| ON BURLESQUE |
This has been an ongoing project I have been pursuing since October of 2007, and ultimately was my B.F.A senior thesis in December of 2008. It is not my intention to explore these women as sexual objects, but rather, performance artists that are exploring a way of art that the general public has deemed unusual or taboo. Recently, Burlesque has grown in the cultural eye, and has become popular in many metropolitan areas. In a culture where sex is so completely available, the idea of being "sexy" has many faces. Or names: Clams, Legs, Harvest are just few. They are all women, but they are performers too.
Their goal is to not only entertain, but make their entertainment memorable. There are the costumes, the makeup, the high heels, and the stage. Aligning the backstage mirror is a 6" painted piece of wood that is adorned with whiskey drinks and lipstick. Instead of a curtain call hours before the show begins, there is usually only minutes for the dancers to ready themselves. How quickly they dab glitter onto their lips and powder their legs and asses amazes me. Rarely are those legs touched by onlookers, nor are they prodded with hoots and hollers: onstage, they are simply dancing.
"Through the power of dance I tell stories that are beautiful, political, and emotional, with a bold and theatrical irreverence. I use humor, positive sexuality, and glamour to address serious topics in a playful manner" claims the dancer Julie Atlas Muz outrightly on her website. This is not a vocation for the dim-witted, and by the lengthy late-night hours of the shows, Burlesque is not for the early-to-bed.
That, to me, is the curiousness of a city like New York. The Burlesque is only one facet of the city's moving parts; and there is so much to see on the corner of Orchard and Stanton. Between the hours of ten and two on a Friday night there are so many stories to tell- stories about women just like the Burlesque dancers- but I am there, pushing my shutter down while they agitate their hips in front of a crowd. I would like to think that I know all the answers to Why I photograph them, at this place, but I am finding it out slowly. I may one day find myself lacquering my face and learning to dance to get the right photograph, but until then I consider myself a humble watcher, just waiting, participating in the cramped Backstage or in the heated midst of the crowd.
Their goal is to not only entertain, but make their entertainment memorable. There are the costumes, the makeup, the high heels, and the stage. Aligning the backstage mirror is a 6" painted piece of wood that is adorned with whiskey drinks and lipstick. Instead of a curtain call hours before the show begins, there is usually only minutes for the dancers to ready themselves. How quickly they dab glitter onto their lips and powder their legs and asses amazes me. Rarely are those legs touched by onlookers, nor are they prodded with hoots and hollers: onstage, they are simply dancing.
"Through the power of dance I tell stories that are beautiful, political, and emotional, with a bold and theatrical irreverence. I use humor, positive sexuality, and glamour to address serious topics in a playful manner" claims the dancer Julie Atlas Muz outrightly on her website. This is not a vocation for the dim-witted, and by the lengthy late-night hours of the shows, Burlesque is not for the early-to-bed.
That, to me, is the curiousness of a city like New York. The Burlesque is only one facet of the city's moving parts; and there is so much to see on the corner of Orchard and Stanton. Between the hours of ten and two on a Friday night there are so many stories to tell- stories about women just like the Burlesque dancers- but I am there, pushing my shutter down while they agitate their hips in front of a crowd. I would like to think that I know all the answers to Why I photograph them, at this place, but I am finding it out slowly. I may one day find myself lacquering my face and learning to dance to get the right photograph, but until then I consider myself a humble watcher, just waiting, participating in the cramped Backstage or in the heated midst of the crowd.
