Some Like It Hot

Gilded Lily Burlesque is about more than baring skin in Baltimore.

- Lydia Woolever

On a small, dark stage sits a lone black chair against the backdrop of a red velvet curtain. Off to the side, the bar bustles as patrons grab dirty martinis and glasses of whiskey before hustling to their tables. At a quarter past 8, the lights dim and the spotlight widens, and when the music kicks on, out walks a tall, thin woman wearing a tan trench coat and cherry-red heels. As the crowd erupts in applause, four of her friends stand in the back corner behind the bright lights, cheering her on and waiting their turns. The dances they are about to perform are stripped down and seductive, but this is not our city’s in famous stretch of East Baltimore Street known as The Block. That neighborhood’s glitter infused glory days of feather boas and silken gloves lost its luster long ago, giving way to seedy strip clubs and boarded-up facades.

Instead, at The Windup Space in Station North, these women are part of the Gilded Lily Burlesque troupe, the local leader of a burgeoning movement that has blossomed across Baltimore. From Hampden to Highlandtown, the risqué revival takes the classic exotic dance form, full of fluid movements and fine lines, and transforms it into a modern-day art form—one that transcends body type and the male gaze. These femme fatales use the spotlight to take their bodies back, and with each pull of pantyhose or shake of a tasseled pasty, they embrace their own skins and expose their truest selves.