Real Housewives, and the real men and women of strip.
Real Housewives, disrobing for your pleasure.
This Friday’s Academy of Burlesque Alumni Show features a promising lineup of performers both experienced and more recently hatched. The cherry on the proverbial cake will be Miss(ter) Waxie Moon. Seattle’s beloved Waxie is also an instructor at the Academy; I can tell you from having been a guest at one of his recent six week courses, not only is he a stellar performer, but a thoughtful and generous teacher. He is attentive and has the rare gift of sharing from his dance and stage background, while never overshadowing those who choose to take a very personal class (in minimal clothing). I have no doubt Waxie will make a glorious housewife. Performing gender is what you make it.
For the full lineup, details, and tickets to the Real Housewives Alumni show, click HERE
Promo image for Waxie Moon: a film by Wes Hurley, photo by POC
Some other juicy information I gleaned from Waxie during the last Boylesque session at the Academy was a peek at some prototypical boylesque history. He generously shared rare footage of the Peter Adonis Traveling Fantasy Show from 1981 (referred to in a 1981 newspaper clipping as a “nationally famous male burlesque show”), as well as an early Chippendales special A Musical With Muscle. One might not like to think that burlesque/boylesque has any resemblance to early Chippendales, but when you pay attention, the moves are familiar.
While we’re on the subject of gender roles, I’ve just finished reading the spectacular anthology Working Sex: Sex Workers Write about a Changing Industry, edited by Annie Oakley (activist, artist, curator, and ten-year sex industry veteran). The collection shines a light into the often dimly lit corners of a varied universe- from porn stars to strippers to phone sex workers pretending to be sorority girls. All the uneasy nuances and interesting stories are divulged by the men and women behind the work. One of my favorites was a short rumination by writer, filmmaker, and “international pornographer” Bruce LaBruce on how pop culture became so smutty.
Check out the book HERE.
Thanks giant book company, for the cover shot.
Burlesque Seattle Press 