For close to a decade, Skin Tight Outta Sight Rebel Burlesque has brought surprises to sold-out audiences. I turned to two core members of the troupe, Tanya Cheex and Sauci Calla Horra, who are both so impassioned with drawing different influences to their work. I’m curious about what the troupe will be doing soon based on inspirations from the film Rosemary’s Baby, which starts with a soft lullaby before transitioning into occult fury. I wonder what these burlesque gals will build from the film’s sexual intensity.

¨Q: As Skin Tight Outta Sight Rebel Burlesque is involved with retro and revisionist burlesque, how do you see the evolution of the form?

Tanya: When I started collecting vintage men´s stag magazines and watching stag reels in my late teens, I was fascinated by the fierceness of the strippers, they didn´t look like mainstream women. They had an edge, all those trappings of hyper-feminism – the stylized makeup and hair, the heavily constructed foundation garments, the curvier bodies. They looked like me! Even though it was mostly men who ran the burlesque shows, the women had careers and bought their own possessions. Pre-WW II, this was very uncommon and was in stark contrast to the "June Cleaver" moms to come in the ´50s. Today, burlesque shows are promoted, produced and performed mostly by women. Women have been very instrumental in the visual perception of the burlesque performer. The curvier body and the less so have all been represented.

Sauci: In some ways, I see the revisionist burlesque that Skin Tight Outta Sight does as a more accurate portrayal of what classic burlesque was doing in its prime. This doesn´t seem to make sense until you think about how the narratives of burlesque in its heyday were very much about challenging the status quo. The performance was a send-up of the upper classes. Burlesque today that is focused on recreating the retro routines may be beautiful to watch (and Skin Tight Outta Sight does do some classic recreation acts as well), but we attempt to go one step further, and capture the spirit of old school burlesque by being theatrical provocateurs. Those women back then were fierce, independent and what they were doing onstage was challenging the mainstream. It was revolutionary for them to be showing some skin and to be suggestive about their sexuality. Some, like Mae West, were even arrested and thrown in jail for their shows. Society has come to a degree where this level of reaction is unlikely to happen, but we try to keep this ethos alive. One of the biggest compliments someone can pay me is "I can´t believe you did that on stage!"

Q: What do you think of processes of rebellion when it comes to the pin-up aesthetics of burlesque?

Tanya: You will see women from alternative cultures such as punk, rockabilly, goth or the fetish scene. These subcultures amplify the pin-up aesthetics by way of tattooing, piercing or corseting, for example. It comes across as a cartoon version of the traditional pin-up look.

Sauci: Nowadays, it is an act of rebellion to look like a pin-up. There is so much pressure on women to conform to either fashion model or porn-star types of bodies. A few burlesque girls have these kinds of bodies but many don´t. Our bodies are real. One of the great things about modern burlesque is how welcoming it is of different looks. Burlesque has also encompassed the alternative cultures Tanya mentioned, with there being different troupes or performers that may identify as "fetish burlesque," for example.

¨Q: You were recently featured in Bizarre Magazine as one of the 10 hottest burlesque acts in the world. Congrats. You were deemed the punk rock ones. How do you see punk burlesque?

Tanya: Punk challenged the concept of pretty by wearing clothes out in public that were commonly found in the bedroom or dungeon. This made for a very confrontational and reactionary appearance. I loved the look of Siouxsie Sioux. Coming from a punk rock background, Skin Tight Outta Sight wanted to be more than a group of pretty girls taking our clothes off – honestly, there´s enough of that. We love to play with feminine archetypes (all glittery showgirl) and then throw something provocative in there so the audience goes "What the fuck?" Like punk rock, we incorporate elements of shock and awe.

