“Tap That! A Singing and Tapping Burlesque Revue” will take place at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Back Door. Featured performers will be coming in from St. Louis, Chicago and Indianapolis.
Sugar Lee, a local burlesque performer, produced the show. Lee’s stage name is used in the story to protect her identity.
“I had this idea for a long time,” she said. “I traveled around the country a lot performing burlesque. I really wanted to do a tap dancing burlesque show.”
Jeez Loueez will be headlining the show as the feature performer alongside Diva La Tap, a burlesque tap duo.
According to 21st Century Burlesque, a website Lee said lists top burlesque industry figures, Loueez is No. 14 in the world for being the best in ?her field.
“She’s funny,” Lee said. Loueez is also a talented dancer and singer, she said.
The show will have a vintage aesthetic and feature a strip tease. There will also be comedy.
“It’s definitely going to be fun and funny,” Lee said.
However for those that aren’t familiar with the field, just what is burlesque?
“Burlesque has become this huge category of performance art,” Lee said. “It’s starting to gain attention.”
It also incorporates many ranges of entertainment. Burlesque means grotesque comedy and tends to have a vintage aesthetic, Lee said.
Typically, an American burlesque show mixes comedy, dance, singing and striptease. However, this list fluctuates depending on the performer.
Lee started performing burlesque about seven years ago in New Orleans. Her company performed at the House of Blues, among other venues, and dressed in glamorous costumes.
Lee said she kind of fell into this field. She used to be a dancer, and through dance she discovered burlesque.
There was a show in New Orleans that was looking for a dancer, and she auditioned before fully knowing what she signed up for. Later on she was dubbed Sugar Lee, as she played a southern belle character.
Burlesque performers typically pick their own stage names, Lee said. However, her producer at the time found this one for her. She remembered seeing it in an email, decorated in ?bubbled font.
“You can’t say no to that, right?” she said, laughing.
Despite her slightly accidental start, Lee said burlesque developed into one of her life’s passions.
“I love the community,” Lee said. It’s small, but everyone is pretty welcoming. Everyone knows everyone and everyone lives through a stage name, she said.
Aside from that, Lee said her favorite part about burlesque would be how performance-based it is. Since burlesque is not her main profession, she said it is fun to have a creative outlet where she still gets the opportunity to incorporate dance in ?her life.
“It’s fun to take a break,” she said. “I get to take a break from my other life and then share that through ?performance.”
