Who's That Girl? - New York Post- Page Six Magazine
January, 26, 2008
-Rachel Syme
Burlesque is booming in New York, and Angie Pontani is its reigning star. you know a trend has reached critical mass when it finds its way into a plotline on Gossip Girl. The teen grama recently featured a fictional burlesque club and a performance by 30-year-old real-life dancer Angie Pontani. "Th genrehas really resurfaced, thanks to Dita Von Teese and others," says Angie, who is currently starring in the show This is Burlesque, playing through March at the Soho club Corio.
"Ten years ago people thought of burlesque as stripping or something lewd. But it's just a form of theater where everything is over the top. It's so glamarous!" In her act, Angie wears costumes ranging from organza evening gowns to a Carmen Miranda costume and strips down to a bra and garters. She grew up in Trenton, N.J., and was always captivated by the idea of old Hollywood and the beauty queens of Coney Island (where she now lives, to be "close to the roller coasters and the sea"). "I love the Rat Pack, glitter and the ultra-stylization of Technicolor movies," she says. "I do an act where I dress up as a jungle girl and play the bongos. It's out there, but all rooted in vintage movie references." She adds that the jungle-girl peice was Sting's favorite when he dropped by her show. "I today's world of reality TV and the Internet," Angie, "burlesque is sheer, vibrant entertainment."
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