¨Q: Some aspects of pop media have arguably eroticized younger bodies. I know you´ve done some naughty schoolgirl scenes. What has it been like to approach this fantasy construction?¨ ¨

Tanya: Pretty easy, considering our backgrounds. I was a professional dominatrix for 10 years. I always found the idea of women dressed as schoolgirls pretty ridiculous, although I understand its erotic appeal. With performers such as the Pussycat Dolls doing it, it has become even more sanitized. It´s now boring stuff. Our act plays into the ridiculous. We don´t have the bodies of teenage girls – even when I was a teenager, my body was over-developed. I was told at 15, I should be a stripper. Who cares? I had wanted to be one since I was five years old anyway.

Sauci: Playing the naughty schoolgirl was one of the first burlesque narratives I created for myself, when I started performing in 2002. At the beginning, I didn´t really think too much about it. I was just poking fun at this archetype that is supposed to be sexy, and having a ball. Over the years, the act has evolved to crazier and crazier heights. However, simply by being older and not having teenage-girl bodies, we´re doing a send-up of the stereotype, instead of reinforcing it.

¨Q: Would you describe some of your schoolgirl-themed narratives?

Sauci: We have two main ones. The first is a schoolgirl and teacher fantasy, where the schoolgirl is tarty, and is punished by the teacher. Of course, it goes into a teacher strip too at the end. The second narrative is our new schoolgirl "Cat Fight" number, where Tanya and I are both schoolgirls in detention. We go on to show why we deserve to be in detention [laughs].

Q: You´ve said you´re thinking of reworking your schoolgirl acts. What elements are you reconsidering?

Tanya: I mentioned before how schoolgirl themes have been overly sanitized. Every burlesque troupe has a schoolgirl act. It has gotten pretty boring. I want to change the visual, make it more provocative like Japanese anime with elements of cosplay. The outfits are a bit goth in black and red and based on Japanese schoolgirls. We need to wear some spikes and kitty collars. The hair should be very cartoonish, oversized ponytails.

¨Q: As you´re thinking of more stage combat, what do you think about the image of cat fights? Do you think burlesque fantasy has changed, to include movements of sexual duress?

Sauci: I think there have always been elements of sexual duress in some burlesque, depending on the act. Both Bettie Page and Dita Von Teese exemplify the flip-sides of burlesque and fetish – the two are kissing cousins. Doing a cat fight in burlesque is not a new concept, though I haven´t heard of it applied to schoolgirl acts yet! Of course, stage fighting is a much different dynamic from the traditional version of burlesque dancing, but we figure out where we tear off clothing versus where we can fit in a more suggestive striptease move. The stage combat brings something to the routine, something that is rarely seen and is therefore more powerful.

Q: You have an upcoming show called Grindhouse Ghoulies. I´m curious what processes are going in to making acts inspired by grindhouse or sexploitation films?

Tanya: I´ve had a spoon-fed diet of these films. It´s got to the point that most of my acts resemble the film Orgy of The Dead.

Sauci: It´s lots of fun basing burlesque acts on grindhouse and sexploitation films. In many ways, the genres are so compatible – as burlesque "died" in the ´60s, grindhouse and sexploitation cinema was being born, and often theatres would feature both live burlesque and the films. There is a very similar aesthetic.

Q: I love Polanski´s films like Rosemary´s Baby. I´m curious how this will be interpreted. How do you think qualities of the sexploitation genre, the wanton violence, the bizarre can function with the seductions of burlesque?

Tanya: It plays into an almost anti-titillation factor or burlesque grotesque as its known. It acts to simultaneously repel the audience and then to seduce them back. For example in the "Grudge" act, Sauci has on rotting white panties, which forces the audience to look away and then look again. It´s things you aren´t supposed to see. It challenges pretty burlesque. I find women with extra limbs or tails highly erotic and this is featured in a lot of my acts.

Sauci: This is part of our punk rock ethos. I think our audience likes to be challenged – many people like the contradiction between sexual attraction and repulsion. So they see something gross, look away, then look back and find out they like it or, at the very least, are perversely fascinated by it. Of course, portraying it onstage makes it safe. In real life, this may not be the case.

