Giulia Rouge, Blonde Pitbul and Black Cherry girls of the group ‘SickGirls’ on break during rehearsal at The Rock Circus Cafe, Bologna. October, 2007.
Giovanni Cocco
Burladies
Burlesque is an ancient show connected to the nineteenth-century theatre, born during the Victorian England as popular show. The beautiful women kidded the aristocracy of their age through music, dances and ironic and provoking manners. At the end of the XX° century, on the wave of vintage mode and culture, the «burlesque performers» have reinvented themselves creating a «new-burlesque», a show during which the strip-tease is only an element and not at all mandatory. As part of the show there is choreography, orchestra music, comic moments and, for the contemporary version, contamination by fetish and punk elements.
The first time I attended a burlesque show I was attracted by colours, hairstyles, clothes with a mix of nostalgia, ironic and romanticism; but over all I was fascinated by the humor of these women who, despite living in a stereotyped society, loved showing their bodies in their rounded, full figures. And so I decided, between 2008 and 2010, to travel far and widely, aiming to absorb that experience. After years, the final result of this research work, edited during 2017, took another form as a book, “Burladies”, a powerful visual narrative portraying of the women of the saucy and vivacious world of burlesque.
U.K. Burlesque performer Polly Rae waves to the public after the show at the Apollo Dancing club in Milan, where burlesque tradition is coming back. Milan. March, 2009.
Girls of the group called ‘SickGirls’ during a shoot at The Rock Circus Cafe. Bologna. October, 2007.
Girls of the group called ‘SickGirls’ on break during rehearsal, backstage at Sonar Club. Colle val d’Elsa, Siena, October, 2007.
Italian burlesque dancer Blanche Lenoir backstage at the Micca Club, Rome. March, 2009.
Burlesque performer Missy Malone, from the U.K., on stage at the Apollo Dancing club in Milan. March, 2009.
Black Cherry, Italian performer from the group ‘SickGirls’ on break during rehearsal, backstage at The Rock Circus Cafe, Bologna. October, 2007.
Burlesque performer Missy Malone, from the U.K., waits before entering the scene on the Apollo Dancing stage, Milan. March, 2009.
Scarlet Martini, from Italy, gets ready for the balls show backstage at the Micca Club, Rome. April, 2009.
Giulia Rouge, from Italy, one of the ‘SickGirls,’ a group of neo-burlesque girls, backstage at The Rock Circus Cafe. Bologna. October, 2007.
Dixie Ramone, from Italy, gets ready for her show, backstage at the Micca Club, Rome. April, 2009.
During the Rome Burlesque Festival. At its 5th edition hosted by the historical Micca Club in Rome, it has become one of the most popular events in Italy. Rome. May, 2009.
U.K. burlesque dancer Leyla Rose drinks champagne and coke between shows backstage at the Micca Club, Rome. May, 2009.
Burlesque artists pose during a photographic set at the end of their show, during the Rome Burlesque festival. Rome. May, 2009.
One of the SickGirls, a group of neo-burlesque girls, during the show at the Rock Circus Cafe, Bologna. October, 2007.
The Italian performer Cherry Bloom, has a heated discussion with her assistant Dandy Wally before entering the scene, backstage at the Micca Club, Rome. May, 2009.
The Italian performer Cherry Bloom, backstage at the Micca Club, Rome. May, 2009.
One of the SickGirls, a group of neo-burlesque girls, during the show at the Rock Circus Cafe, Bologna. October, 2007.
Backstage at the Micca Club, Rome. April, 2009.
Burlesque performer Beepy Rose, from U.K., waiting for her exhibition. Rome. June, 2010.
Portrait of burlesque performer Dorothy Shaw, backstage at Apollo Dancing in Milan. March, 2009.
Trixie Malicious, from Canada, during makeup, backstage at the Rome Burlesque Festival. Rome. May, 2009.
Backstage at Micca Club. Rome. May, 2009.
Luki Luck and Anita Win, Femme Ferale burlesque performers, from the U.K., are seen before entering the stage at the Rome Burlesque Festival. Rome. May, 2009.
Backstage at Apollo Dancing in Milan. March, 2009.
The owner of Micca Club loves to dress up during the burlesque soiree, Rome. February, 2009.
Back stage with Blanche Lenoir at Micca club. Rome, Italy, 2009.
A spectator at the Rome Burlesque Festival. Rome. February, 2009.
During the Rome Burlesque Festival. At its 5th edition hosted by the historical Micca Club in Rome, it has become one of the most popular events in Italy. Rome. May, 2009.
