An award-winning international burlesque star from Fife is providing St Andrews with some extra glitz and glamour next month – despite a number of venues branding her show “too risqué”.
Brandy Montmartre, from Kirkcadly, whose real name is Hannah Rose, said she was taken aback by how challenging it had been to bring burlesque to the historic Fife town, but the 32-year-old performer is delighted to have secured a slot at the Hotel du Vin on Saturday December 1.
Brandy’s previous show, The Twilight Tease Burlesque Revue, was a sell-out success in Kirkcaldy, and she hopes her Burlesque Christmas Cabaret Dinner will be a similar hit – and prove any naysayers wrong.
She said: “I was quite surprised by how challenging it was to bring burlesque to St Andrews.
“We approached one theatre and got quite far in the approval process before our show was vetoed in the final stages.
“I think this was due to preconceptions of what burlesque is, and a judgement is made of it being low brow entertainment.
“Convincing most of the venues we approached to let go of those preconceptions was tricky.
“But Hotel du Vin were different as they knew what burlesque was and were keen to collaborate.”
Differing views on performance art or theatre involving women in particular have hit the headlines of late, most notably in Kirkcaldy where a new strip club was due to open its doors on Friday night, despite protests against it.
However, Brandy is keen to show the new wave of burlesque is “anything but low brow”.
“If you go to a burlesque show and then a lap dancing club, you will see a marked difference between the two,” she stressed.
“Although burlesque and stripping in strip clubs share the same roots in the history of live entertainment, they contrast in terms of their audience – mainly women for burlesque – the goals in terms of what they aim to provide to their customers, adult licensing (you don’t need one for burlesque) and costuming, production value, act format etc.
“Strippers are only paid for lapdances, burlesque performers are paid for the acts they bring to the stage, not their interaction with the audience.
“In burlesque, performers have the power over what they do on stage without any expectations placed on them by the producers of the show.
“Burlesque is so much more than just striptease, and even though there is a risqué element, it does this either with its tongue placed firmly in its cheek, or artistically and elegantly to provide a unique visual spectacle and a glamorous escape.
“I have a lot of respect for strippers, I think they work hard for what they have, and as long as there are people, there will be strip clubs, but burlesque and stripping in a lap dancing club are very different spheres of entertainment.”
Shona Gillespie, the hotel’s sales and events manager, said: “We are delighted to be hosting such a diverse event.
“Brandy and her team are incredibly professional artists and we are excited to bring a little glamour to St Andrews.”
