Has Sweet Lady Gumbo Lost Her Groove?
Okay, lemme make something clear: I live in New Orleans because I love it. No, it’s not the most comfortable place to be in August. No, the school system hasn’t produced any prize-winning physicists as of late. And no, the thought of boarding a life raft and chopping my way out of the attic to escape a 30-foot tidal surge doesn’t make me particularly giddy with joy. Still, the quality of life here, the pace of things, the generally laid-back, tolerant atmosphere (in Orleans Parish anyway), and other random niceties totally win me over.
So what’s the problem? Well, for years there was this vibe. It was centered in the Marigny/9th Ward, but you could find pockets of it throughout the city. There were all these people and all these happenings and sometimes things got really out there, but no matter what the hip thing was that month–Quintron, Miss Pussycat, old-skool burlesque, homemade porn–you knew it was gonna be entertaining.
Problem is, I don’t see anything really new going on. Yeah, there’s a little roller derby action, but that’s hardly innovative–every burlesque girl in the country jumped on that bandwagon eons ago. And MC Sweet Tea is definitely on the hip tip. But I can’t see much else on the horizon.
Maybe it’s a national trend–I mean, nothing’s happening in New York, either. Or maybe it’s just summer and everybody’s lazy. Or maybe the whole trendsetting crowd that used to be so productive has broken up and moved in separate directions. But whatever the case, I’m a little worried that things are getting…well, dull.
Calgon?
Related posts:
Let me state for the record that roller derby is not burlesque, has nothing to do with burlesque, and there are currently no burlesque dancers in our league, though we welcome any woman who wants to join. Of the women that I have met throughout the country who participate, none are burlesque dancers though I woulnd’t doubt there are a handful out of the 1200 or so women who participate in flat track derby.
It’s a sport. A showy, funny sport at times. But very much a sport that requires a hell of a lot of strength, practice, athletic ability, and dedication to participate in.
We don’t take our clothes off and we don’t want people coming to our bouts expecting that.
Point well taken. I so TOTALLY wasn’t trying to imply that burlesque had anything to do with roller derby. (Although now that you mention it, it’s an intriguing idea–even to a big ol’ faggotini like moi.)
No, all I was saying, in a nutshell, was that roller derby is the burlesque of 2005–meaning that that’s what all the hip girls are doing these days.