Q: What do you think of some of the conventions in burlesque, like the breast dynamics with pasties. How can the movement vocabulary change when the troupe looks to rebellious burlesque narratives? Are there ever wardrobe malfunctions?

Sauci: Of course there are wardrobe malfunctions! And it´s part of being a burlesque artist to learn how to deal with them when they arise. You work it into your character – for a classic routine, you may pretend you don´t notice and make a graceful exit. But for a punk rock act, you can play with things a bit. For example, if you have a broken zipper, you may choose to tear yourself out of the costume and make a display of it.

Q: You also offer lessons for undressin´. What sage advice would you offer to lay folks looking for burlesque beauty or seduction tips they could use?

Sauci: Practise, practise, practise! Like any art form, take as many classes as you can, and go to as many burlesque shows as possible. Do your research both online and in the field, and learn what you like. Learning how to move well and how to undress with ease in a burlesque class can really help women to feel sexy and comfortable in their own skin, and self-confidence is half the battle. However, if you´re going to make the transition to stage, you had better learn some serious glamour tips with makeup and costuming!

Q: What narratives do you enjoy doing the most? When it comes to watching, what faves?

Sauci: There´s too many. My current favourites to perform are the "Lemon Song" and my Barbra Streisand act – both are pretty ´70s-inspired and silly. My favourite acts to watch are those that engage my brain but also turn me on, and I hope I manage to do this for my audience – it would be high praise.

Tanya: I love acts inspired by the circus sideshows. I have a tap dancing "Parasitical Twin" act based on real sideshow legend Myrtle Corbin. I also have a "Human Ponygirl" act. I find anamorphic females sexy. Although not necessarily narrative, I enjoy acts involving balloon play or pyrotechnics – I just learned to light my pasties on fire and twirl them! I like to play with the juxtoposition of beautiful ugliness, and those are the acts I enjoy performing and watching the most. ¨

Q: As you´re based in Toronto, have you done any acts involving local elements? Do you think there are Canadian sexual qualities?

Sauci: I don´t think we have incorporated anything uniquely Toronto or Canadian in our acts. For the Toronto Burlesque Festival that we co-produced, we included the CN Tower in our logo. Aside from this, I would say that we have made a point of including many very sexy, local people in our shows though, such as local performance artists, Jess Dobkin, Christobel and Lena Love. We have worked with Keith Cole, Donnarama, Miss Conception and many other talented and sexy drag queens, as well as some amazing bands, and other local, homegrown burlesque artists! Skin Tight Outta Sight has spearheaded the creation of the web-based Toronto Burlesque and Vaudeville Alliance, and also the Toronto Burlesque Festival that happened in the summer of 2008. So maybe you could say we are in the process of creating local Canadian sexual qualities [laughs].

Q:Aside from Grindhouse Ghoulies, what other narratives are on the go?

Sauci: We have our Feliz Navidad show coming up on December 11 at the Gladstone Hotel. This is our 10th-anniversary show and it will encompass some of our most popular nights – because December 11 is so close to Our Lady of Guadalupe Day in Mexico, we are showcasing routines from our Ay Carumba! evening, plus some acts from our Biblical Burlesque show. Mix in a few Christmas and winter holiday treats, and we´ve got a brand new show! We also have our Raunch ´n Roll New Year on December 31, also at the Gladstone. This is our punk rock show and we plan to premiere the finished product of the schoolgirl cat fight number.

See Tanya and Sauci at the Trick or Strip? show at the Cadillac Lounge on October 31.

More info: Skin Tight Outta Sight

Louise Bak is a poet, with books including Tulpa and Gingko Kitchen. She co-hosts Sex City, Toronto’s only radio show focused on relations between sexuality and culture (CIUT 89.5 FM). Her performance work has appeared in numerous spaces and in video collaborations such as Partial Selves and Crimes of the Heart.