Looks That Kill

Burlesque gets back to the bump and grind

Article by Phil Gatt | 21 Apr 2010

 

As one of the evil masterminds behind Glasgow favourite Rockaburley, Daiquiri Dusk has been a prime mover in the rapid growth of Scottish burlesque. Her routines, ranging from a cheeky take on the Highland Fling to a Halloween special sexy witch, have seen her appear everywhere from the cover of Scotsgay, Va Va Voom and The Guardian’s featured club, Confusion is Sex.

“We came to the conclusion recently that there is less going on, and we are looking at why that is. And one of the things that we came up with is that a lot of the same things are going on – and because of that, people are beginning to get a little bit bored with burlesque in general.”

To bring burlesque back to public attention, Daiquiri and her colleagues “pooled our resources and came up with a number of different nights, to reach people outside the usual burlesque audience.”

Looks That Kill is the first of these events. “It’s something close to my own heart,” says Daiquiri. “It is being organised by Opium, Edinburgh’s longest standing rock club.” With the burlesque show introducing an evening of 'dark and deviant rock', Daiquiri is delighted at the chance “to get back to some down and dirty American style burlesque. As much as we love our theatrical cabaret and vaudeville angle, I’ve seen a lot of American burlesque in the past year and we wanted to bring some of that American spirit and mix things up a little. Back to rock’n’roll and back to sexy burlesque!”

The line up will be familiar to fans of Glasgow’s Rockaburley: compere Lucille Burn, who is promising to add some Led Zeppelin to her repertoire; “some sultry, seductive pieces” from Miss Hell’s Belle, Vendetta Vain “will be giving us a little bit of fetish and German metal, American bump and grind” alongside Daiquiri and a bevy of go-go dancers.

It is the natural next step for burlesque to step away from traditional formats – while it has obvious connections to cabaret, linking up with clubs, as Confusion is Sex and Torture Garden prove, permits new freedoms and ideas. Daiquiri’s style has always had a rock, tough edge and Looks That Kill promises to bring out her killer instinct.

 

Looks That Kill Opium 22 Apr, 10pm £5

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