So, over the summer I became an expert showgirl-spectacle viewer. I write about my experiences at length in my Chapter 2. During one show in Paris, my mind wandered and I began to develop a future consulting job for myself in which I get invited to view shows at rehearsal stage in order to advise how pleasure might be best generated in the show. I pictured my business card, ‘Dr Alison J Carr – showgirl consultant’. I mean, I think I could really help shows out, despite their wonderfulness, they really can make some bad dubious directional decisions. I could help them avoid that and enable them to create appeal for the broadest possible audience. And I could get to see the shows for free.
Friday 2 December 2011
Viewing Yma at the FredrichstradtPalast, Berlin
I tried to photograph the interior of this theatre, but without a magazine publishing deal they would not work with me. So I loved the show, but it makes me sad to think about it.
In the dark theatre I could not make notes. I make notes in the pub afterwards:
In the dark theatre I could not make notes. I make notes in the pub afterwards:
Voulez Vous Coche Avec Moi number: women groin moves/sex moves. Kicking routine ending in water, Busby Berkely. Homoerotics not sublimated, cave men with Mohawks and one woman with boobs out, men rolling on each other. Men stripping in shower. Dancing in black leggings. Tranny singing. Jumpers in black bodysuits with lime stripes. Girls not fully on beat of music. Smiles! I love smiles! Sex moves. Contemporary choreography and music. Girls over a barre number. I’m Coming Up by Pink – strange disco headwear. Trampy women in ‘cameras-flashing’ number, lace bondage leotards. Short-haired female dancer going for it, my favourite dancer. Tap-dance on a podium Matrix style. Sailor scene, strip for men. Tango with two men and one woman.
Viewing the Paradis A La Folie at the Paradis Latin, Paris
I also visited Paradis Latin, and here are my notes from that show. At the end of the evening I rode a 'velib' - a bike you can rent in the street, to my friend's flat to say goodbye to her before she travelled back to Berlin. Just some context for you!
Paradis A La Folie: Madness in Paradise. Tourist crowd, same one as Nouvelle Eve. No style. Gaggles of women in 20s. Couples in groups in 40s, boring looking. 2 x couples alone in 50s. Blouse and purple knit jerkin. Australian bus load of 20s in semi-smart clothes (but a bit townie too). And audience on holiday, relaxed, drinking, speaking English. Large Indian family. Lower-middle class demographic? Professionals, skilled workers and students? Banquet tables. Large groups of women. Sparkly diamante hair-band. A straight audience? A photographer comes round, I say no. It’s strange how on the metro if I saw these women I see around me, I’d feel an affinity with them, but not now, in this context. The lights dim. Video projected. Roses outfit, 5 girls, 4 nudes, t-bar tan shoes, all short brown hair, 5 boys. Compère lowered on to stage, a pale pink top hat and tails. Rose nude lowered from ceiling long hair and flower thong, ballet flats, nude with leaves. Ballet pas de deux. Female singer enters from back of auditorium. Rose coloured long dress with large rose neckline. Singer with 4 men and then compère. Showboys for moment, lots of jump steps, tapping, cheeky, cheesy choreography, very Constance Grant Dance Centre. Compère speaks to audience in French, then English. Waiters on stage, the male dressed-up host as we came in, now in drag. In ballet class number at the barre, evolves and more sexy leotard girls come out, very Eric Pridz video. Judo boys – manly??? Music, Daft Punk-esque beats. Steam shower with girls, just towels, 4 girls, strip with tease removing towel. Bit more knowing choreography. Bums in showers – men. More comical choreography. Barbie doll bodies – hairdown, swish hair head roll. Rave disco scene – techno. Pop/street dance influences unzipped skeleton wet suits. Goes to black, zip up full skeleton suit. Oh-la-la song. Girls in Adidas type track suit bottoms. Compère back, black suit. Angelou, unicycling bar tender. The formula makes me think of the ‘70s. Country fair carousel, rotating with girls on as architecture – blonde pageboys. Opens up into 4 girls in leathers on motorbikes, take off helmets and shake out blonde hair. Strip off to boob harness and thong. Dance on bike, arched back. Hair swinging. Rope and man in white pants – ‘Christopher’ – sublime smile – Tarzan/Indiana Jones music. Shaved armpits, arm decoration, sequinned shorts. Very flit, flexible, was he an Olympic gymnast 15 years ago? The guy spotting him is a star too. Montagues and Capulets Prokofiev music, period dress. Court dance, with boobs, pas de deux scene from Romeo & Juliet. Strip off to under-net, they marry, sexy ballet?? Hip hop tribute to Romeo & Juliet. 4 girls in waistcoats, jeans and Trilbys, 5 boys in just jeans and Trilbys. Body hair free evening. Boys as objects. 17tth Century Louis 15th number, girls as boys court dancing, boys strip off and stay, girls leave. Real boys in same sort of outfit and they strip off too. 2 sets of boys dance together. Bouillon? Tap-dancing juggler. Can-can, better costume, better choreography (than La Nouvelle Eve). Girl tumbler, 3 boy tumblers. Compère in white tails. Thanks technicians, dressers, musicians, front of house. Cheerleaders, singer in long white gown – Marie. No fake boobs. Crossdresser type dame goes back and forth between male/female dress.
