The face of burlesque in Iowa

By Chad Taylor

America has always been a little weird when it comes to nipples — female nipples, specifically. We can’t show them on TV. We’re uncomfortable around them in public. If you’re making a movie, you can fill it with explosions and violence and bad words and all the boy nipples you want, but if you show a female breast, you’ve pretty much sewn up your “R” rating. Justin Timberlake can perform at the Super Bowl and sing a song about getting a woman naked, and it’s all OK, but actually get a boob out, and there’ll be lawsuits, buddy, and right quick. So in a way, it’s fitting that Phoenix L’Amour’s biggest headlines have been the result of her nipple.

“I did a balloon pop routine where I have balloons attached to my costume all around my body,” said L’Amour (real name: Erin O’Grady). “I had balloons attached to each pastie, and I wasn’t going to pop those ones. Unfortunately, one of my balloons came off during my performance, so I quickly turned around and… we did an on-stage costume change behind a sheet, and from where (the police officers in attendance) were sitting (they) could see behind the sheet.”

At the time of the alleged infraction at the Ingersoll Theater, L’Amour and another performer — Julia “Madam Jules” Mahlstadt — were both issued citations by the Des Moines Police Department for giving the crowd a larger helping of the goods than allowed by law. For L’Amour, the citation was a setback, but nothing she planned on dwelling on. But, for various reasons, others were happy to dwell for her.

“I figured we would just pay our fines and move on,” she said. “(But) Monday morning The Des Moines Register was knocking on our door at 8 a.m. KCCI was calling to do a story. It was crazy.”

Two days after the incident, the Smoking Gun got hold of the police report, and it made its front page. Two days later, Jezebel.com grabbed the story from Smoking Gun and ran with it. The incident was even remarked upon in this very publication’s “Good/Bad/Ugly” column (the incident was deemed to be “Bad”). Most everyone, it seemed, was chagrined by the notion of tax dollars being spent to police nipples at a burlesque show.

Danielle Colby Cushman, known as Dannie Diesel, heads up her own troupe: Burlesque le Moustache. She is also a part of the show “American Pickers.” Photo by joshuablackwilkins.com

Mahlstadt, in what would later be described as a cost/benefit move, pleaded guilty to the charge of prohibited acts. For her, the effort and cost of disputing the citation weren’t worth the trade-off for the misdemeanor fine. L’Amour called her lawyer, Brandon Clark. Clark filed a motion to see the video recorded by the DMPD. Then, everybody kind of pumped the brakes.

“It took forever for the case to even be seen,” said L’Amour. “I still have never seen the video. My lawyer has never seen the video.”

The case was continued. And again. And again. L’Amour’s attorney fell ill and was briefly hospitalized. In January, nearly four months after the incident, prosecutors dropped the charges after the DMPD fumbled the video evidence. The case was dismissed, clearing the way for L’Amour to get back to doing what she loved.

What we commonly refer to as “burlesque” nowadays is more accurately termed “American burlesque.” While burlesque — like just about everything else — originated in Europe, the burlesque shows you’d see in London or Paris in the 1870s were much more political and satirical. Think Monty Python more than Moulin Rouge. It wasn’t until the entertainment form came to the United States that the striptease was fully incorporated. While there was certainly a bawdy element to the great burlesque shows of Europe, the true masters of titillation were all-American. Sally Rand, Gypsy Rose Lee and Margie Hart were all larger-than-life stars who traveled the country almost non-stop.

But in Iowa, the history of burlesque is not a rich and vibrant one. During the art form’s American heyday, spanning from the turn of the 20th century into the 1940s, large troupes were formed in places like New York City and Chicago. But, aside from the occasional whistle-stop tour in river port towns like Davenport or Dubuque, Iowa remained largely pastie-free. Nationally, burlesque shuffled along through the now middle-aged century, tent-poled by graceful, aging stars like Rand and Lee. By the 1970s, the art form had reached what writer Robert Clyde Allen called “its final, shabby demise.”

