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Burlesque is back . . . naughty but nice, and ever so politically incorrect, writes Lara Zamiatin
IT'S THE sort of public spectacle that probably should be frowned upon -- women dressed in frilly knickers, suspender stockings and peek-a-boo bras striking raunchy poses before getting their gear off.
But, according to those who do it, the burlesque revival sweeping the world is tease without the sleaze; a stripshow without the strippers.
"It's kitsch but also glamorous; lowbrow without coming across as lowbrow. Burlesque is on the classier side of stripping. It's performance art," the Hi-Balls' Muffy Manhattan says of her group's brand of burlesque.
Melbourne-based Hi-Ball Burlesque troupe will perform their naughty series of routines this weekend at the Hill Street Nightclub as part of Wintersun, the annual 11-day 1950s bonanza at Tweed Heads/ Coolangatta
Performing to 1950s bump-and-grind tunes with props such as hula hoops and gigantic fluffy fans, they'll wiggle, shimmy and strike all sorts of raunchy poses before stripping to their bras and knickers.
For the uninitiated, the Hi-Ball girls are part of the worldwide burlesque revival: an underworld where young women dress up as retro pin-ups...