Oops I did it again…

Drumroll please…..trrrrrrrrr high hat, bam bam!

I am doing Burleskapader again. For the third consecutive year this proud little mama is producing Sweden’s first and only burlesquefestival for domestic performers. I am so happy to be doing a bigger event this time. On the 31/8 there will be a meet and greet event att Södra teatern. Come and mingle with your favorite performers while being entertained by first-class entertainers.

Then on the first of September some of the finest burlesque and variety performers in Sweden will grace the stage and give you an unforgettable evening full of glamour,  It will be sassy, funny, we want to male you

The big show will be held at Kägelbanan on the 1/9 and include the best of Swedish Burlesque and Variety. Due to the size of the event I have teamed up with Producer of Dr Sketchys Stockholm and talented performer Evy Maroon. Togheter we aim to serve some burlesque tits and ass extravaganza topped with glamour, toung-in-cheek humor, jaw dropping acts and much more!

Come and spend an unforgettable evening with us, and be looked after by über diva Babie Kajsa who might teach you a thing or two…

Anyways guys and dolls it´s gonna be amazing and I hope to see as many of you there as possible, to get your ticket just use the link below.

www.sodrateatern.com/en/Program–Tickets/Events-container/Burleskapader/

Pin-up for the troops

This summer I am booked to perform at the UEFA EURO 2012. I will be entertaining the supporters in Camp Sweden together with Cabaret Verboten, really looking forward to it. It will be a blast and a bit like being a pin-up for the troops, well at least if you are blessed to live in a country that is not at war.  So I´ll be watching the game Sweden Ukraine on monday and performing for hopefully victorious fans on Tuesday.

Later on this summer I will be in London and perform during the Olympics, a part of the Electric Cabaret crew at the Peninsula Festival. This will be during the whole olympics and tons of fun. Am currently working on a new act tapping in to the Olympic theme of Greek Gods and glorious gold medals.

I love sports but never thought they would be so intertwined with my work as a performer. It´s gonna be so much fun and if you are in town, make sure to stop by!

Lily xoxo

Marilyn Monroe entertaining the troops

Lily DeLuxe performing Vainty Airlines, live pinup show

Original Golden Gal

Many  burlesque performers do tribute acts. I have one, a tribute to Marlene Dietrich simply called Marlene Dietrich Tribute Act. The idea is to capture that sexy nonchalance and transgender sexuality Dietrich oozes.

While researching Marlene, I found one of my favorite actresses Carol Channing doing a satirical imitation of Marlene. It´s hysterical I just love it!

Carol Channing was cast as Lorelei Lee in the original Broadway production of  Gentlemen Prefers Blondes, before it was turned in to a movie starring Marilyn Monroe, as the golden Lorelei. Channing was also the original Dolly in Hello Dolly.  She has had a great acting career and has won many prizes. If you have not seen her you are in for a treat. This is what she has to say about her first encounter with the theatre, I found it very inspiring and to be quite true.

Channing was introduced to the stage while working for her mother. In a 2005 interview with the Austin Chronicle, Channing recounted this experience:

“My mother said, ‘Carol, would you like to help me distribute Christian Science Monitors backstage at the live theatres in San Francisco?’ And I said, ‘All right, I’ll help you.’ I don’t know how old I was. I must have been little. We went through the stage door alley (for the Curran Theatre), and I couldn’t get the stage door open. My mother came and opened it very well. Anyway, my mother went to put the Monitors where they were supposed to go for the actors and the crew and the musicians, and she left me alone. And I stood there and realized – I’ll never forget it because it came over me so strongly – that this is a temple. This is a cathedral. It’s a mosque. It’s a mother church. This is for people who have gotten a glimpse of creation and all they do is recreate it. I stood there and wanted to kiss the floorboards.”

A toast to a remarkable, amazing and talented actress!!!

Romantic Illusions

It would of course be fitting to write about love and in a way I will but not romantic love.

Rather the love I feel for my trade. What I love about the theatre and entertainment business is that you buy the illusion. It´s not real, it does not even look realistic most of the time but you buy in to it. There is that secret agreement between the performers and the audience, we will give you some illusions and you will believe in them.

