LEAGUE OF EXOTIQUE DANCERS (Rama Rau, Canada). 90 minutes. Rating: NNNN
There were some brazen women lighting up burlesque stages all over the U.S. more than 50 years ago, and Rama Rau tells their stories as they get ready to enter the Legends of Burlesque Hall of Fame in Vegas.
These unique individuals – all proud, creative and fiercely independent – worked at a time when all-out nudity was not legal and stripping was powered by the pasty. That makes their work very different from that of the lap and pole dancers who came after.
True, they performed for entitled men, but they make clear that burlesque gave them independence and freedom at a time when those were at a premium for women.
Very entertaining.
