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| The impressive cast of Wasabassco Burlesque. |
To be
honest, to me it is unfathomable that people wouldn't want to come see a
Burlesque show. I love Burlesque – I love performing it, I love watching it, I
love being immersed in all that Burlesque is...no, not just love, Adore even!
And therefore it’s something incredible to think that the people here aren’t
interested...I get it – religion, tradition, norm...but art is something that
is supposed to push the boundaries, as an artist I believe that sometimes we
need to be martyrs in order to broaden people’s minds...because people are
willing to make an artist a martyr in as little as a heartbeat, they don’t
realise that the long term effects may be beneficial not only to them
individually but to society! And that is one of my convictions – to push the
boundaries. Still being so close to the art of Burlesque, even inside the art
itself, I cannot imagine how someone can possibly not love it as much as I do!!
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| The Ruby Revue in Houston, Texas. |
To get
Burlesque accepted in Malta has always been a bit of a struggle. Even the
thought of it, let alone in practice! But I’m committed to trying. I live here,
I love this island and it is only natural for me to want to be able to do and
share what I so ardently adore with my home.
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| Vintage Burlesque performer tassel twirling! |
I cannot propose to read people’s mind, to step into their shoes and see the issue from their point of view. I'm biased and being in the Burlesque culture for over 4 years now doesn't help. Pasties, corsets, feathers, glitter and the other more particular and darker, weirder Burlesquey items/concepts are all in a day’s work for me and are everyday items. I don’t realise how bizarre a pair of pasties would be to any ordinary person from my village... they wouldn't have the slightest idea what to do with said item, trust me!
But I believe that Burlesque can
take off here, no matter how conservative and religious the island may be,
there has to be a scene for such a fascinating and high-art form of performance!
I’ve met a number of people, mostly the artistic kind who’d tell me “I’d love
to come see a show” or “I’d love it is there was a club for this kind of thing”
(and that would sooo take off) and similar comment, people urging me to put on
shows, to spread the word... but then there isn’t really even a venue that
would be the perfect place to accommodate such art. It has to be quite
specific, hence I hadn’t found the right place yet (there is one lovely place
which I will be writing a blog post about, it’s the one place in Malta where
you can feel the Burlesque spirit but it’s got no stage). For a little show
it’s perfect but for a big event, with foreign performers whom I will be
bringing over in summer, we need a stage!
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| Burlesque at the Minsky! |
Yes, I do
perform in Malta but it’s not the real deal like what you can see in the US,
UK, Canada, Japan, throughout Europe and in many corners on the world. What I
do in Malta is the tamer and calmer, more (unfortunately) cabaret type of thing
and I feel like I’m lying to my art! It’s when I perform abroad that I feel
like I do burlesque justice and also when I really live!! Just last month I, as
part of my troupe Kabuki Guns Burlesque (the Maltese branch) along with another
lovely lady performed at one of the island’s biggest event – LoveSexy! It was
great fun but it was pretty much burlesque gogo! We kept it classy and stylish
and the night was so much fun but it wasn’t exactly” Burlesque”!
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But most of all I love meeting
people in Malta who see the beauty of Burlesque and want to tell the island and
the world of it! Iggy Fenech is one of those people. Apart from being a friend
of mine he also has a very interesting blog that gives you taste of Malta - the
artistic and the different. He is one of those open minded, eloquent, lovely
and artsy people!
He approached me with an idea of spreading some Burlesque awareness and awesomness in Malta and his offer was just way too cool– a feature in his blog along with an interview of the fabulous and the remarkable Miss Dirty Martini conducted by me! Impossible to say no!
He approached me with an idea of spreading some Burlesque awareness and awesomness in Malta and his offer was just way too cool– a feature in his blog along with an interview of the fabulous and the remarkable Miss Dirty Martini conducted by me! Impossible to say no!
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| Dirty Martini. Roxi D'Lite Photography. |
Dirty Martini is a modern day icon of Burlesque. She is beautiful, bold and
exceptional at what she does. She’s been around since the days of the burlesque
revival when the art was in a deep slumber and appreciated by a few... remind
me of the state of burlesque affairs in Malta at present.
It has been a pleasure and of utmost interest corresponding with Dirty! She gave me invaluable advice and some confidence to get the scene in Malta up and running!
Dirty Martini is an award
winning Burlesque performer – she was named Queen of Burlesque & Miss
Exotic World at the Burlesque Hall of Fame in 2004 and for the past number of years she’s been
voted number 1 in the world by the burlesque community and the world and
rightly so....
I won’t give up and it’s like
minded people who want to help me spread the word and raise awareness that keep
my spirits high! It’s performers from abroad who want to come here and spread
the joy of burlesque with all you Maltese folks that encourage me! It’s the
girls who want to learn Burlesque that prove to me that there is interest and
that there are people view burlesque as something feminine, sexy and healthy!!
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| Undine LaVerve by TamsinPD Photography. |
It’s
such a boost for me – performing & being on stage – it’s pure bliss! And I
want to share it with the world, share my ideas and my happiness and my freedom
because that is how I express it! And I am confident that there are many
Maltese people who’d enjoy Burlesque! Follow me and keep updates because Summer
2014 is when Burlesque heat is gonna hit Malta. Hard. In form of Undine LaVerve
and beautiful Burlesque bombshells from overseas!
Proudly,
Malta’s very own Burlesque dancer,
XxxX
ULV.