But, as singer-songwriter Peter Allen tells us, “Everything old is new again.” A neo-burlesque movement picked up steam in the early ’90s, thanks in no small part to promotion-savvy performers like Dita Von Teese. Over the years, the art form has been re-imagined, perfected and packaged for a YouTube audience by a slew of neo-burlesque performers including Dirty Martini, LouLou D’vil and Little Brooklyn — which brings us home. Burlesque in Iowa is now alive and well, thanks in large part to Des Moines’ own Phoenix L’Amour and her sisters in arms across the state.

The Lone Wolf

L’Amour has a background rooted in more traditional dance, as both a student and an instructor, and formed her own competitive tap group while living in Chicago.

Hair styled by Chanda Jones at Bombshell Bettys; makeup by Angela Stensrud. “There are a lot of stereotypes about what’s OK. I kind of just ignore all that,” said Phoenix L’Amour. Photo by Chad Taylor

“I taught dance for many, many years,” she said. “But there wasn’t a future for me in dance because I’m 5-foot-3 and do not have a dancer body type. So when I got hold of this art form, I felt like it was something that I really fit into.”

That feeling took hold for good in the early part of 2008 when L’Amour and her friend Sarah Johnson decided to start a troupe of their own.

“(We) kind of had an obsession with the ’40’s,” said L’Amour. “We decided that we wanted to start a burlesque troupe because we both had an appreciation for it, and we both had a background in dance. We held auditions in November of 2008 and created the group St Vitus and the Taxi Dancers, which was the first burlesque troupe in Des Moines.”

In addition to being the first group of its type, St Vitus and the Taxi Dancers also marked the point where Erin O’Grady officially started performing as Phoenix L’Amour. The group allowed L’Amour to get her first taste of burlesque performance. It also was where she began to receive recognition and support for her efforts — instilling in her the drive and desire to continue her growth as a performer and promoter.

“We performed all over,” she said. “We did 80/35. So when we disbanded as a group, I made a promise to myself that I wanted to continue doing burlesque and educate myself as much as possible. So I performed at the Windy City Burlesque Festival in Chicago in 2010 and just started networking and getting to know other burlesque dancers around the Midwest. After that, it just kind of snowballed.”

L’Amour spends a good chunk of her fall season touring, but she also devotes a hefty portion of her time to her Iowa School of Burlesque, which she started last year. After her run in at the Ingersoll, L’Amour moved her burlesque classes to Ames, where her Sundays are spent instructing 10-15 students in the finer points of burlesque history, dance, makeup and hair. In addition to giving prospective performers all they need to know to get ready for a show, she also teaches burlesque staples like tassel twirling, stage presence and confidence. At the end of the session, graduates perform a live show, hosted and produced by L’Amour.

Most of her Iowa School of Burlesque students are in it as a lark — women wanting to be more confident in life or learning something fun to do with boyfriends and husbands. But for those more serious about the art of burlesque, L’Amour also chooses five applicants as apprentices. For six months, the chosen five receive their Iowa School of Burlesque classes for free and are invited to perform at all of L’Amour’s shows.

“I’m helping prep them and getting them ready to be professional performers,” said L’Amour.

While she has no plans to stop any time soon, and is regarded in larger circles as the name to call when you want to do a show in Des Moines, L’Amour is enjoying the role of mentor and is happy to be keeping the traditions alive.

“This year I would like to really focus on my students and creating more burlesque dancers,” she said.

The Traditionalist

Almost in lockstep with St Vitus and the Taxi Dancers, Dannie Diesel launched her own burlesque troupe in the wilds of the Quad Cities in early 2009. Much like L’Amour, Diesel had a passion for the style of the early burlesque stars and was frustrated by the lack of an outlet in Iowa, which prompted her to launch Burlesque le Moustache. But Diesel also finds herself in the rather unusual position of being one of the few burlesque performers who’s actually better known by her street name than her on-stage alter ego. When she’s not titillating audiences as Dannie Diesel, 36-year-old Danielle Colby Cushman is watched by millions as part of the show “American Pickers” on the History Channel.

Angela Stensrud of Bombshell Betty’s (pictured) and Chandra Jones spend six hours styling Phoenix L’Amour’s hair and applying make-up for our photo shoot. Photo by Chad Taylor

“History’s been great to work with,” she said. “They’ve been extremely accommodating with my schedule, and they understand that this is what I love to do. And being nationally known — internationally known — though the show has definitely helped in getting visibility for the troupe.”

