September 15, 2009 Features

Tastefully undressed: the best of Blue Light Burlesque

An interview with Mademoiselle Oui Oui Encore

by Annie Duchesne

a little tease, if you please. Mlle Oui Oui doing what she does best. PHOTO MICHAEL ANDREWS

“Performing is better than sex and drugs.” —Mlle Oui Oui Encore, Founder of Blue Light Burlesque

She saunters onto the stage in a long gossamer dress, coquettishly fluttering two giant feather fans. Mademoiselle Oui Oui Encore moves gracefully, despite her strappy, hot-pink high heels, and her jet black Bettie Page hair swings to and fro as she spins around, waving the fans in front of her. She teases the audience, occasionally letting them catch a tantalizing glimpse of her glittering lingerie, before finishing her number with a spin of her sparkling tasselled pasties and a huge grin. The crowd goes wild.

“When I found burlesque, I found my place,” said Mlle Oui Oui over a coffee. “I have always wanted to do a show that was fun and that spoke of sensuality and eroticism in an amusing way that does not portray women as objects.”

Focusing more on the tease than the sleaze, burlesque dancers rarely get completely naked, preferring to tantalize the audience with long looks and lingerie. Mlle Oui Oui Encore looks to be in her mid-30s but won’t disclose her age or real name, preferring to keep her personal life under wraps. Influenced by retro style since she was a little girl, she got hooked on burlesque after seeing a performance by a troupe from Vancouver.

Since there was no established burlesque scene in Montreal at the time, Mlle Oui Oui decided to create one. Her initial plan was not to be a performer, but rather the organizational force behind the production.

“The thing that draws me is the event; making an evening of it,” she said. “It was only after [organizing the burlesque] I discovered that I liked performing,” she said.

Modern-style striptease burlesque was popularized in North America during World War II, but a scene was already established in Quebec prior to this in the 1920s. In the 1940s and ‘50s, during burlesque’s golden age, celebrated stripper Lili St. Cyr had a regular act in town and was well-known as “Montreal’s most famous woman,” despite being charged by the clergy and city council with being lewd and immoral.

Recently, burlesque has experienced a renaissance in North America, making a classy comeback from the sex-saturated strip joints that overwhelmed the underground scene in the ‘60s and ‘70s. In Montreal, Mlle Oui Oui has established her troupe as the leaders of the pack.

Teaching swing dance for nearly a decade before moving on to co-found the Blue Light Burlesque troupe in 2004 with her fellow performer and boyfriend “Blue Eyes,” Mlle Oui Oui has since been working hard to revive the art and culture of a good striptease. The show can be described as sexy sketch comedy, with frequently clever and humorous numbers.

“Sex sells and we all love sexy things,” admitted Mlle Oui Oui, “but our show is not just about seeing sexy girls. The fact that we go beyond that makes it interesting.”

Burlesque, defined as a mockery through exaggeration, is generally theatrical and comedic, but the Blue Light troupe sticks to the strip, with no dialogue in the skits, singing or talent acts; the girls tell their stories through carefully choreographed movements, facial expressions and creative props.

The women in the Blue Light Burlesque look nothing like your average strippers. They are shaped like real women and all radiate confidence, clearly having a good time on stage. The friendly atmosphere they create attracts men and women alike.

“[Burlesque-style] strip-tease is liberating for the people who do it, but also for the audience watching,” explained Mlle Oui Oui. “[Society] tends to reject that women have sexuality. When you watch women who feel good in their own skin and have an assumed eroticism, it’s liberating. And that’s why I give classes.”

Mlle Oui Oui began teaching the same year as the troupe was founded. “[To be a teacher] you need to be strong because everyone looks at you and wants to be like you. It is a very heavy responsibility to be the reference,” she said. Her classes teach women how to walk daintily in high heels, flirt with the audience, remove long gloves, play with feather boas, and, of course, to sensually strip.

Mlle Oui Oui can be described as a generous teacher, gently correcting posture and lavishing praise on her students. She didn’t have the luxury of having a guide herself, though. “When I prepared my first number, I had never done strip-tease before. I knew a little about what I wanted to do, so I rented a studio and worked with myself [...]. I faced my fears,” she said.

Mlle Oui Oui has come a long way since her first strip and the Blue Light Burlesque troupe will be celebrating its fifth anniversary this fall. “Burlesque is really in now,” said Mlle Oui Oui. “It is everywhere.”

Due to last year’s successful series at Petit Café Campus, Mlle Oui Oui and her troupe have been invited to move to the larger Café Campus for their monthly cabaret and will be kicking things off on Sept. 16. The new show will include more acts and performers, including tap dancers, acrobats and comedians. The audience will also be treated to a live band on stage accompanying the troupe.

Mlle Oui Oui insists that she will continue to perform for as long as possible.
“Performing is better than sex and drugs,” she said, her eyes glimmering. “It is like energy in motion to be on stage with people looking at you. Afterwards you have this rush of adrenaline and excitement. It’s the crowd that gives that to you.”
For more information on the Blue Light Burlesque and their upcoming shows, visit bluelightburlesque.com.