Peek-A-Boo Revue at PIFA

Last year in Stockholm one of my most au-courant friends brought me along to a special show at the Södra Teatern - the "Hootchy Kootchy Club." And soon after I found that PUB, one of the main department stores in downtown Stockholm, had a special "Poom-Poom Room" selling lingerie and fetish clothing and accessories. Not too much later I was glued to Dita von Teese on YouTube and thinking that stripper was a four-letter word. This was beautiful. This was art.

The Peek-A-Boo Review Chorus Girls

When going through PIFA shows deciding which to attend, I was thrilled to see that the World Café was presenting The Peek-A-Boo Revue. This troupe of 22 artists has been in business for 13 years. I tracked down their Artist Director, Lulu Lollipop, who's excitement for the show could be as habit forming as sugar. She describes the company as a classic vaudevillian neo-burlesque troupe and promises more variety than just strip tease. Their lineup includes 22 artists including dancers, singers, sketch comediens, two hosts, and a 9 piece band.  "You can bring your wife," she added.

Lulu on stage

One of the things that sold me most on Peek-A-Boo was that they have their own band. Some shows I've seen in New York and Stockholm only use pre-recorded music, but Peek-A-Boo's Strip Tease Orchestra provides the soundtrack, as it should be. The musicians are led by Buzz Mouthpiece, who is writing and arranging an opening number specifically for this show, called "Je Ne Sais Qui". Plus Buzz is arranging Gilbert Becaud's song "Quand Tu Danses" for the band, which will be sung by Vic Hardo.

Video of the whole troupe

This show will be 1910-1940 Paris themed as is PIFA's mantra, but very much for modern day. It will include some of the French classics, but jazzed up for modern day. Many of the acts poke fun at current events. And there is one common theme - almost every performer winds up with their clothes off.  Lulu informed me that all the chorus girls in the show are trained dancers, freelancers working in many different dance troupes around the area. And the performers include women and men. Good news for what should be an eclectic crowd.

Key - Chorus Girl

If you've ever witnessed the intricacies of Burlesque attire you know that they are elegant, beautiful, and surprising, and with a good performance, it makes revealing the human body as natural as singing in the shower...but much more exciting.

If you go:
April 30th at the World Café Philadelphia
First show: Doors open at 6:30pm, show at 8pm - Dinner and cocktail service - 18+ age
Second show: Doors at 10:30pm, show at 11pm - Cocktail service only - 21+ age

The show is an hour and a half long with one 15 minute intermission. 

For tickets visit
http://www.pifa.org/events/980195082
and
http://tickets.worldcafelive.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=2614

To see the entire troupe, visit the Peek-A-Boo Review at
http://peekaboorevue.com/

p.s. And for you aspiring dancers out there, Lulu runs a burlesque dance class at Studio Noir...www.studionoirfinishingschool.com

This story is brought to you with the support of PIFA (Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts) <http://www.pifa.org/ >. Please Like their Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/PIFA.Philly>  Page and Follow them on Twitter <http://www.twitter.com/PIFAPhilly> !

PIFA Bloggers Hangout

Today those of us covering PIFA on our blogs got together for a little tour of the city - and PIFA took some photos of us. In the meantime - I took some pictures of them!

 This is the Eiffel Tower that's been erected in the Kimmel Center lobby. It has 6,000 lightbulbs on it and will have a light show every evening during the PIFA festival.

And outside of the Kimmel Center is the PIFA video cube showing pictures and highlights from the festival.

 Some of the bloggers in front of the cube with the photographer putting them in position.

 Here we are for another shoot at the Love statue - and one of my fellow bloggers in his hat that reads "Meat and Potatoes".

 The trolly that got us there. We were taken to landmarks all over the city.

And here we are on the way to the Art Museum.

In the next blog I'm deciding whether or write about burlesque or fashion at the opening night gala with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Ballet...votes?

To get a hold of PIFA's (Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts) pics of us keep following <http://www.pifa.org/> . Please Like their Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/PIFA.Philly>  Page and Follow them on Twitter <http://www.twitter.com/PIFAPhilly> You are supporting the arts in Philadelphia!

more from PIFA - BalletX

Hello brethren,

Most of you know me as a singer, songwriter, and sometime philosopher, but I'm going to put on a different hat for these upcoming blogs - that of the audience, the influenced, the absorber. Why? Because we need a map of where we are to know how to get beyond it. And it seems like good timing since coming up is one of the largest cultural gatherings in my area in many years, PIFA. The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts runs from April 7 - May 1 and has dance, film and video, food and fashion, kids and family stuff, music, speakers, salons, visual arts and exhibitions. Many of the best restaurants in Philadelphia will have guest chefs - 11 of them to be exact - Master Chef's from Lyon and Paris - here to collaborate with the local chefs. The menu will be served from April 13 - May 1st. Visit http://www.pifa.org for more details.

