Recently, we've all become aware of the proposition of new licences for venues where nudity is shown. Under the new act, titled the Sex Encounter Establishment Act, burlesque venues will potentially have increased fees and restrictions and be bracketed the same as strip clubs. The new measures have been raised to prevent strip clubs being too prevalent on residential high streets. Apparently the idea of "nudity" will be changed - e.g. nipple tassles may not be seen as clothes, and so the wearer will be seen as bare-breasted by law. Here are some comments from the Volupté camp...
Tempest Rose - The Kitten Club
My name is Tempest Rose and I am a professional burlesque performer with The Kitten Club - we're just about to open a seven week West End run at The New Players Theatre of our new show Burlesque-Esque.
This seems to me to be a sad censorship not only of art but of the female form. One of the most positive features of the modern burlesque scene is its celebration of the female body as powerful and beautiful and not as an object of sexual gratification which is what this law will seem to imply by bracketing burlesque in the same vein as strip clubs.
Burlesque is a theatrical art that has been around for well over 100 years that brings together comedy, satire and parody with theatrical skills such as singing and dance and circus skills along with an appreciation of the human form. I have seen more nudity in major West End shows and on prime time television that I have seen in most burlesque clubs! The blossoming of the new burlesque scene is also part of a wider wonderful and much needed resurgence in the UK cabaret and variety scene, it would be a far worse crime than seeing a nipple tassel to have this ruined by a piece of out-dated government legislation.
Kuki La-Belle, one of Volupté's owners.
What specifically do you allow in regards to burlesque? Nipple tassels must be so big? Knickers must stay on? No lap-dancing?
- We've never really imposed any rules on this kind of thing, mainly because, for us - it's a given that a burlesque artiste's knickers are going to stay on! There's no lap-dancing - lap-sitting, yes! - and lots of fun bantering and winking, but nothing of a gratuitously sexual nature. The fact that 65% (at least) of the audience members are women testifies to this.
It's all about the fun, the beautiful costumes, the visual spectacle (with many artists using more and more outlandish props, and many incorporating circus skills) - and - most importantly - about the 'tease'... bodies hidden skillfully behind giant ostrich feathers with a cheeky face peeking out over the top, for example. Burlesque actually stems from the latin root 'burla' - which means 'to parody'...As I've said, it's a tease - it's not lewd in the slightest. It's an old art form which used to incorporate everything from the old-fashioned strip-tease to farce and comedy. It's cabaret, performance art - it's not particularly about sex, it's about whatever the performer chooses to convey during her time on stage, with the use of props, music, and the skill of her art.
Classical pianist Chrys Columbine performs a decadent striptease behind huge red feather fans to Leonard Cohen's Dance Me To The End of Love, followed by her own variations of the song in a sequence of chords and arpeggios like a true virtuoso. Roxy Velvet's circus hoop generates whoops of applause every time.
These days, burlesque performers are coming up with some really inventive themes, and there are crossovers into many other genres, making it a true form of expression. Our shows are attended by people of all ages, and from all walks of life. The fact we're a restaurant - and that you eat dinner whilst watching the show - also renders it obvious that this is no lap-dancing club. However, the female form does lend the decadence to the concept of Volupte, which seeks to offer everything indulgent, romantic and of high-octane glamour to guests - with a cheeky dose of wit, charm and razzle-dazzle to boot.
Do you see a difference between stripclub lapdancing and burlesque? If so, what? How does your club differ from, say, Spearmint Rhino?
- I saw this review yesterday. I think this kind of answers things a bit:
Siany (27-05-2008) Volupté is a great bar with some great, polished burlesque acts. It’s erring towards the jazz and cabaret side of things. If you’re expecting things to be risque then go somewhere else, but if you want great music, a good show in a nice place with a cocktail then you’ll have a great time here.As well as the shows in the week, they also have ‘Afternoon tease’ on a Saturday which I imagine is much more exciting than the Ritz! I’ve yet to go but I’m used to the whole burlesque thing now and Volupte, as lovely as it is, it’s just a bit too run of the mill.That’s not to say it isn’t gorgeous in here and that the staff aren’t lovely. It’s great here. If you’re not used to the whole burlesque scene, it’s a great place to start. If you are, well it might just be a little too tame.
