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| Bam Bam Blue - photo by Dom Henry |
One of the great things I love about Nottingham is there are niches for many tastes, including, I’m pleased to say, Burlesque dancing and the 'art' of strip tease. Every second Saturday in the month the Pitty Pat Club takes over the upstairs room at the Bodega with a themed evening of cheeky routines put on by local Burlesque enthusiasts.
Now, if you’re not quite clear on what Burlesque is, we're not talking pole dancing at Senoritas with notes in garters, this is cabaret dancing by vintage glamour fashionistas. Think fish nets and tongue in cheek pin up. With me? Right.
This month’s Pitty Pat was sporting a best of British ‘Roll out the Barrel’ theme, kicking off with a giggly poke at Morris dancing from dancer Bam Bam Blue. Who went from bells and handkerchiefs down to a pair of union jacks and St. Georges themed nipples in short and rather jingly order.
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| Lepard L'amour and the Deville Dolls - photo by Dom Henry |
We got another three acts after that, a fifties Blue Peter presenter making sticky back plastic nipple tassles, a punky coronation princess with some vanishing balloons and a girly afternoon picnic upset by a dancing ant. A dancing ant? with lippy and nipple tassles? What have I been drinking?
In between the bouts of strip tease they spun us some classic vintage rock and roll tunage for our dancing pleasure, which the crowd and I were getting down to until the next round of dancers came on.
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| On the Pitty Pat dancefloor - photo by Dom Henry |
An hour later and enter Miss Cherry Deville, the show’s promoter, armed with a parasol and a set of fans. Her disappearing red, white and blue lingerie didn’t last long! A soon as Cherry’s glitter had been swept away on came Miss Ruby Buttons as a frustrated fifties house wife, who, fed up with domestic drudgery decided to get in touch with her inner corset clad dancer for us.
Top tip for these shows - firstly the more you cheer and wooh to the dancer’s routine, the more you get to see! Secondly, don’t heckle, unless you want to ruffle feathers and be shown the door, it’s not the easiest thing to take your clothes off in the Bodega. At least when sober.
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| Extinction trouble - photo by Dom Henry |
The last two acts brought us Ant lady back in Unicorn guise, clearly convinced that the way to avoid extinction was to lose some of her clothes and fan us with her nipple tassles. WWF take note. Bam Bam Blue was back after that, with her mobile Yorkshire Ice Cream parlour. Her ices apparently not cooling her enough under the stage lights there was only one recourse, strip off under her parasol.
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| The Speedkings - photo by Dom Henry |
With the girly acts over it was time for more a bit more classic music while Rockabilly band the Speed Kings set up. Before getting stuck into a heavier thumpier set of Rockabilly and punky sounds from the Derby threesome, by which time everyone was pretty trashed and leaping about in the late night Bodega style.
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| Pitty Pat folk - photo by Dom Henry |
Its admittedly a niche night but the Pitty Pat club attracts folk of all sorts, ranging from fifties fashion followers through to young punks, as well as lots of regular looking folk with corsetry peeking out from under their boas. Whatever your closet, if you secretly have a hankering for 40s and 50s styles, or just like some classic rock and roll tunage to dance along to inbetween a splash of cheeky homegrown cabaret, then this is for you.
The Pitty Pat Club 'Roll out the Barrel' night took place on Saturday 11 April 2009.
Photos by Dom Henry (c)