(Okay so I got on a tangent there with the food .. can't help it! .. so now after we've all eaten...)

Right now I'm looking for music and classical art forms that are pushing boundaries, and which I hope are going to answer a number of my existential questions about the nature of music today and where its going in the future - especially classical music, which is bound to old traditions and searching for new ones.

So this past week I attended a rehearsal for a multi-media show created by the fine arts renegade dance company BalletX and the Wilma Theatre.

The rehearsal was for their upcoming show, "Proliferation of the Imagination". The most notable innovation of the show? The choreography and the music are being created at the same time.

Co-Artistic Director and choreographer Matthew Neenan and Dancers
photo: Bill Hebert/BH Photos

The dancers of BalletX are all trained in ballet but were looking for a way to do more innovative performances in Philadelphia. Co-creators Matthew Neenan and Christine Cox started the company five years ago. This project is based on the 1917 surrealist play "Les Mamelles de Tiresias" by Guillaume Apollinare, and Matthew Neenan and Walter Bilderback of the Wilma Theatre are working together to make a multi-dimensional performance on a text loosely based on Apollinare's original play. Oh, and for your feminists out there, gentleman and ladies alike, this one is for you. The lead character lets her breasts blow up like balloon and goes off to live as an independent. And there's more...

While Matthew choreographs, Rosie Langabeer, a new Zealand native, plays accordion and creates beat loops while upright bass, eclectic world percussion and harp join her. Some of Langabeer's compositions are made before rehearsal, and some during as the dancers and musicians experiment together. Rosie is influenced by many different disciplines of music, but for this piece, her work in an Edith Piaf band is most apparent. Her accordion playing gives the music the turn-of-the-century French flavor that it needs while heading off to Zanzibar and into the 21st century.

composer Rosie Langabeer
photo: Bill Hebert/BH Photos

The dancing that I saw is beautiful, wild, strong, and bawdy, while created by Matthew and the dancers in one thorough gesture. It'll be a mind-expanding show, and an entertaining, out-of-balance experience. It seems to makes sense because .. it doesn't.

Here is some video of rehearsal that you can check out:

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/358e9a004d03324e75f4b59f96a3de95/video/72164791

The show runs from April 12 - 24 and tickets are 25-35 and available on their website
http://balletx.org/


In the meantime, I'll be off for more adventures in Philadelphia. Stay tuned.

This story is brought to you with the support of PIFA (Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts) <http://www.pifa.org/> . Please Like their Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/PIFA.Philly>  Page and Follow them on Twitter <http://www.twitter.com/PIFAPhilly>

music with class, music with ass

Hello, envelope pushers...

Welcome to new installments of the IVA blog.

Now that I'm back in the U.S., I'm going to be writing about the music here - not only music I'm making but music that other folks are creating that I find inspiring. It'll be an investigation that I hope will become a treasure map. It'll include impressions from within and without... so, without further ado...

I'm living in the Philly area now, and it's come to my attention that Philly has decided to go off the charts this season with PIFA - the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts. The festival is from April 7 to May 1 and will put Philly on the map as a cultural mecca. There is so much classical and experimental music, fusion and illusion, and I'm gonna do my best to give you a preview of what's gonna be hot so that if you're in the area, you can check it out.

First, just visit the website and see for yourself http://www.pifa.org/

Right now I'm dreaming of the street fair on April 30th. A full day of music, food, theatre, oh boy. At the end of the day there will be a show of circus artists that will be suspended above Broad Street.

Second fave is a new staging of Stravinsky's Pulcinella with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Philadelphia Ballet. It opens the festival on April 7th, and plays again the 8th and 9th.

In other news, getting adjusted to being home and I'll write more about differences between Sweden and the U.S. and music making, and of course how it's feeling. Right now it's Yoga asana from Jivamukti and a Yoga nidra CD from Anders Paulson that are getting me through with a sometimes smile, and a yang to match.

Love to you all,
Emily (IVA)

brand new

In honor of my return to the U.S. I've started a new blog. Upcoming will be news from IVA and Emily shows, as well as music that I'm checking out around the Philadelphia/New York/D.C. area where I live. Come and visit me.