Last week I found a pair of old pink glittery shoes. When ever I wear them  people go: ohh, ahh nice, lovely shoes etc. It´s funny they are quite old and all I see is the lipstick stain that wont come off (don´t aks!) the patch where the glitter has come off, from pretending to faint on stage too many times and the soiled soles.  But on stage they glitter and glimmer with the rest of my appearance and no one sees the stains or where the magic has worn off.

Backstage is full of wigs in tresses, costumes hold together with a safety-pin and all the other wonderful tricks of the trade. Make-up that enhances or hides, costumes that are sewed on to the performers bodies and various kinds of products that shines, glitters, dampens or give you what it is you need to create your special illusion.

The dressing room is a magical world and a lovely place to learn from others, make new friends and most importantly prepare you for your act. Once on stage you do your thing the way you do and by them you are one with your act and the audience. You have long forgotten about the safety-pin in your back, the hairpins scraping your scalp to keep your wig in place and the faded glitter on your shoes. You are selling some illusions and the audiens are buying it wholeheartedly.

” Want to buy some illusions…

They had a touch of paradise, a spell you can´t explain..”

The Burlesque Body

After a show, the singer of a famous band came up to me and thanked me for the show adding, “it´s nice to see a burlesque performer with a good-looking body for a change”. While I understand that he was  paying me a compliment, I got provoked. In saying that, he did not only diss my fellow burlesque sisters but he completely missed the point. I have said it before and I say it again. it´s not what you look like, it´s what you do. We are all born with unique bodies, your gene pool is the reason you look one way or the other. There will always be personal preferences, small bust, big bums, round hips, big boobs, short legs, slender arms whatever. That is taste and that is something  you cannot discuss, it´s different for every one of us.

What you do is important. As producer of Burleskapader, I get a lot of videos from all sorts of performers. Not once have I ever though about somebody body. I look for what you do with it and how you use it. I am not interested in perfect dance steps or perfect pitch in a song. I want to see energy and commitment. A spring in the step, a cheeky smile and an idea of some sort.

This is also why I think it´s a shame that more and more burlesque performers have breastimplants. I am not at all against plastic surgery, but the burlesque scene is really one arena where you can come as a you are and where different bodies are appreciated and welcomed. There is not a set beauty standard, there is only what you do those magical moments on stage and what you share with your audience.

I don´t do burlesque to be pretty or because I have a certain body. I do it because I love performing and I have an idea that I want to present to the audience and hopefully they will enjoy it and I can take them on an ever so small but magical journey.

Who can illustrate this better that talented, beautiful, sexy Selene Luna!

Cover Girl Domestic Burlesque

Tomorrow talented photographer Elsa Quarsell will launch her  latest project  a book called Domestic Burlesque. Elsa have photographed burlesque performers all over the world in their home environment. It´s a different and interesting documentary and portrait of some of the best burlesque performers. Short interviews and truly inspirational photos makes this book a little gem and the perfect christmas gift.

December 1st Elsa will sign her book at Sivletto Malmgårdsvägen, Stockholm 18.00-20.00. There will also be a performance by cover girl Lily DeLuxe.

See you there!!!

http://quarsell.com/

http://www.thedomesticburlesque.com/

Dames of Burlesque

Dames of Burlesque – in a state of undress

Hey kids, there´s a new band in town! I have started a new collaboration together with Sweden’s finest burlesquers Frauline Frauke, Ivoncita and Ruby Luscious. We see ourselves as an all-star troupe. A band where we draw on our individuality but come together and play. After the debut at Burleskapder 2011, we have now come up to speed and can offer a full burlesque show with different kinds of acts.

The inspiration came from The Dolly Sisters movie, me and Ruby started to conspire and a few months and endless hours of fun later we premiered our first act where we interact make up!!! I am Lady Lipstick, Ivoncita – Petite Poder Puff, Frauline Frauke – Mrs Mascara and Ruby – Miss Rouge. Wearing different dresses and headdress to emphasise our “character” , we dance and tease and undress in a slinky way. It full of energy and with a little surprise…

Next opportunity to see us strut our stuff will be of the opening of Awesome Rags the 24th of November at the new store opposite NK on Hamngatan, for more info visit Awesome Rags on FB.

