Breaking barriers one dance at a time
A musical showing of classic striptease is coming to town - with a male spin.
Renowned dancer Chris Olwage will be in New Plymouth next week to perform a boylesque number as part of show, Black Friday Burlesque.
Hosted by Flash Mob Entertainment, the event will run on the back of the company’s recent success with cabaret drag show Fierce.
Defying preconceived gender norms, boylesque is much like burlesque but performed by an individual who identifies as a male.
‘‘It’s just the male counterpart of burlesque... we just have a distinction because it’s such an unusual thing’’ explained Olwage.
‘‘It kind of covers anything from drag from anything male striptease.’’
Auckland-based Olwage, who in
2013 was crowned Mr Gay World in Antwerp, Belgium, has been performing boylesque for about a decade, with the past two years being in a more ‘‘mainstream’’ capacity.
‘‘I’ve always done the performance style in the nightclub scene.’’
Olwage is an accomplished contemporary and ballet dancer who owns an entertainment company from which he performs in a number of genres including jazz.
Unlike most professionals, the
31-year-old only began dancing when he was 22.
He said it was ‘‘the need to move and express’’ which drew him into the art.
‘‘I was at the University of Auckland as part of an acting crew and within the group there were a few dancers who were moonlighting as actors,’’ he said.
‘‘I just loved what they could do with their bodies and I would watch them rehearse their dance pieces.
‘‘If my body could do that I would die a happy man, and that was the deciding factor.’’
Despite never attending a dance class in his life, Olwage enrolled in a full time dance degree.
He pushed himself through the three years, always having to play ‘‘catch up’’ to the other students.
‘‘There was a lot of pain, blood, sweat and tears,’’ he said.
Olwage said it had been a ‘‘hard ask’’ breaking into the dance scene.
But in 2012 the artist made his mark when he made it to the semifinals of New Zealand’s Got Talent for his Black Swan ballet performance.
His depiction reportedly incensed some from the dance community when he went en pointe, traditionally a move performed by a female ballet dancer where she moves on to the tips of her toes.
Continuing to break down barriers, Olwage looked forward to featuring his modern burlesque act in next week’s show.
‘‘The audience can expect a lot of sparkle and probably their money’s worth of flesh.’’
Flash Mob Entertainment’s Sunita Martin had pulled in a number of the country’s acclaimed burlesque dancers for the night, including Mis Red Delicious.
‘‘I have been talking with Kerry Rodda - Mis Red Delicious - for months about bringing a taste of the New Zealand Burlesque Festival to Taranaki and after I attended the festival in Auckland I knew it had to happen,’’ she said.
The show is at The Mayfair on Friday, October 13. Tickets are $40 from They Mayfair.