Ohh! Lala! Cherie! Burlesque Show

Line-up TBA

Art Director: Emma Mylan

Plaza presents a fresh and thrillingly cheerful Burlesque night with international dancers, extraordinary artists and captivating fire and trapeze performances: sensual, sexy, exceptional. Exciting for the ladies of the world, thrilling for the lords 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 too...

Wheelchair spaces: The venue is wheelchair accessible. Early arrival is recommended. Please purchase a ticket in advance and, on the evening of the event, ask the box office staff 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 and 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 biggest star is probably Dita van Teese, to create new shows and a new approach to the tradition of burlesque.

The New Burlesque

Based on the traditional forms of expression of burlesque, New Burlesque allows a significantly broader range of styles. From classic striptease to modern dance, from short theatrical scenes to comedy routines, anything that appeals is allowed, with the focus, as in classic burlesque, more on teasing, humorous charms (tease) than on undressing (strip). Despite the development of a whole range of distinct forms of expression, the core idea remains to emphasise the distinctive nature of the traditional forms of burlesque, namely its offbeat humour, through the use of extravagant costumes and humorous striptease or cabaret acts. The dancer performing as part of New Burlesque has little in common with a conventional stripper. As was customary in the original burlesque, burlesque dancers create a unique and unmistakable artificial identity for themselves through the use of stage names, costumes, emblems, carefully chosen accessories and a sophisticated stage presence. Often, the character is based on a beauty ideal different from the commonly accepted one, and the artists also view 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 are typical of New Burlesque, which is why it is also regarded as “the cultured stepsister of striptease”.