America's only all-black burlesque troupe rocks the Boudoir
It’s a pretty fantastic feeling to be the person a hot black burlesque artist wakes up to in the morning. Granted, I was on the other end of a phone line that separated us by a few hundred miles, but still – a girl can fantasize, can’t she?
"Good morning Canada!" purred Simone de la Getto, a.k.a. Teresa Ellis, from her home in San Francisco. The two-year-old burlesque troupe she founded, the Harlem Shake Burlesque – the first all-black troupe in the States – is coming to us in person for the 12th edition of Le Boudoir, a three-day Sapphic fest running from July 1 to 3.
"I danced in two other burlesque troupes before I started Harlem Shake," Getto recounts in her mellifluous voice, "and I was the only black dancer dancing. And I was done! I said, ‘You know, I really want to dance with other black ladies.’ And so I started Harlem Shake. I’ve been dancing burlesque for eight years now, and within that time frame there’s been more black women dancing burlesque – but there’s still the one black girl in the group. And then there’s us."
Getto’s dream was to reanimate a history that is being forgotten, when black performers like Josephine Baker helped make the art form of burlesque what it is today. She says she was always told she was people’s favourite when she performed with mixed troupes. But when the stage is full of brown chicks, today’s audience – still mostly white – doesn’t know how to react.
"Before I would never notice, because I would go on stage and do my thing and love it, be happy, la la la la la, and my friends would be like, ‘Okay, the audience was in shock. They’re there with their mouths open.’ And I’d be like, ‘Really?’ Because I’m just there on stage, making sure I don’t fuck up, listening to the music and trying to keep the choreography, and smiling and having a great time. And then one day I actually saw the audience while we were performing, because the light bounced off the stage and I could actually see who I was dancing for – and here I was looking at people with gaping mouths. They’d been screaming for the group before, but for us… so I was like, ‘What, are we bad? Are we doing something wrong?’ And then at the end, we got this uproarious applause. I was so confused."
I read about this one choreography the troupe performed early on, which re-enacted a Baker skit involving a dress made out of banana bunches and a gorilla. You could see how a white audience might be a little dumbstruck… but to talk to Getto is to feel the true spirit of burlesque, where fun is the name of the game, and variety and personal expression are the playing cards.
"I always try to make sure, in addition to having dance abilities and pick up choreography, that all my dancers are diverse in look," she says. Each of her dancers – Alotta Boutté, Peach S. Cobbler, Jam Balayah – is completely unique in shape. "That’s a part of Harlem Shake that people love, they always say it’s really nice to see real bodies on stage."
This Saturday, July 2, Harlem Shake will share the stage at the Corona Theatre with a whole bunch of other real bodies, including Sasha Van Bon Bon, Nathalie Claude and the Tap Rockettes. You can always expect a raucous show from Le Boudoir, but thanks to Getto, you might get a little blasphemy too.
"At one time I said that we did traditional-style burlesque, but that’s changed a little bit. How do I say this – if hip-hop performers can talk about their childhood and how they would, you know, kill people, then I can express the same thing about how I experienced growing up as a black child. And so we have this new piece called Sunday Morning, where we’re in church on Sunday morning and we’re dressed in the dresses, and we have the hats on, and it’s basically my experience growing up in a Baptist Church, where we’d get the spirit, and start running around and doing all this stuff. In my version, we get the spirit and take our clothes off!"
Harlem Shake Burlesque
At Corona Theatre, July 2, 9 p.m.
Within the context of Le Boudoir, July 1-3
www.leboudoir.org for more info
7 comments
I’m a fan of the burlesque, I have seen many different troupes but never any with a black chick!!! This article is awesome, I have to go to this show. Black women and their nice round asses usually have the perfect body type for this form of art. I took a peak at their website as well as those of the other troupes and it looks great, the theater looks likes it’s from another era which is just perfect. The price is decent at 20/25$ especially if you take in consideration their from the states, and that you get 7 groups of artist plus a dance afterward with DJ Denise Benson. Here’s an event we shouldn’t miss!
Its easy for those who got it in them and who are naturals, but if you dont have it in you, then you will face HARDSHIPS,syke!!! Its just an easy move, practice makes perfect even for those who are rythem challenged.
Isa Tousigant, I really loved your article. I never knew that some costumes such as banana bunches and a gorilla could offend white people. I can’t wait to see the show. I think it is very entertaining and one has to have a wild side to go see a hot black burlesque artist. Anyways your article gave me the idea to call all of my friends to see the show. It might just be fun and not scare us!
Josephine Baker took her burlesque act to Paris, back in the 1920′s, because uptight American audiences just didn’t “get” her audacity and artistry. Nice to know that we haven’t matured all that much.
Even in this day and age, if an artist flaunts age-old tabus regarding race and gender, they are more likely to inspire shock or shame, than celebration.
Baker honoured and glorified her own adventurous style, with a vivacious sense of humour and vibrant persona that are still being emulated. She was one of the original flappers of the Roaring Twenties.
Keep on shaking, Harlem Shake Burlesque! Josephine would be so proud!
And how!
I mean, after reading this interesting interview of Simone de la Getto, a.k.a. Teresa Ellis, it is hard for one not to become inspired and invigorated by what is being said. Especially if one or she, considers herself a Josephine Baker fan, which I most certainly do!
Thank goodness a show has finally arrived that can unabashedly aprreciate the body of a Black woman, without being offended by it. But on the contrary, audiences seem to have no choice but to be awed by it, n’est-ce pas?
N-E-hoo, this Simone de la Getto being interviewed inside the walls of her native home in San Francisco must be at the top of her game, and most likely an absolutely Fabulous person to meet, for someone like me, who wouldn’t mind getting taught a few moves reminiscent of the “Harlem Shake”!
And how, indeed.
Shake it ladies…but just don’t break it. Woo-HOO!
I did not know that folks could even comment about the articles. I was just getting the URL so send to my web guy to add to our articles section of our website when I scrolled down and found this!!!!!
So with that said….
I would like to say thank you to those of you that said such nice things about Harlem Shake Burlesque. My heart is so full of love and respect for all of you and I send each of you a big lipstick print kiss on both cheeks! The cheeks on your face, or course!!!!
It has been a long and foggy road and continues to be challenging at times which makes me work even harder. Overall, after nurturing HSB these past couple of years, it has gotten easier. If you had a chance to see the show, I hope you enjoyed it. I sure did! You were an amazing audience and we felt very much appreciated. The venue was amazing and was perfect for the essence I was trying to capture for Harlem Shake Burlesque in addtion to what the promoter, Miriam, was wanting to capture for hte show overall.
Merci, Merci, Merci!!!! That’s the only word I know how to spell in french, otherwise I would say a bit more, but I do not want to embarrass myself anymore than I need to and look like a silly American!
Peace and Blessings~
Founder/Artistic Director
Harlem Shake Burlesque
Simone de la Ghetto, The Bays Sexiest (and Sassiest) Woman 2005!!!