Attitudes Towards Burlesque & Stripping in New Zealand.

For the past year I have been asked a number of times to perform burlesque at private parties or corporate events. It's a request which I completely dread and I groan loudly whenever one lands in my inbox, which may sound strange coming from someone who loves burlesque and needs the money. But basically, I hate that the person making the request doesn't know that burlesque involves stripping, is usually performed solo and an act doesn't usually last more than 6 minutes. I'd forgive their ignorance if it wasn't for the fact that I have photos and footage of my acts on my website from which they have got my contact details.

So once we've got over the fact that it's not a group performance lasting 15 minutes involving costuming and dance “like the Moulin Rouge” or what they do in the movie “Burlesque”, there comes the sticky conversation about how much I am to reveal. From here the micro-managing begins where they decide what they deem to be 'decent' and thus me having to change my act to suit their 'requests'.

Now, I do charge more for these 'requests', and so I should because I have to re-choreograph and play around with costuming, but why I should have to begs the question, why request a burlesque performance at your event? Is it because it's 'cool', the latest buzz word? 'Cool' it may be but if a semi-naked performer is not appropriate for your event, don't book one!

These types of bookings have got me thinking a lot about attitudes towards stripping, specifically in New Zealand. I do find it laughable that revealing pasties and g-string is considered too risque or too sexual. There's more flesh and sex on the television from 8pm than you'll find in most burlesque acts here. And in my opinion, there are examples out there of women dancing suggestively and wearing revealing costumes that have simply been accepted. Most music videos, cheerleaders for rugby games, promo girls at car shows. So I remain puzzled as to why burlesque is deemed too risque.

Upon reflection, all the people who have booked me for events have been women, except one, and guess what, he was more than happy for me to do my thing and not tell me what I could and couldn't take off. Now, I moved to New Zealand in 2004 and I remember my first trip to the beach like it was yesterday. I took my bikini top off, like many women do in Europe when sunbathing at the beach, and I could sense eyes were upon me, and I don't mean they were admiring my chest, they were eyes of condemnation and disbelief. I learned pretty quickly that day that Kiwi women are a bit prudish.

Not only that, but being sexy and feminine isn't as prevalent in Kiwi culture as it is in Europe. It didn't take long to figure that out either. I just looked at what women were wearing when they went out on the weekend or to restaurants or the theatre. I think Kiwi women feel that their male counterparts won't take them seriously or respect them for being 'girly.' Not that it matters why Kiwi women present themselves the way they do. My point is that being sexy and feminine in New Zealand's culture is deemed to be wrong almost or a bad thing or simply, not the thing to do.

I see the effects of this thinking in the burlesque acts by Kiwi performers. In my first couple of shows in Auckland back in 2007, I was the only performer stripping down to pasties. It wasn't until I got Eva Strangelove up from Wellington that I was no longer alone in revealing pasties. And that was one of the primary reasons I got her up to Auckland, because she did go all the way, so to speak, pasties and g-string.

But even after 5 years of the scene growing, the majority of burlesque acts are 'cutesy' and performers have hang ups about revealing their bodies. I'd say the majority of performers don't strip down to g-strings, they end up in frilly pants or granny nickers. I only know of 1 performer in this country who has stripped down to a c-string. Now, I'm not saying that in burlesque you have to strip down to pasties and g-strings, I'm saying that performers here don't seem to be as comfortable about their bodies and displaying them in public as performers do abroad because, undoubtedly, performers abroad reveal more.

Performers abroad are also far more confident, direct and unapologetic about being hot. Acts are less cutesy and more raunchy, sexy, suggestive and, well, HOT. And yes, you can still tease the audience by being direct and sexy. It seems that tease here in New Zealand means being cute and coquettish. And to be clear, I know not all burlesque acts require you to be a sexy siren, but even if you're doing comedy or playing a character, exuding sexiness and confidence is required. Venus Starr is a perfect example of this. Her character is cute when she's hooping but, at the same time, she gives off that vibe of sexiness and just generally being shit hot.

I remember seeing a show in Auckland in January this year where the acts were quite tame and on the cute theme, until a performer took it up a level by pouring chocolate sauce and whip cream over herself and having a good roll around. And I thought – good for you for being unashamedly sexy and suggestive. I also remember when her music started, an audience member blurting out, “Isn't this a stripper's song?”, which I thought was an interesting comment, especially since that person does burlesque too.

Now, I've been hearing a few derogatory comments lately coming from burlesque performers about strippers. I assume performers who say such things are in fact intelligent enough to understand the irony and hypocrisy in dissing stripping and strippers. Although, I have heard from a number of self-professed Dita lovers that they didn't know she was a stripper until I told them, right after their diatribe on strippers and how Dita is the perfect example of class and elegance.

So I can only assume that burlesque performers are negative about strippers because they've been to strip clubs and had a bad experience. And fair enough, I've been to my fair share of clubs in this country and some of the strippers were terrible. But others were very good – skillful pole dancers who looked after themselves so had great bodies, had put thought into what they were wearing and their appearance, and knew how to be entertaining in order to'work' their customers. I've also been to burlesque shows with terrible performers, just saying.

I think criticism of strippers comes from people's perception of the 'sleaze' of strip clubs. And again, fair enough because some clubs are pretty sleazy. But the sleaze element isn't actually in the stripper's control. And I think this is best illustrated by the White House's “No Pussy Touching” policy. It's the men introducing the sleaze by their behaviour. Most strip clubs have a policy of girls not bending over when they're naked, so it's not like the strippers are legs akimbo, inviting their customers to give their pink bits a finger poke.

I remember taking Angie Pontani to the White House and she was horrified about the No Pussy Touching policy because in America, nobody dares touch strippers without permission or they'll get pummeled by the door men, so the idea that Kiwi punters would even think to do it shocked her. So yes, Kiwi strip clubs can be pretty sleazy.

Also I believe the succession of strippers doing and wearing the 'same thing', adds to the sleaze element in people's minds. Unlike in America where there are featured dancers in the club who can perform acts that are more burlesque in style, strippers in Kiwi clubs are restricted to what they can do. Crucially, they aren't in control of their music, they just have to dance to whatever is on. One stripper who also does burlesque told me she did wear her burlesque costumes on stage at work once and noticed that she couldn't land any lap dances. She guessed this was because she looked too 'expensive'. They have to dress a certain way in order to get the customer to spend. So again, the strippers aren't really in control of what goes on in the club. That's all dictated by what the punter wants. Now, if burlesque performers who bitch about strippers could think about these points before opening their mouths, they'll sound less ignorant, bigoted and hypocritical.

I think the fact that burlesque performers feel they have to distance themselves from the 'sleaze' by being negative towards strippers, shows how worried they are of public perception. One thing I did note when asking for burlesque performers who work as strippers to get in contact with their stories, were the amount of people who had stripped once upon a time on the other side of the world, asking me not to tell anybody in fear of people's reactions here. And fair enough, as I described at the beginning of this piece, there are quite a few hurdles in the Kiwi public's attitude towards sex, femininity and body image that burlesque performers have to get over. But there's no need to pass the judgement baton on (hurdles, batons – must be the Olympic Games soon).

And no, I don't have an answer to changing public attitudes so that, for instance, corporate bookers don't micro-manage out the stripping in your burlesque routine. But perhaps recognising and then trying to challenge these perceptions will help. So next time you're at the beach and don't want to have bikini top tan lines, take your top off! If enough people do it, it'll just become accepted.

Thank you to those who shared their stories and ideas with me. Names of people who said or did certain things have been omitted deliberately. Only I know who you are and it shall stay that way.

So don't go asking who said this and who did that.