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Olympia's Tush Burlesque celebrates sequins, skin

REVIVAL: New troupe will perform Sunday at Day of the Dead festivities

MOLLY GILMORE; For The Olympian | • Published October 30, 2009

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The burlesque revival is alive and well in Olympia.

That’s nothing new – the Sex Workers Art Show has long included burlesque, traveling shows come through regularly, and Indigo Blue even offered a special Olympia version of her popular Burlesque 101 class.

But this fall, the revival advanced even further: Olympia formed its own burlesque troupe, the evocatively named Tush Burlesque.

Tush made its debut in September, and has since been featured as part of Lord Franzannian’s Royal Olympian Spectacular Vaudeville Show.

This weekend, it will provide hostesses for the Olympia Film Society’s “Night of the Living Tribute Bands” and offer its second full-scale production.

The Day of the Dead-themed “Divas de los Muertos,” happening Sunday, will feature all new acts and costumes with a deadly undercurrent.

“Most of our performances are on the ghoulish side, only with a lot more glitter,” said the troupe’s Jennifer McLean, whose burlesque name starts with Ginger and ends with a word that can’t be printed here.

Glitter and detailed costuming are a huge part of burlesque. Costumes require a lot of time and effort, because they must be able to be easily and gracefully removed. Nothing off the rack will work.

“Women that I talk to will say, ‘I couldn’t show my breasts,’” said McLean, also known by the nickname Jenny Macc. “To be honest, showing your breasts is not the hardest part of it.

“The hardest part is getting up there and taking your clothes off gracefully and keeping the audience entertained in a way that isn’t sleazy but it’s fun. It’s very difficult to carry off.”

And then there’s making those costumes shine.

“We hand-make all of our costumes,” said Mileen Gilkey, who was inspired to start Tush after taking Blue’s class in the spring. “We embellish them with rhinestones and sequins, and that can be really tedious.”

But although creating a performance and building a costume is hard work, Gilkey (whose stage name is Frida Fondle) was hooked after the class, which ended with a grand finale public performance.

“It came naturally to me,” she said. “It was a really fun creative outlet.”