Viewing Paris je t’aime at La Nouvelle Eve, Paris
I visited the the smaller scale cabaret 'La Nouvelle Eve', and drank a small bottle of champagne, included in the ticket price, whilst making these notes:
Audience: tourists, families – large Indian family. Middle aged couples, girls aged 10, boys aged 13? Australian student group. Young smart couple, 20? Middle aged large group, breaks up into men and women. Two German women in 60s. Everyone dressed up smart. American father and son. Preppy Americans in front of me. Opening number, 10 women, 4 men. Is this chorography dated? Disco-ball entrance, blonde-singer, g-string. 5 girls techno-beat number, red top with cut out heart on sternum, more commercial dance. 4 boys enter, girls leave. 3 girls back – smiles! Topless dancer, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Sparkle sleeves, original. I like the dancers, personality. Head-dresses, just hair up, understated. Blonde-singer comes on with very Moulin Rouge headdress. Topless, singing. She doesn’t have ‘it’ fully. Two men juggling with hats. Black waistcosts, white shirts and trousers. Australian audience member pulled up on stage – juggler speaks English – tourist language. Cancan – three boys in red and black, two girls in pink. Ten-girl line, multicoloured costumes. Lots of yelping, like wildcats. Boy cartwheels and tumbles, takes centre-stage, why? Kicking music, same as Constance Grant Dance Centre uses (my dancing school). Three boys come on. Boy doing jumping splits – why? All girls in twos, 2 girls dancing together. Mr Bean type clown enters. Physical comedy. New number, 4 girls in trousers and 2 boys – all in the same costume, 5 girls in floppy drop-waisted dresses, 2 couples come on. Feels fresh, dramatic tango-like. Girls are boys in the choreography. Nice use of back. Cuban-heeled Oxfords on girls as boys, boys in a flatter heel but that’s the only difference in costume. Music is a bit Eurovision. 4 boys from Grease, 2 girls on ribbons, topless in S & M harnesses. They leave. Black strap costumes – nice. Blonde singer is ‘Arta’ the star girl/compère is a better dancer than singer. No singing. Topless male, more manly. White costume dancer with ballet-flats and thong. Enigma type music for ballet. Arta back in long backless frock. Good set of lungs on her. I don’t like her bottle blonde bob. Jazz Hot Baby – blue leotards and bows, pillbox hats. Great costume, not used enough. Jazz Hot – great song, would love a bit more tapping out. Arte talks in every langue – she’s like a flight announcement. Frothy, needs balls. Arta gets 4 audience men to dance on stage. Really?? A bride as a prize?? Bit weird. Bit buy-a-Russian-bride. Man comes on stage with showgirl holding a baby. Weird. Like Fire number, film Showgirls hand-move. Arte, she’s good, but I want a larger personality to carry the show, she’s slightly lacking in charisma. How do shows queer themselves? Finale black and pink. Love Me, 6 girls, topless, platform shoes for shorter dancers. Oui Je T’aime finale number.
