michelle L’amour who, in my view, take classic burlesque striptease and make it so fresh and exciting.

Don’t miss Seska Lee’s solo performance at the Burlesque Pool Party, August 11. She’ll also be performing as part of Team Burlesque at the Montreal Burlesque Festival’s Gala Night (September 25). Read the rest of this entry »

Photo: Minna Katarina

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BonBon Bombay is a sassy little ball of fire! She wowed the audience at last year’s Montreal Burlesque Festival with her creative, theatrical and funny performance. Her burlesque antics were so impressive that she won the festival competition.

“The Montreal Burlesque Festival has allowed me to open so many new doors and enjoy such rich projects,” says Miss Bombay. “It was a great venue to showcase my work.”

Since last year’s festival victory, she performed her first headlining gig at  the circus, playing in “The SideShow” with Carnivale Lune Bleue.

This spicy little candy has been busy off stage as well as on. She was the choreographer and assistant creative director for the “Rosie Delight Needs A New Brain,” a burlesque musical which debuted at the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival. The organizers of the VIBF have also praised her most recent creation, “BonBon’s Barber Shop,” a multi-media burlesque play.

What attracted her to the world of burlesque? “One fateful evening, the cast of Spectral Theatre’s Hamlet (I played Ophelia) and the cast of Screaming Chicken Theatrical Society (comedic burlesque troupe) met under one rooftop to celebrate a mutual friend’s birthday.  I feel in love with them –  and a certain MC/Boylesquer – and the rest is history.”

Under the title of “burlesque,” she loves that she has the freedom to create whatever she wants and incorporate her years of dance, theatre, circus training into her own little vignettes. “It’s another way I can express myself artistically and keep my creative wheels turning. Life is a stage and I want to play!!”

What inspires her? “Music, first and foremost, it’s the base of all I do.” She’s also inspired by contemporary burlesque performers such as April O’Peel, Connie Lingus, and Melody Mangler.

We’re lucky to have BonBon Bombay back again for this year’s festival, where she’ll be performing not just once, but twice! Catch her at the Oh, Canada! All-Canadian Showcase on Thursday, September 23, and the Gala Night on Saturday, September 25. Read the rest of this entry »

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April March, the First Lady of Burlesque, will be one of the burlesque legends featured at the Montreal Burlesque Festival. Born Velma Fern Worden in Oklahoma City in 1935, April March was a burlesque star from 1952 to the mid 1970s. She performed around the US, Canada, Mexico and England, and captivated audiences with her elegant and sophisticated burlesque style.

She got her start in the burlesque scene while working as a cigarette and flower girl in her hometown of Oklahoma City, after studying tap dance, ballet and acrobatics. Her career highlights include headlining two shows for famed burlesque promoter, Harold Minsky, and the Ann Corio’s This Was Burlesque on Broadway. She led a glamorous social life, which included a marriage proposal from jazz singer Mel Tormé (she turned him down!), and involvements with Joe DiMaggio and Abdul Aziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia.

April March also made an appearance in Jim Henson’s Time Piece, a short Oscar-nominated experimental film made in 1965, which Henson wrote, directed and starred in. While driving her burlesque and dance career, she developed her passion for golf, and was even featured in a 1964 Sports Illustrated article on women golfers – making her the first (and possibly only) burlesque performer to be written about in the magazine.

This determined and talented performed continued sharing her skill with the world as burlesque started to decline in the late 1960s, right through until her retirement in 1978. She stepped out of the spotlight to focus on her family, settling in Saratoga Springs, NY where she still lives with her sixth husband and two Miniature Schnauzers.

The recent classic burlesque revival has also revived April March’s career, and she has been at the Great Burlesque Exposition in Cambridge, Ma and the Miss Exotic World Exposition in Las Vegas. She is an important living bridge to burlesque’s past, and she willingly shares her experience by lecturing and teaching classes on the art of the “Elegant Striptease.”

Her contribution to burlesque history has also been acknowledged by her appearance in two recent documentaries about the form: Immodesty Blaize’s Burlesque Undressed and Behind The Burly Q directed by Leslie Zemeckis.

The Festival is fortunate to feature this beautiful and dynamic source of burlesque knowledge and history. April March will be offering an afternoon workshop and performing at the Gala Night event, both on September 25. Read the rest of this entry »