Salome Cabaret - Pure Imagination

I have attempted to move away from verbiage indicating that something is "the best" or "my favorite," because I have lived long enough to know that perspectives can change, tastes can evolve, and it's weird to compare one piece of performance art against another piece of performance art, even though we do it all the time.

But internal edicts are made to be broken, so I'll state that this act by Knoxville, Tennessee's Salome Cabaret burlesque troupe is MY FAVORITE BURLESQUE GROUP ACT.  I've seen it in different venues in different states with different combinations of performers, sometimes in its original incarnation with only four dancers, sometimes with an expanded roster of eight. Most everyone in the troupe has learned at least part of Pure Imagination's choreography at some point and have at the very least rehearsed it extensively. They could probably run one with sixteen or twenty people if they could find a stage big enough to hold it.

Why do I enjoy it so much, besides the fact that I get to see several of my hometown friends performing a great and innovative act?  I'll tell you why: Pure Imagination manages to conjure a blissful, dreamlike state in waking hours, and that hazy altered consciousness without the use of chemicals is special state of mind that few other acts I've seen have even come close to evoking. It's languorous, it's sensual, it's innocent and naughty all at once, and it's absolutely perfect to me.

 


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