From the margins to the mainstream, a Burlesque revival is taking shape.  A few weeks ago in LA, filmmaker Liz Goldwyn (descendent of the G in MGM) celebrated the release of Pretty Things: The Last Generation of American Burlesque Queens, a book version of the HBO doc she directed and debuted last year.  The film, and the tome it spawned, trace Goldwyn’s journey revisiting the long-lost art of burlesque (punctuated with visits to ex-burlesque dancers decades after their stage lives).  “I’ve been working on the subject 10 years,” Goldwyn told style.com at the launch.  “It’s just part of the feminine consciousness right now, this idea of getting back in touch with our sexuality.”

The same could be said of Suicide Girls -- the enormously successful online soft-core porn site that takes its name from Palahniuk and occasionally borders on Goth Girls Gone Wild.  And the correlation doesn’t stop there.  The same night Goldwyn partied, Showtime aired an hour-long special entitled Suicide Girls: The First Tour.  Scenes of tattooed/pierced Suicide Girls performing strip-teases for packed amphitheatres and arenas were interspersed with behind-the-scenes footage of their lives on the road.  It was clearly a sensation, because, as tour footage hit TVs across America, the self-labeled ‘most dangerous burlesque tour in the world’ was on the road, well into its second tour.  With the help of Guns N Roses, the Suicide Girls burlesque tour hits Milwaukee tonight, before making its way to Universal City, California by December 20.

From Dita Von Teese and the Carmen Electra-fronted troupe The Pussycat Dolls, to the less leathery, vaudeville-infused Citizen’s Band and The Dresden Dolls, the remnants of burlesque traditions in popular culture are vast.  The melding of satire, performance art and adult entertainment is as potent a combination as ever.  Perhaps it’s the voyeuristic aspect (not surprising, considering society’s current fixation with myspace and reality television).  Or, maybe it’s another cycle in the post-feminist embracement of femininity and sexuality as empowering.  Just look to Brit-based girly-mag Lula, or production company, The Belles of the Black Diamond Field (co-directed by Citizen’s Band alum/filmmaker Sarah Sophie Flicker and filmmaker Maximilla Lukacs).  The latter’s Vulnerability Manifesto reads: “One should be in a state of vulnerability at all times and that state should be evident.”  Whether the uber-feminine shtick will stick remains to be seen.

~Alisa Gould-Simon

Get Yours:
Liz Goldwyn’s book Pretty Things: The Last Generation of American Burlesque Queens, $29.67, at amazon.com
To learn how to be your own master of burlesque, check out New York’s Museum of Sex. Next up is Burlesque 102 – Popcorn & Pasties With Peekaboo Pointe (an advanced class – for women only - recommended for those who have already taken Burlesque 101). For a full event and class schedule

See It:
Suicide Girls & Tour Dates
For more from The Citizen’s Band
More from Dita Von Teese
More from The Dresden Dolls
For more from Lula
More from The Belles of the Black Diamond Field