Audience: tourists, families – large Indian family. Middle aged couples, girls aged 10, boys aged 13? Australian student group. Young smart couple, 20? Middle aged large group, breaks up into men and women. Two German women in 60s. Everyone dressed up smart. American father and son. Preppy Americans in front of me. Opening number, 10 women, 4 men. Is this chorography dated? Disco-ball entrance, blonde-singer, g-string. 5 girls techno-beat number, red top with cut out heart on sternum, more commercial dance. 4 boys enter, girls leave. 3 girls back – smiles! Topless dancer, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Sparkle sleeves, original. I like the dancers, personality. Head-dresses, just hair up, understated. Blonde-singer comes on with very Moulin Rouge headdress. Topless, singing. She doesn’t have ‘it’ fully. Two men juggling with hats. Black waistcosts, white shirts and trousers. Australian audience member pulled up on stage – juggler speaks English – tourist language. Cancan – three boys in red and black, two girls in pink. Ten-girl line, multicoloured costumes. Lots of yelping, like wildcats. Boy cartwheels and tumbles, takes centre-stage, why? Kicking music, same as Constance Grant Dance Centre uses (my dancing school). Three boys come on. Boy doing jumping splits – why? All girls in twos, 2 girls dancing together. Mr Bean type clown enters. Physical comedy. New number, 4 girls in trousers and 2 boys – all in the same costume, 5 girls in floppy drop-waisted dresses, 2 couples come on. Feels fresh, dramatic tango-like. Girls are boys in the choreography. Nice use of back. Cuban-heeled Oxfords on girls as boys, boys in a flatter heel but that’s the only difference in costume. Music is a bit Eurovision. 4 boys from Grease, 2 girls on ribbons, topless in S & M harnesses. They leave. Black strap costumes – nice. Blonde singer is ‘Arta’ the star girl/compère is a better dancer than singer. No singing. Topless male, more manly. White costume dancer with ballet-flats and thong. Enigma type music for ballet. Arta back in long backless frock. Good set of lungs on her. I don’t like her bottle blonde bob. Jazz Hot Baby – blue leotards and bows, pillbox hats. Great costume, not used enough. Jazz Hot – great song, would love a bit more tapping out. Arte talks in every langue – she’s like a flight announcement. Frothy, needs balls. Arta gets 4 audience men to dance on stage. Really?? A bride as a prize?? Bit weird. Bit buy-a-Russian-bride. Man comes on stage with showgirl holding a baby. Weird. Like Fire number, film Showgirls hand-move. Arte, she’s good, but I want a larger personality to carry the show, she’s slightly lacking in charisma. How do shows queer themselves? Finale black and pink. Love Me, 6 girls, topless, platform shoes for shorter dancers. Oui Je T’aime finale number.
Viewing Féerie at the Moulin Rouge
In the summer I went to view a number of showgirl spectacles in Paris. During the shows I made notes. I wrote down descriptions and on the spot analyses of the displays in front of me. I typed up my notes with the hope of using them in my writing, however I have found it hard to make them useful. As I just cut the words from my Chapter 2, I thought I'd recycle them here. This is what I wrote from my not very good seat at the side of the stage, at the end of table I shared with noisy disinterested patrons.
Dance, Dance white caps, disco-dancing. Older showboys. Thong bum. Parle Dance? Long hair through caps, high kicks, glitter. Aujhord’hui 3 singing bun-heads, mics on face, string beads for a top. Pleat skirt with feather trim. Camp dancing. 3 nudes high-kicking. Male dancers, dry ice, uniform-type hats, marching. Female voice – la la. Women with coloured trim dresses. As girlfriends to soldiers. Bead top. Boobs covered for some. Red dancing pom pom. Slim thighs. Amazing costumes with moving parts. Juggler act to techno music. Pirate number, men. Hookers for pirates, hair down. Boobs out and harnesses. Sultry looking faces. Pith helmet – safari suit. Orientalism outfit. Harem with beads and harem women. Strange fan-like headdresses. Cat-like women – leopards, enter wailing – ahhhhh, fight with soldier guards. Body ripples. Medusa. Blonde girl slave enter. Jumps into pool with snakes. Snake dance underwater! Kisses snake. Couple fly in on string in neon and UV light. Orientialism. Pantomime. Real boobs. Featured act – male and female acrobat. East-European looking. Circus type ringmaster. Clowns – men – mini horses walk on x 6. Kossacks!!! Orientalism less successful than using tropes from entertainment – girl clown number. Pointing to own construction – more useful. 2 girls in one dress. Lions – dancers as lions. Wide trousers on clowns. Drum bit featured act. Audience interaction. Mexico – big sceam from crowd “Mexi-co!!” “China” “Ukraine” “Brazil”. Drunk woman – act – dancers clubbing, comedy. Cancan, no men. Men. All cartwheel. All cartwheel and splits – but male extra-flex man! Boogie Woogie number. 3 singing women – English – all other in French – short-hair wigs. Punks/Cher costume – zip t-shirt. ‘New Generation’??? 3 girls and all men. “I will survive!” song. Tom of Finland hat and jacket – strange Eastern European Eurovision moment. Stage lowered with men. Mirror ball man – over the top pink costumes. Hip wiggle move. Wardrobe malfunction - lights not on on one side of pack. Pink boots, thigh high and ankle.
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