Starting with five girls and growing to about 10 in the first year, Burlesque le Moustache is one of the few troupes in the Midwest that puts a strong emphasis on the vaudeville shows from which American Burlesque draws its roots.

“I will not let go of that,” said Diesel. “I fought tooth and nail to include the variety, and I lost half my troupe because of my passion for it.”

That passion is focused on a diverse, clever show, featuring more than just the standard “wink and strip” routines that are common to the neo-burlesque movement. Burlesque le Moustache accomplishes this with a show that harks back to the heyday of vaudeville, with performers who include “Human Blockhead” Chadillac, Birdie Belleville (who pulls double (triple?) duty as the bearded woman, and half man/half woman) and Molly Tov, the troupe’s quick-witted emcee and mistress of events who keeps crowds entertained between acts. In addition to founder/producer Diesel, the troupe is rounded out by Cheeky Rood, who doubles as director/choreographer, and propinatrix Pixie Pistol.

Diesel is adamant about the quality of her product, and she demands a lot from her performers.

“Anyone can take their clothes off,” she said. “That’s not hard. But not anybody can tell a story. I expect my performers to be able to come up with creative acts that are as mentally stimulating as they are physically. They need to be able to engage with the audience on more than just one level. I want the audience to find themselves saying ‘Yeah that’s pretty neat, and oh my God she’s naked. When did that happen?’ ”

Much like L’Amour, Diesel runs burlesque classes for anyone from the beginner looking for a good time, to people looking to become professional performers.

“I have 10-15 girls in a class,” said Diesel. “I have a ‘Burlesquersize’ class for people who just want to move and have fun. There are also self-confidence workshops and both beginner and intermediate burlesque classes.”

But the unique fame and visibility that come from “American Pickers” come with unique challenges, as well.

“I have to run all of my shows through (The History Channel) first,” she said. “They want to be sure of what I’m doing. They’re a fairly conservative channel after all, but they’ve been really great about allowing me to do what I want most of the time.

“Plus,” she added with a laugh, “they know I’m hardheaded. Sometimes it’s easier just to give in.”

The New Kids on the Block

Calling anyone “new” in a game that’s only four years old may be a stretch, but Iowa City’s Les Dames du Burlesque is the most recent addition to the local burlesque scene, forming in early 2010. Inspired by L’Amour and St Vitus and the Taxi Drivers, Nelle Dunlap formed Les Dames more with an eye toward doing something collaborative and fun than out of a specific passion for burlesque.

“I craved a chance to perform and to collaborate,” she said. “I shopped a couple ideas around, and burlesque got the most response.”

The result is a troupe that’s, as Dunlap puts it, “on the edge between pure entertainment and art-making,” with shows that emphasize the playful nature of burlesque.

“We are more about spectacle and humor and fun and glitter than we are about being sexual,” Dunlap said. “We are more about dancing and acting and playing music and wearing outfits than we are about taking our clothes off.”

The Common Thread

For all of these performers, burlesque is as much a means to an end as it is an art form. At the turn of the last century, in an age before women could even vote, burlesque was a way of expressing confidence, intelligence and attitude. It’s not a coincidence, or simple matter of necessity, that both L’Amour and Diesel include “Self Confidence” in the list of classes their schools offer.

“Even after a couple days of me coaching them through a stage presence and confidence class, girls start to think about themselves differently,” said L’Amour. “I think there are a lot of stereotypes in our country about what is beautiful and what should be accepted and what is OK. I kind of just ignore all that.”

“Teaching yourself burlesque is a beautiful thing,” added Diesel. “It’s amazing what the confidence can do for you.”

“I’m 27. I’ve gone through all the things with being uncomfortable with my body and uncomfortable with my sexuality but this process was totally a growing one for me,” said L’Amour. “When I started burlesque, I was terrified and self-conscious. But it really is a process of becoming comfortable with yourself, and it’s the most rewarding thing to see happen with someone who you’re teaching to love themselves.” CV