Arts & Entertainment
Not just pasties and G-strings
D.C. Gurly Show brings burlesque to area audiences
(Photo courtesy of D.C. Gurly Show)
Cher and Christina Aguilera just did it. The Pussycat Dolls did it. Dita Von Teese does it. D.C. Gurly Show does it — right in your backyard.
But what is burlesque? A rich source of music, dance and comedy. When burlesque began in Europe in the 1800s, it was theatrical entertainment for the working class whose main purpose was to “burlesque” — or parody — cultural norms of the upper classes. Burlesque has, from the beginning, questioned traditional roles and ideas of both gender and sexuality.
“Without question, however, burlesque’s principal legacy as a cultural form was its establishment of patterns of gender representation that forever changed the role of the woman on the American stage and later influenced her role on the screen … The very sight of a female body not covered by the accepted costume of bourgeois respectability forcefully if playfully called attention to the entire question of the ‘place’ of woman in American society,” wrote Robert G. Allen, in “Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture.”
The pasties and G-string aspect of burlesque appeared in the 1920s when Prohibition attitudes were closing the burlesque halls. Regardless of the level of reveal, the burlesque show is a high- energy romp. It is fun and titillating. It is lighthearted in its suggestiveness. It is playfully naughty. It is not vulgar or demeaning. It honors all the shapes and sizes that women are, and shows how each body is sexy in its own right. It celebrates humanity, sensuality and relationship.
The D.C. Gurly Show is the area’s premier burlesque troupe fostering an encouraging and supportive community of performers and fans. It was founded in 2005 by Kitty Victorian. Since then, the D.C. Gurlies have been performing monthly throughout your city. D.C. Gurly Show is home to some well-known performers: Kitty Victorian, Coco Monroe, Sindalicious, Private Tails, Velvet Kensington and Bambi Galore, to name a few. These performers have gained notoriety in the D.C. area and around the country.
The Gurlies perform the third Wednesday or Friday (alternately) at Phase One and at First Fridays at Apex with the D.C. Kings. They also have other venues and show dates lined up through the spring and summer. And you don’t want to miss them on the main stage at Pride.
So what can you expect to see at a DC Gurly Show? A wide variety of performers with a diverse range of talents. Some of the Gurlies have dance or theater training, some sing and others simply love to disrobe in front of an audience. Solos, duets, and group numbers make up the show, as well as banter from the lovely hostess. The stage will be graced with vivacious vixens like Velvet Kensington, Coco Monroe, Missy Aggravation, Private Tails, Lola Rose, Grena Dean, Anna Steasya, Felon Whoreness and Sindalicious.
For more information on the DC Gurly Show, visit dcgurlyshow.com. Catch the next performance tonight at 11 p.m. at Apex, 1415 22nd St., N.W.
Team DC, the umbrella organization for LGBTQ-friendly sports teams and leagues in the D.C. area, held its annual Night of Champions Awards Gala on Saturday, April 20 at the Hilton National Mall. The organization gave out scholarships to area LGBTQ student athletes as well as awards to the Different Drummers, Kelly Laczko of Duplex Diner, Stacy Smith of the Edmund Burke School, Bryan Frank of Triout, JC Adams of DCG Basketball and the DC Gay Flag Football League.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The 2024 National Cannabis Festival was held at the Fields at RFK Stadium on April 19-20.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Covering the @NatlCannaFest at RFK Stadium for @WashBlade . Stop by the LGBTQ+ booth and pick up a paper if you are here. pic.twitter.com/is7hnsaPns
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) April 20, 2024
Theater
‘Amm(i)gone’ explores family, queerness, and faith
A ‘fully autobiographical’ work from out artist Adil Mansoor
‘Amm(i)gone’
Thorough May 12
Woolly Mammoth Theatre
641 D St., N.W.
$60-$70
Woollymammoth.net
“Fully and utterly autobiographical.” That’s how Adil Mansoor describes “Amm(i)gone,” his one-man work currently playing at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.
Both created and performed by out artist Mansoor, it’s his story about inviting his Pakistani mother to translate Sophocles’s Greek tragedy “Antigone” into Urdu. Throughout the journey, there’s an exploration of family, queerness, and faith,as well as references to teachings from the Quran, and audio conversations with his Muslim mother.
Mansoor, 38, grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and is now based in Pittsburgh where he’s a busy theater maker. He’s also the founding member of Pittsburgh’s Hatch Arts Collective and the former artistic director of Dreams of Hope, an LGBTQ youth arts organization.
WASHINGTON BLADE: What spurred you to create “Amm(i)gone”?
ADIL MANSOOR: I was reading a translation of “Antigone” a few years back and found myself emotionally overwhelmed. A Theban princess buries her brother knowing it will cost her, her own life. It’s about a person for whom all aspirations are in the afterlife. And what does that do to the living when all of your hopes and dreams have to be reserved for the afterlife?
I found grant funding to pay my mom to do the translation. I wanted to engage in learning. I wanted to share theater but especially this ancient tragedy. My mother appreciated the characters were struggling between loving one another and their beliefs.
BLADE: Are you more director than actor?
MANSOOR: I’m primarily a director with an MFA in directing from Carnegie Mellon. I wrote, directed, and performed in this show, and had been working on it for four years. I’ve done different versions including Zoom. Woolly’s is a new production with the same team who’ve been involved since the beginning.
I love solo performance. I’ve produced and now teach solo performance and believe in its power. And I definitely lean toward “performance” and I haven’t “acted” since I was in college. I feel good on stage. I was a tour guide and do a lot of public speaking. I enjoy the attention.
BLADE: Describe your mom.
MANSOOR: My mom is a wonderfully devout Muslim, single mother, social worker who discovered my queerness on Google. And she prays for me.
She and I are similar, the way we look at things, the way we laugh. But different too. And those are among the questions I ask in this show. Our relationship is both beautiful and complicated.
BLADE: So, you weren’t exactly hiding your sexuality?
MANSOOR: In my mid-20s, I took time to talk with friends about our being queer with relation to our careers. My sexuality is essential to the work. As the artistic director at Dreams of Hope, part of the work was to model what it means to be public. If I’m in a room with queer and trans teenagers, part of what I’m doing is modeling queer adulthood. The way they see me in the world is part of what I’m putting out there. And I want that to be expansive and full.
So much of my work involves fundraising and being a face in schools. Being out is about making safe space for queer young folks.
BLADE: Have you encountered much Islamophobia?
MANSOOR: When 9/11 happened, I was a sophomore in high school, so yes. I faced a lot then and now. I’ve been egged on the street in the last four months. I see it in the classroom. It shows up in all sorts of ways.
BLADE: What prompted you to lead your creative life in Pittsburgh?
MANSOOR: I’ve been here for 14 years. I breathe with ease in Pittsburgh. The hills and the valleys and the rust of the city do something to me. It’s beautiful, it’ affordable, and there is support for local artists. There’s a lot of opportunity.
Still, the plan was to move to New York in September of 2020 but that was cancelled. Then the pandemic showed me that I could live in Pittsburgh and still have a nationally viable career.
BLADE: What are you trying to achieve with “Amm(i)gone”?
MANSOOR: What I’m sharing in the show is so very specific but I hear people from other backgrounds say I totally see my mom in that. My partner is Catholic and we share so much in relation to this.
I hope the work is embracing the fullness of queerness and how means so many things. And I hope the show makes audiences want to call their parents or squeeze their partners.
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‘Amm(i)gone’ explores family, queerness, and faith
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