Un till next time

Ta da!

Burleskapader second coming

Burleskapader  is back. I was not sure I had the time to produce another Burleskapader – the only Swedish Burlesque Festival focusing on Swedish talent. How could I not do it when it is so much fun! Fun but also hard work. I will put on 22 acts on stage and hopefully repeat last years success. I know one thing for sure we will stock up the bar better this time around and it´s gonna be one hell of a show! Just look at the poster here and you´ll find a fantastic line-up! From veterans to newbies!

This coming week the website will up and you will find all the information about the festival on www.burleskapader.se  in a few days. See you the 3d of September!

Rediscovering Burlesque

To be perfectly honest, I had lost the spark. Burlesque which as always been a source of inspiration and joy suddenly seemed boring and pointless. Why would I want to take my clothes of in front of an audience? It felt absurd and alien to me. I was sad that this feeling was the dominating one and I tried to do different things to get the joy and fun feeling back. Nothing worked.

Then I decided to go back to the basics. I picked up a copy of Jo Weldons Burlesque handbook and read about her passion for burlesque, teaching and performing. As a performer I have always walked my own line. I don´t conforme to traditions and try to do what I like and think others will appreciate. I never cared much for classic burlesque moves or traditions. I´ve done tassletwirling and fandancing but never find it interesting enough to keep on doing it.  It just does not make me tick.

In Jo´s book though I read something about making costumes and remembered the joy of stitching and gluing and swearing over slippery material and gluesticky fingers. Since  I had to alter one of my costumes for an up coming job I though why not give it a try. And there somewhere in the crafting of pasties and shimmy belts I found the joy again. Suddenly I decided to ad tasseltwirling to my act and with the highly energetic music I stared to shimmy, shake, bump and tassel like never before. I made myself sweat with the effort and realised that I´ve still got it. I am a performer and will always be, and to be honest I am a quite good one too!

 

Burlesque the movie

The one minute intro to this movie had about every cliché imaginable in it. Orphan girl leaves trailer park in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but a great voice and dreams of making it big. Arriving in LA it struck me odd that Ali ( played by Aguilera decked out in Cher´s old wig) walks around with a paper called Back Stage crossing out auditions she did not get, surely in this day and age, it´s all digitalized and Ali should have a Blackberry or smartphone, no?

Stumbling across a burlequeclub she gets mesmerized by the dancers on stage, tries to get a job at the club and have to fight for her right to perform, are you still awake?

There are a few problems with this movie, one is that it does not show what I would call burlesque. I have learned that the American west coast style of burlesque is more reliant on well choreographed (dance) routines. The emphasise is on sexy rather than funny. Even so, the problem with the show-scenes are that they are a big rip of from Fosse´s Cabaret mixed up with Pussy Cat Dolls and there is no burlesque in sight.

Aguilera is a great vocalist  but not much of an actor or dancer, she is saved by the surrounding cast but even so she stands out as very one-dimensional.  Having her sing in a swarovski embellished costume does not make it burlesque.  Cher who we know can act, is in this movie reduced to play  a troubled stagemama on the brink of bankruptcy running around with sequined garters and busteirs in every other scene. Same goes for talented actor Stanly Tucci. If good actors are bad in this movie maybe there is hope for Aguilera, who knows?

Funny how in a few scenes I though Cher was doing a song but if was Aguilera, it was not the voice I confused but the face, the make-up department clearly decided that it was not enough with Cher´s left over wigs but that Aguilera had to wear the same make up as the grand old dame as well.

It´s a classic underdog dance movie and it gives you a few laughs but if you think you´re gonna get burlesque forget it, the big finale looks more like a zumba fitness class than real bump and grind.

If you want a predictable feel-good movie, by all means go and see it, if you want burlesque look for tickets at nearby club instead.