About time Burlesque in Malta got a say...

 ...how I would love to have danced in the Music Halls of the 1920s and seen the dashing divas of the decade dazzling on the dance floor...those days are gone and so are the rules, not many stick to the classical style and feel nowadays. As art evolves, it needs no rules, no restrictions; the emergence of Nu-Burlesque, Boylesque and Gorelesque and so on prove that. I think that variety is marvellous and I applaud all the creativity, originality and talent that has flooded the scene, we need more “real” Burlesque, we need to be loud, bold, proud; we need to be seen and heard, establish a worldwide scene and understanding of Burlesque as a beautiful and classy form of artistic expression!

Shimmy, shimmy, shake!!  The Millionairess (1960) 

I am Undine LaVerve, a Burlesque artist living in the teeny-tiny, yet glorious island of Malta. While people here react normally to my being a dancer or singer, to my acting and modelling; upon hearing that I am a Burlesque performer, most people either ask me whether I am a stripper and consider something shady, immediately pre-judging the statement; or else, when I perform and take, say, my corset off, quite a number of people here tend to get scandalised, not to mention my attempts at any kind of alternative modelling. I imagine such business makes one quite undesirable and sparks a lot of criticism one’s way in Malta, therefore, to tell you the truth, we’re not doing all too well here, when it comes to performing.

The movie “Burlesque” by Cher and Christina Aguilera has pushed the art form into the spotlight, presenting it from a less true, yet less controversial point of view, hence making the term more accepted, as well as more talked about, yet somewhat misinterpreted. This is an advantage for the Maltese islands, however if I had to perform in the movie’s style and call that “Burlesque ", I feel I’d be betraying my art. 

Noel Toy Young.

 Living on such a religious, conservative rock of an island is not easy, especially for a BurlyQ artist, trust me. Once you enter the world of glistening glitter and glam, you never want to leave – you can be whoever you want when on stage and feel like you’re the most seductive and alluring female and feel that rush of confidence, excitement, it’s indescribable; the ability to express yourself and speak to your audience through quirky or sensual moves and expressions is all consuming. To be fair, a somewhat obscure form of divorce has only appeared in Malta as of October 2011 after much debating and discussion, obviously any kind of sensual art is a taboo! No doubt, many would gladly abort the idea of a Burlesque scene in Malta, no matter how I try and make them conceive it.

A friend of mine once told me that what Malta needs is “a slap in the face” ie.  full on Burlesque shows, I’d gladly be the one delivering that blow. And we’ve tried our best – with my troupe “Kabuki Guns Burlesque” Malta, as well as trying it out solo, – we’ve invited foreign performers and put on a big Burlesque night, but not much has changed...thus it feels like an uphill battle but I’m not willing to give up.

Having said all that, I would like to once more introduce myself: I am Undine LaVerve, check me out: 
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Undine-LaVerve/257261817672982. 

XxxX