The Jabberwockies of Burlesque

Art of Exhibitionism
Published November 28, 2010

By Amanda Schoenberg
Journal Staff Writer

It is 11 o’clock on a Friday night in Albuquerque when burlesque performer Kitty Irreverent starts working the crowd.
Dressed in very little — apart from five purple balloons — Kitty makes her way around Low Spirits, a Second Street bar, offering patrons a chance to prick her balloons with a safety pin.
Back at the front of the room, now balloon-less and stripped to her undergarments, she offers the crowd a quick twirl of her tassels and struts off.
Welcome to the world of burlesque in Albuquerque, which has gained popularity in recent years among audiences and performers inspired by its vintage appeal and sassy exhibitionism.
It is a world far from the Hollywood version of “Burlesque,” the PG-13 movie starring singers Cher and Christina Aguilera, which opened Wednesday. In the movie, Aguilera plays a small-town girl who stumbles into a burlesque club and works her way from waitress to singer and star performer. If the trailer is any indication, the movie version of burlesque is glitzy, glamorous and leads to a lucrative career on stage.

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Burlesque Troupe Revamps Art Form
Published July 23, 2007

by Samantha Scott

There’s more to burlesque than what meets – or doesn’t meet – the eye.

The members of Burlesque Noir, a self-described neo-burlesque troupe, practice for about six hours each week, said Holly Rebelle, the troupe’s founder. And the rehearsal has clearly had an effect on Burlesque Noir’s artistic evolution.

Since Burlesque Noir began in January 2005, the troupe has made dramatic creative and conceptual advances. Rebelle started the troupe as a side project to former Albuquerque fetish performance group Crushed Velvet Rope.

Rebelle said Burlesque Noir began by performing alongside Crushed Velvet Rope, performing five or six pieces per show. Now, it performs 14 to 20 burlesque pieces per show, as well as hosting two to four guest performers.

“We have grown to produce, direct and perform full-length shows,” Rebelle said.

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Striptease on the Strip
Published June 28, 2007

by Devin O’Leary

It started, auspiciously enough, with pink feathers floating down Fremont Street. The Exotic World Weekend in Las Vegas kicked off (literally) with over 200 exotic dancers performing the world’s biggest bump and grind while wearing the world’s longest feather boa, a mile-long, shocking pink monstrosity constructed by Ostriches On Line. While the speakers over Fremont blared a selection of classic boom-tsiss-boom-tsiss music, the gals (and a couple of guys) gave convention attendees and curious onlookers a taste of what was to come—three days worth of classic, retro-style Burlesque action.

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Neo-Sexy
Published April 12, 2007

By Marisa Demarco

JJ Pearls has it down to a formula. For every minute of stage time she sees, $10 leaps from her pocket. “You do a five-minute piece, that’s a $50 costume most of the time,” she says.

This is true even though JJ performs with Burlesque Noir, Albuquerque’s primary neo-burlesque company, which isn’t known for its elaborate costuming. In Noir, 14 women work together to conceptualize, choreograph and dance. Though the group doesn’t don the traditionally ornate garb of its revivalist counterparts, even simple garments come with a price.

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(This issue of the Weekly Alibi profiled the entire burlesque community in Albuquerque as of early 2007 Click Here for a listing of all the other articles.)

Burlesque Noir to Scare Up Chills, Thrills
Published October 20, 2006

By Dan Mayfield
Journal Staff Writer

You can do a lot in Albuquerque if you just ask for volunteers.
Just ask Holly Rebelle— sure, that’s her stage name, but when you’re a burlesque star, you can get away with a lot.
Rebelle was part of the old Lonely Hearts Burlesque troupe in Albuquerque a while back. When that troupe went the way of the Studebaker, she decided to start her own troupe.
“I had done a burlesque performance in 2004 as a single act and it went over well,” Rebelle said. “But my vision was bigger than myself.”
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