The art of tease makes a return

WHEN Tina Warren, of Club Noir, first started putting on burlesque shows in the Capital three years ago with her partner Ian Single, it was so difficult to book acts that the two advertising executives had to perform themselves.

She says: "We struggled so much to get dancers at first. People didn't understand what burlesque was or their boyfriends didn't want them to do it, so Ian and I had to perform ourselves."

That was before the Festival hits of La Clique and Go Go Burlesco took the city by storm, before burlesque workshops and art classes were set up in the Capital and before Edinburgh author Louise Welsh set her latest novel, The Bullet Trick, in the dark world of late-night cabaret clubs.

Now Club Noir holds a monthly show in Edinburgh or Glasgow and has 20 to 25 performers on its books, who Tina says are a real mixed bag. "Some have done lots of dance training, others haven't done any but just have a great style or an 'it' quality. Burlesque allows them to shine."

And another burlesque event is getting in on the act - a week on Friday, the Assembly Rooms is set to be transformed into a Moulin Rouge-style for Burlescapades. Revellers can watch performances and dance under glittering chandeliers and even try on burlesque-style corsets in the Boudiche Burlesque Boudoir.

Burlesque was originally performed in vaudeville theatres and circus sideshows from the end of the 19th century and was more or less an excuse to show off women's legs in newly-invented tights, with music and comedy thrown in.

By the middle of the 20th century though it was a byword for glamour, all fishnet stockings and saucy poses. But by the 1960s, with the rise of the miniskirt and mass-produced pornography, burlesque became seen as tame and old-fashioned, and has stayed out of favour until recent years. Now burlesque's brightest British star, Dita Von Teese, commands fees upwards of 50,000 for a five-minute performance.

So why is it making a comeback now? Burlesque is a regular feature at popular club night Vegas, held monthly at Ego in Picardy Place and more occasionally on a grand scale at Ocean Terminal. Vegas DJ Lenny Love explains the appeal: "It's entertaining and slightly saucy without being pornographic and men and women enjoy it. It's good fun and done really well it's an art form. There's an element of glamour about it that has been missing in everyday entertainment and it can be funny and political too."

So who are Edinburgh's burlesque performers? And what do their mums think of their act?

Wanda Blonde, 23, occupational therapy student, Haymarket

Peroxide queen Wanda Blonde, is the alter-ego of 23-year-old Ruth Roberts. "Wanda" came about after the Queen Margaret University student, and part-time health food shop assistant, attended a Club Noir party on New Year's Day last year with her boyfriend.

Almost immediately she felt she had found her niche and shortly after speaking to the organisers, Wanda was born - giving her first public performance dressed as a sad Pierrot doll in a group act that April. She recalls: "I loved it and I was really enthusiastic. If you have the ideas and the look it's easy. I'd done theatre though, never anything like this, but I'd always dressed that way."

Her first solo act was during the Edinburgh Fringe last summer. She says: "It was a simple classic striptease, starting with taking my gloves off slowly and ending up in red, lacy French knickers and red hearts."

It's the kind of job you'd imagine you'd keep quiet from your mum and dad but Wanda, who describes herself as a classic "cheesecake" performer, says her family has been very supportive.

"My mum thinks it's amazing. At first she didn't understand what burlesque was and was a little concerned but she's happy now that I'm doing something I'm enjoying and that it's not sleazy - it's art in a safe forum, like classic old cabaret."

Her boyfriend is happy with her work too. "My boyfriend loves it. We went together the first few times and he thought I'd be great at it. He helps with the ideas and costumes."

One of her favourites is an over-the-top candy cane act where she wears a white bathing suit and holds a small walking stick while stripping to her bra and pants, eventually disappearing to finish her striptease behind a huge striped candy stick.

Disaster has only struck once. "I was inside a giant Easter egg cracking out when suddenly a nipple tassel fell off.

"I just made it look like it was meant to happen and held it up. That's show business!"

Karneydoll, 27, actress and student, Morningside

Karneydoll - real name Nyah Kirby - admits she isn't the usual 1950s-style burlesque performer. Her Venus Mantrap act, for instance, sees her perform in a red Oriental wig covering in diamonte and pearls, with leaves in strategic places and sequinned pants, while brandishing a human-sized bear trap for her male prey.

"Everyone is cheesecake - twee or cutesy 1950s - or classic pin-up, but I'm more eccentric," says the 27-year-old, who ran off to join the circus as a 14-year-old in her native Australia. "I do everything from classic burlesque to freak carnival style. I like to break free from the convention of the burlesque traditional image, where everyone has feather stands or does traditional striptease."

She tries to incorporate her love of Japanese theatre into her performances, using butoh, which involves exaggerated facial expressions and body movements. And only the expense puts her off going full-time. "The cheapest costume I've made cost 13 in tubes, gaffer tape and plastic bags. The most expensive was 250 for a corset and 50 on accessories."

Her parents have got used to their daughter's eccentricities and her mum even shows her friends videos of her daughter's performances. "She's really proud and I think my dad is too," she enthuses. "I'm really lucky. When I got started they were dead against it but they've got used to it as they know I'm not going to change."

Psykik Vandal, 29, tattooist, Easter Road

In case anyone thought burlesque was just about scantily-clad women tantalising a male audience, regular performer Erik Grieve - aka Psykik Vandal - is an Edinburgh man making inroads into the burgeoning industry. The 29-year-old Cockburn Street tattooist has always been into theatre and now takes bit parts in group shows - including being stripped of his shirt and being thrown into Karneydoll's bear trap at Studio 24, an experience which he admits he thoroughly enjoyed - "I like the idea that I have my clothes torn off," he laughs.

Erik, from Easter Road, believes there is room in burlesque for more male performers. "I got into it when friends asked me to perform because they needed a bloke and I'd been to burlesque as a punter. I love the performances and also the way the clubbers come flamboyantly dressed. It's quirky and tongue-in-cheek."

He admits: "It's female dominated as men and women like looking at pretty ladies, but hopefully I can change that."