Yvonne Denault: Pinup at the Plains

By Kristine Kostuck
Contributing Writer

On December 9th, Yvonne Denault’s portrait studio will host “Pinup at the Plains” for an invitation-only crowd, where the the Bad Weather Burlesque group of Fargo will perform their rendition of Cinderella. The group is proof that burlesque is an art and an outlet for women’s empowerment.

Bad Weather Burlesque was formed by college students, both men and women, who share an awareness of women’s rights and the enjoyment burlesque can bring to an audience.

Amanda Standalone directed and coordinated the Cinderella story that the Bad Weather Burlesque recently performed at DK Custom Framing downtown. The show sold out opening night after a few flyers were hung in the downtown streets and the group showed up on Facebook. The Forum printed a long feature about the group and everywhere people remembered or learned about burlesque.

But how did the troop stir up so much commotion when they are so different then what’s currently associated with Christina Aguilera’s new film? “We have sold tickets for our shows, and most of them were for the older generation,” Standalone said. “Our generation is interested but hasn’t really seen anything like this.”

“How would we really know what burlesque is without seeing it,” said Mary Purcell, who plays Cinderella, “We haven’t had a show like this before.” Purcell along with other members of the troop have seen theatrical-style burlesque performances in Vegas and in other regions with the costumes, comedy, strip teases and cabaret. They didn’t want to settle for an incarnation act they wanted it to be the real thing. And after Standalone wrote the opening song, the group began framing their own version of Cinderella.

“I wrote the song and thought ‘this really sounds like a wicked stepmother’ this could be something much bigger.” The dark cabaret feel to the song fit an old-world Cinderella story and one afternoon Standalone sat in Nicole’s Fine Pastry and wrote the entire script, the music, the dialogue, everything.

“The whole idea of Cinderella is just weird to me,” Standalone said. “The thought of going to a
ball to meet a prince so he can find the best one for a wife just seemed so ridiculous. I wanted to play off of that and make it as ridiculous as I could.”

The group’s story begins with dim lights, Standalone singing her wicked step-mother ballad. The two wicked stepsisters show their talent, half-naked hoola hooping, to a disgusting prince out of every woman’s worst nightmare. There are laugh-out-loud sexual innuendos throughout the entire show and a glittering finale.

Their creation is filled with the sick concepts that follow after a night of drinking. There is an
exaggeration, but a definite seriousness to the depiction of the human need for relationships and sex. Even as told through the most bizarre fairytale, the burlesque group managed to show raw honesty about our society’s expectations. It is comforting to know we can still find the humor in our behavior despite the fact that we don’t always get our happy ending.

“I want people to feel when they watch our story,” Standalone said. “I wanted this to reach people in many aspects, see that it is an empowering art, and find the bigger things in the story aside from the lewd humor.”

Denise Knudson, the owner of DK Framing, let the group take over her gallery last week for rehearsals and performances. When asked why she wanted them to perform at her studio she said, “Why not. It is an art form that has been overlooked and forgotten about in so many ways. It shows beauty.”

This is why Denault is having them perform at her Pinup at the Plains: beauty. “It is an absolute way to empower women,” said Standalone. “People are beautiful. Burlesque is stunning and shocking. It is about creating, not selling, and that is what makes us different than soft core pornography. We are there for ourselves to perform.”

The burlesque has the same outlook as Denault’s photography, the idea that people want to feel captivating, especially women. “Society defines women as measurements, years and the scale,” Denault said. “Boudoir is a celebration of your beauty.”

Along with Denault’s party, the group is in the process of deciding where else to perform. Keep your eyes out for flyers around town. The burlesque group will be performing at the I-Beam in the near future.

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