Berlin Burlesque
Four cocksure American dancers escape difficult pasts to twirl their nipple tassels and celebrate unconventional beauty in the real land of the free, the German capital.
Ivan Aranega’s 2011 documentary Berlin Burlesque positions Berlin’s burgeoning burlesque scene as part of a renaissance of the roaring twenties: a time when, in lieu of a German monarchy, freedom and an ‘anything goes’ attitude reigned.
Cheap, youthful, arty and gritty, today’s city is primed for burlesque shows, which trumpet alternativism, female empowerment, humour and quasi-politics. Dotted with footage of short-haired, curvaceous and/or tattooed dancers in vintage costumes and feathered headdresses, the film churns out the messages that individuality is sexy and that, in Berlin, anything is possible.
Catch our EXBlicks screening in cooperation with realeyz.tv, followed, as always, with a director Q&A and complimentary wine.
EXBLICKS: BERLIN BURLESQUE, Mon, Dec 9, 20:00 | Lichtblick Kino, Kastanianallee 77, Prenzlauer Berg, U-Bhf Senefelderplatz
Originally published in issue #122, December 2013.