Burlesque, a theatrical, sultry form of dance performance, had its heyday a century ago before fading away in the 1940s. But in recent decades, the art of burlesque has seen a resurgence across the country — and in Hawaiʻi — as a provocative and empowering art form.
The 9th annual Hawaii Burlesque Festival in October featured a mix of established and emerging performers. But there are not many places for wannabee burlesque performers to get their start on Oʻahu.
Susie Scorpio, a local burlesque performer and the leader of the troupe The Aphrodisiacs, started a show series for aspiring performers. She's run five of these shows already, and a sixth is scheduled for Friday.
"I kind of just fell into burlesque. I've been a dancer my whole life. I was kind of on and off professionally dancing for about 10 years," Scorpio said.
"The burlesque scene is a lot more about freedom of expression and essentially exploring yourself. And I really just felt like I finally found the art form that really connected with everything that I wanted to express as a dancer in the first place."
Scorpio said a big part of being a performer is educating people about burlesque.
"I generally describe it as musical theater meets the strip clubs, kind of a more PG-13-rated version of exotic dance. But really what The Aphrodisiacs do is a little bit more of just kind of centrally empowered dance and performance art," she added.
"It's really about each individual performer and dancer tapping into their own unique sensuality and expressing it in a way that really uplifts us, and empowers us, and brings so much confidence and body positivity."
Susie Scorpio's Ingénue Burlesque Show will have two performances at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on May 17 at The ARTS at Marks Garage.
This interview aired on The Conversation on May 14, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
