Burlesque too racy for the festival?

I was there and enjoyed some of what I could see. What I was concerned about was the young boy of about 8 years old sitting at the front of the audience. I didn’t take my 12 year old girl along as I’m sure I would have heard gasps of “EWWW gross!” from her and her friends.

‘Bogans’ at Summenrnats? Not cool. The ‘Yarts Community’? Well, that’s OK.

So was anybody at the show actually shouting ‘show us your tits’?

a snit over a tit…

or a rustle over a bustle…

or maybe a hassle over a tassle…

A storm in a D cup.

(Not an original of mine, unfortunately.)

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy said :

I don’t see the difference between this and summernats, really.

“Show us ya tits”

Ah, but you see the difference is in WHO is doing the yelling.

‘Bogans’ at Summenrnats? Not cool. The ‘Yarts Community’? Well, that’s OK.

The double standard applies down the social spectrum, not upwards. Witness the Bill Henson stoush.

I don’t see the difference between this and summernats, really.

“Show us ya tits”

Just another thing for the Office of Multicultural, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs to complain about: should keep them busy between actual matters of interest to Mutlicultral peoples & Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

To the 10 people that voted ‘too racy/not necessary’… BREASTS VAGINA PENIS BOTTOM. We all have reproductive organs. Deal with it. Get over your immaturity complex.

Pandy said :

I can assure you that they are not all lesbians. Nor are they all hoes.

Errrmmmm… who said they were either?

So let me get this right, according to those empowered to spend our taxdollars Burlesque is akin to porn. But if an artist (so-called or otherwise) paints a full-frontal picture of a naked women (from photo-realistic through to abstract)than it’s art and the Gov’t can buy the painting and can hang it freely in full view.

Go figure.

There is nothing wrong with the naked female form from my perspective. Bring it on…

That said, I know there’s at least one liberal fossil shuffling his intellectual zimmerframe around the RA site who even finds the male chest offensive.

Aww, are woo still cwying about dat, diddums? HTFU, precious, or buy a blouse and panties to wear to the bottle shop.

I think burlesque is great, and there should be more of it.

I can assure you that they are not all lesbians. Nor are they all hoes.

Where’s the option for more photo’s?

All power to them then! (In a non-sexist, women empowering, we are lesbians hear us roar, sort of way.)

Very girly women do burlesque to empower their sexuality.

I don’t see what the problem is on either side. They say there the letter is from 29 December, so it isn’t like it is in response to anything that has happened during the festival.

Like it or lump it, if nudity is involved the laws change, especially if there is booze for sale, not sure if there is at the fringe. This is just a government official getting written confirmation of something that was said verbally, so that if something illegal happens, he has covered his arse. Happens every day. It would be interesting to see the rest of text if the couple of paras quoted were the most controversial, I bet the rest if it said it was just a letter for confirmation’s sake. Anyway.

Clearly nobody has a problem with it, otherwise they wouldn’t have provided money in the first place. It certainly doesn’t seem to warrant hysterics in the Canberra Times…

johnboy said :

Get with the program PB. Burlesque is a celebration of femininity and empowering and ironic, or somesuch.

At least that’s what the sisters tell me.

The sisters confuse the hell out of me then John. 🙂

Sounds like another Jorian Gardner beatup to me.

Tell me, if they were tableux vivant, would they be bringing us into disrepute also?
Or are we going to go back even further than the “If they move its rude, otherwise they’re no more offensive than statues” of 1930s England?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windmill_Theatre

PS: If they ddn’t want controversy and debate over art, why advertise and support it as a Fringe Festival?

and this lot gave act govt money to summernats, so what does that mean – female nakedness is only ok if it is performed for screaming drooling knucledraggers.

They need to give up trying to run an arts and multicultural festival if they can’t cope with artistic nudity. They should just rename the multicultural festival as the food and wine frolic and be done with it. No wonder Dominic Mico moved on.

I thought only nutbag americans were horrified by nude art.

PB – actually art nudes are not generally anorexia inducing, or offensive to women.

It is gratuitous female nudity aimed soley at men that do those things. There is a difference between objectification of women as bodies, or just body parts, and intelligent women doing burlesque.

It is interesting that Mssrs Hargreaves and Manikis are offended by these women performing burlesque for a mixed audience, and not by the sleazy phone sex ads we get on telly after 10.

Pommy bastard said :

But, but , but, it’s demeaning to women…

And it sets stereotypical body type which some might not be able to live up to…

Get with the program PB. Burlesque is a celebration of femininity and empowering and ironic, or somesuch.

At least that’s what the sisters tell me.

Anyway I’d like to be clear that my personal boredom with it is not to say others can’t like it or shouldn’t get the chance to see it at the Fringe.

I’m just not sure it’s worth the festival dying in a ditch for.

Slightly OT.

I am finding that my opinion is usually 180 degrees to that of the Labor minister mentioned in the CT article above.

I certainly dont feel that out of sync with the world in general.

But, but , but, it’s demeaning to women…

And it sets stereotypical body type which some might not be able to live up to…

phototext said :

“Mr Manikis said, ”The funding and approvals provided by the ACT Government for the event is conditional on the reputation of the ACT Government not being brought into disrepute.””

I hardly think that some scantily clad females performing burlesque could darken the ACT Governments reputation any more than the current bunch of clowns in power have been doing.

. . . or statues of Al Grassby.

The MC said last night, this event was for people who like “brains with boobs”. Do the avant soundtracks and costumes, magic and comedy acts make burlesque more acceptable than other forms of adult entertainment? I’m not sure.

But I agree with JB, it was a bit slow at times, and truth be told, about as sexually provocative as posters you see in shops around town. You would see more flesh per person at the pool or at the beach.

My favourite act were Tthe Town Bikes’. Doing a grinding numchuck-infused routine to a cabaret/jazz version of Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ certainly satisfied my thirst for fringe entertainment.

They may be getting their French mixed up and confusing Burlesque for Coup d’etat.

phototext said :

I hardly think that some scantily clad females performing burlesque could darken the ACT Governments reputation any more than the current bunch of clowns in power have been doing.

Indeed its geographic location may constitute as a lap dance for the Legislative Assembley.

“Mr Manikis said, ”The funding and approvals provided by the ACT Government for the event is conditional on the reputation of the ACT Government not being brought into disrepute.””

I hardly think that some scantily clad females performing burlesque could darken the ACT Governments reputation any more than the current bunch of clowns in power have been doing.

Personally I am comfortable with the human form – additionally I find it amusing that that anyone who has criticisms of burlesque misses the sweet irony in the fact that the act itself holds their views up for ridicule as antiquated vestiges of the 1950s.

That said, I know there’s at least one liberal fossil shuffling his intellectual zimmerframe around the RA site who even finds the male chest offensive.