![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/cheesecakes-pink-Dani_Boynton.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cWe\u2019re all hopeless romantics at heart,\u201d says Stacey Ness (stage name: Miss Kitten Kaboodle), who is sewing sequin ruffles to a skirt in preparation for the February 9 show when Nexus<\/i> reaches her. \u201cThere are people who are in love, or those who don\u2019t have love and are lonely, and burlesque can cover all of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the uninitiated, Ness very aptly describes burlesque as less like a strip tease and more like a short piece of performance art. The members of one of Victoria\u2019s most popular burlesque troupes each write, produce, choreograph, and star in their respective pieces.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little one-person, three-minute play, and, just like any play, it can come from any artistic standpoint with one person being very creative,\u201d says Ness. \u201cAnd, like theatre, it can come in many different genres.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a Valentine\u2019s show that will feature some of Cheesecake\u2019s patented group performances, as well as a few brand new solo numbers from new members, it\u2019s easy to understand why the women of Cheesecake find doing burlesque so exciting. But it\u2019s not the kind of excitement some may think of.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t get sexually charged to be up there, but certainly there\u2019s a rush to performing. It\u2019s a total extroverted, \u2018Hey, look at me\u2019 kind of experience. It\u2019s probably better than sex,\u201d Ness jokes, adding, \u201cWell, it\u2019s different, really.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another Cheesecake performer, Betsy Bottom Dollar (who prefers not to reveal her real name for privacy reasons), was a high-profile performer with a one-woman show called Diva Las Vegas<\/i> and an \u201980s-inspired heavy metal band called Whip when she crossed paths with the Cheesecake ladies in 2008.<\/p>\n
Bottom Dollar\u2019s involvement in the troupe has taken her on a similar yet different career path. The Cheesecakes have performed in New Orleans, New York, and back in Vegas, where she tried to make a career for herself many years prior.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never thought that after all of these years, and at this age, that I\u2019d be taking my clothes off,\u201d says Bottom Dollar. \u201cBut with this group of people the creative process is fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Besides the Bump and Grind showcase, which is open to everyone, Cheesecake Burlesque is also offering a women-only Sass Class 101 for those interested in the art and history of burlesque.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a lot of women, they\u2019ve never been in such a vulnerable place,\u201d says Bottom Dollar, \u201cbut by the end of the class it\u2019s amazing how much better they feel about themselves. It\u2019s really rewarding for us, and really fun for the women that attend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cheesecake Burlesque Bump and Grind Valentine
\n8:30 pm, Saturday, February 9
\nMetro Theatre, $22-25
\ncheesecakeburlesque.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a lot of ways, Valentine\u2019s Day is the perfect time for burlesque. And if it\u2019s Cheesecake Burlesque\u2019s annual Bump and Grind Valentine show, even better. Cheesecake, a local burlesque troupe formed in 2006, has never shied away from the more dramatic elements of the skin-tastic art form. In their latest show, it\u2019s not just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-february-6-2013"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6085"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6162,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6085\/revisions\/6162"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}