Ohh! Lala! Cherie! Burlesque Show

Line-up TBA

Art Director: Emma Mylan

Plaza presents a fresh and delightfully exuberant burlesque night with international dancers, extraordinary performers and captivating fire and trapeze acts: sensual, sexy, exceptional. Inspiring for women of the world, thrilling for the men of creation. Wrapped in “music that makes your heart rock” by DJ Grau and hosted by an international host, your senses are sure to catch fire as well...

Wheelchair spaces: The venue is wheelchair accessible. Early arrival is recommended. Please purchase a ticket in advance and ask the box office staff on the evening of the event for the event manager, who will guide you to the best possible seat.

What is burlesque?

The influences and inspirations of what is nowadays commonly referred to as burlesque range from turn-of-the-century fairground and circus romance to the Roaring Twenties and the glamorous films of the 1940s and 1950s, with their divas and pin-ups. Burlesque experienced its major renaissance only in the 1990s as neo-burlesque or new burlesque in New York through Ami Goodheart's revue “Dutch Weismanns’ Follies” and in Los Angeles through Michelle Carr's troupe “The Velvet Hammer Burlesque”. These productions, inspired by the performances of great burlesque dancers such as Mae West, Betty Page, Gypsy Rose Lee, Dixie Evans or Lili St. Cyr, in turn encouraged a new generation of dancers, whose greatest star is probably Dita van Teese, to create new shows and develop a new approach to the burlesque tradition.

The New Burlesque

Based on the traditional forms of burlesque, New Burlesque allows a significantly broader range of styles. From classic striptease to modern dance, from small theatrical pieces to comic interludes, anything that pleases is permitted, with the focus, as in classic burlesque, more on teasing, playful allure (tease) than on undressing (strip). Despite the development of a whole range of independent forms of expression, the basic idea remains to emphasise the distinctive qualities of traditional burlesque, namely its offbeat humour, through the use of extravagant costumes and humorous striptease or cabaret acts. The dancer appearing within New Burlesque has little in common with a conventional stripper. As in original burlesque, burlesque dancers create a unique and unmistakable artistic identity for themselves through the use of stage names, costumes, emblems, carefully chosen accessories and a refined stage presence. Often, the character they portray is based on an ideal of beauty other than the one commonly accepted, and the artists also regard themselves with a certain irony. Playing with the underlying inspiration, flirting with eroticism (e.g. with pin-up poses and fetishes) and accepting imperfect bodies is typical of New Burlesque, which is why it is also known as “the cultured stepsister of striptease”.