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 LOLA THE VAMP has been around the world a couple of times or maybe more, but jetlag hasn’t prepared her for living "non-showgirl hours." SOPHIE BENJAMIN chats to the burlesque queen she prepares for a Friday afternoon performance.
Charles Darwin once said, "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."
Although modern-day burlesque is often unrecognisable from its 19th century beginnings, performers such as Lola The Vamp have ensured its continued survival by adapting it to suit a 21st century audience. After touring the world and headlining international burlesque festival Tease-o-rama in the United States, she’s hitting the road again in October to join the east-coast tour of The Gangster’s Ball.
Billed as a "swing dancing, burlesque and cabaret extravaganza", the event is curated by The Velvet Set, a ten-piece swing band from Sydney and MCed by New York’s own Meow Meow.
"Meow Meow was one of the reasons I got involved in burlesque, so I’m really excited about it," says Lola.
At the moment, Lola’s based in Brisbane, performing every Friday lunch time at B Confidential, a gentlemen’s club in Spring Hill. B Confidential is the only strip club in Australia both owned and run entirely by women. The club’s patrons recently requested more burlesque performances, so Lola has been brought on as a featured performer.
"It’s a new sort of venue for me, but they’ve been so wonderful. The thing I love about it is tipping! The audience members tip and I want this to become part of the whole burlesque world."
A pioneer of the Australian burlesque scene, Lola has always done things a bit differently. As well as her performances worldwide and running her own burlesque studio, she’s in the "death throes" of a PhD in burlesque, focusing on her own creative practice. Her efforts led to an interview on A Current Affair as part of a particularly tasteful story titled Students By Day, Strippers By Night.
"The PhD takes forever!" Lola laughs. "You spend a couple of years getting it going and it seems quite fun and peaceful and you’re making all this progress. Then things get in the way and then you try to finish it for another few years.
"The worst part of it is that I’ve had homework for years outside of finishing school. I’d have drinks with friends and think ‘they all get to just go home’ and I always had work to do."
Lola was initially more excited by her university’s facilities than anything else, but soon fell in love with the history and tradition of burlesque, prompting her to focus solely on the artform.
"Burlesque has such a rich history, and I think it’s really important to learn it. If you don’t learn the history as a burlesque performer, then you don’t really earn the title."
When she’s not studying or performing, Lola has been resurrecting the Brisbane branch of Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School, a life-drawing event for those unenthused at the prospect of silently sketching a bored model in a sterile classroom.
Artist Molly Crabapple started Dr. Sketchy’s in New York four years ago and since then, branches of the drawing event have formed in 40 cities worldwide. Burlesque performers, drag queens, bodybuilders and all sorts of characters model, and contests like "best left-handed drawing" and "best imaginary costume" are held during breaks.
"Every Dr. Sketchy’s I’ve been to has always been absolutely fun, and funny and beautiful. It’s the kind of night that I like in that it’s quite quiet and you can sit down and just draw. It’s not necessarily a band, it’s something visual and it’s a great thing to incorporate into a night out."
Although the models are the focus of Dr. Sketchy events, Lola is looking to promote the artists as much as she does the performers.
"I was looking at a list of artists I’ve worked with in Brisbane and Australia alone and there was already a year’s worth of people to promote through that."
The costumes and ideals of burlesque are slowly infiltrating the mainstream media – music videos, advertising and catwalks. Lola recently brought "corsets, bling and feathers" to Mornings with Kerri-Anne. The matriarch of Australian daytime TV. used to perform on the cabaret scene in her early 20s, so she was more than happy to get amongst the costumes.
"She was fantastic – she totally understood it! She just wanted to put on all the headdresses and feathers and stuff. She was right in the zone and wonderfully fun."
Burlesque can even adapt to the KAK factor – no mean feat for any species.
LOLA THE VAMP performs every Friday at 1:30PM at B Confidential, 445 Upper Edward Street, Spring Hill. DR. SKETCHY’S is held fortnightly at B Confidential, with the next one on Monday Sep 7. THE GANGSTERS’ BALL takes place Saturday Oct 17 at The Tivoli. Tickets available now through www.ticketek.com. www.gangstersball.com.au
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