Burlesque dancer backstage at the Micca Club in Rome. May, 2009.
Trixie Malicious, from Canada, during a performance at the Rome Burlesque Festival. At its 5th edition hosted by the historical Micca Club in Rome, it has become one of the most popular events in Italy. May, 2009.
Burlesque performer Amber Topaz, from the U.K., is seen backstage, before entering the stage at the Rome Burlesque Festival. Rome. May, 2009.
Luki Luck and Anita Win, Femme Ferale burlesque performers, from the U.K., are seen before entering the stage at the Rome Burlesque Festival. At its 5th edition hosted by the historical Micca Club in Rome, it has become one of the most popular events in Italy. Rome. May, 2009.
Backstage at the “Circolo degli Artisti” in Rome. Rome. June, 2010.
During rehearsals before the show at Sonar. Colle val d’Elsa. October, 2007.
Girls of the group ‘SickGirls’ on break during rehearsal at The Rock Circus Cafe, Bologna. October, 2007.
Backstage at Apollo Dancing in Milan. March, 2009.
During the show at Apollo Dancing, a club in Milan where the burlesque tradition is emerging once again. Milan. March, 2009.
Eve la Plume during her burlesque show at the theater La Fenice of senigallia. Senigallia, Italy, 2015. Summer jamboree is an international music festival focuses on the culture and music of the forties and fifties. It is considered one of the most important events of its genre in Europe. The event is held annually since 2000 – in the summer. The event involves all the most important city places: bars, clubs, beaches and the sea. Thousand of tourists annually invade these places intrigued by vintage cars, costumes and rock concerts of prestige.
Bio
Giovanni Cocco was born in Sulmona in 1973. His works are exposed in personal and group exhibitions and published on books and international magazines. In 1998, he started a long term project about the life of his sister Monia, disabled from birth, rewarded as runner up at the Emerging Photographer Grant of Burn Magazine – Magnum Foundation and reported from the jury of Roger Pic Prize of the Scam in Paris, which dedicated to this work an exhibition during the Mois de la Photo 2012. Moreover, with this project, he won PDN Award and received the Grant of the Reminder Photography Stronghold Gallery, rewarded by another exhibition in Tokyo. On the occasion of the show in Japan, he realized the relating book.
From 2007 to 2010 he completed Burladies, a portraits series about the women’s life of Burlesque world, with which he was selected for “Mentor” program with the international VII Agency, where he spended 2 years. The work has been published in several international magazines and joins a travelling exhibition throughout Europe, until to become a book in 2018
From 2010 to 2012, he worked on assignment for L’Espresso magazine for the “Moving Walls” project, with the journalist Fabrizio Gatti – research about the migrants condition along Europe borders in Greece, Italy and Morocco. From 2013 he is working with the Italian writer Caterina Serra on the projects “Displacement – new town no town” and “A che ora chiude Venezia”, an analysis and an investigation between photography and writing about the transformation and homologation of historic Italian cities.
Awhile back I spent some time with some Neo-Burlesque artists. What I found fascinating was their feelings about the male gaze. I had ignorantly assumed that they viewed their audience as a bunch of creeps, as is the case with most regular strippers, but that wasn’t at all how they looked at it. Taking off their clothes in front of an audience was not something they chose; it was just the way they were born. And they genuinely appreciated the audience appreciating their bodies, and their art. The top burlesque performers like Jo Weldon, Bunny Love, Bambi the Mermaid, Julie Muz, et. al. are genuinely great artists.
That’s the challenge of photographing Neo Burlesque. How to transcend being just a member of the audience and communicate something of who they really are and how that relates to their art? Without that, the photos can only hope to be as good as the performance being photographed.
I love this. Great work, Giovanni!!!
Awhile back I spent some time with some Neo-Burlesque artists. What I found fascinating was their feelings about the male gaze. I had ignorantly assumed that they viewed their audience as a bunch of creeps, as is the case with most regular strippers, but that wasn’t at all how they looked at it. Taking off their clothes in front of an audience was not something they chose; it was just the way they were born. And they genuinely appreciated the audience appreciating their bodies, and their art. The top burlesque performers like Jo Weldon, Bunny Love, Bambi the Mermaid, Julie Muz, et. al. are genuinely great artists.
That’s the challenge of photographing Neo Burlesque. How to transcend being just a member of the audience and communicate something of who they really are and how that relates to their art? Without that, the photos can only hope to be as good as the performance being photographed.