"How To Be A Showgirl in a Muslim Country"
I have been wanting to share the story of our adventure of bringing our performance troupe to Borneo since we've been back and am just now getting the opportunity to sit down and write it out, so if you have a minute to read, I hope you will enjoy it!
So CHINATOWN was invited out to Malaysia, on the North West side of the 3rd largest island in the world of Borneo to perform at the opening of the five star hotel 'The Pullman!' Although we graciously accepted this invitation with enthusiasm and tanning lotion in hand, there were several points during which the four of us CHINATOWN producers looked at each other wide-eyed wondering if there had been a mix up, as we specialize in Cabaret, Vaudeville, and Burlesque style entertainment and Malaysia is of course a Muslim country!
I was given several guidelines to prepare our show for this performance adventure. 1) No Skin- No legs, thighs, mid-drifts, breasts, shoulders, bottoms, etc. 2) No Contours of the body and 3)No implied stripping or nudity. Most of our acts and costumes for our troupe of 6 showgirls are actually based on the exact opposite philosophy, so this was a considerable challenge! I bought long underwear in several colors, tons and tons of feathers, made giant necklaces to hide any cleavage behind, shoulder pieces, stockings, sparkling tube tops, etc. The result was we were covered (Though at our dress rehearsal for their Cultural Department they asked us to add even more feathers to all the chest areas to be sure of no accidental 'Contours'!), but the aesthetic was somewhere between Ostrich and our great great grandmother's showgirls. In fact, I'm pretty sure some of the showgirls took this opportunity to send some photos home to their grandmothers and anyone else who has been skeptical about what they have been getting up to China!
We were in Kuching ('City of Cats'), the capital of Sarawack. We pulled off a 2 hour show that heavily relied on singers and production numbers. A number I was surprised got past the censors, and actually turned out to be everyone's favorite act of the night was the one where we do 'Synchronized Swimming' behind 'Waves of Water' while our singer, Frank Bray, sings 'Beyond the Sea'. We were told to keep the towels on the whole time, and we made our best effort to, but this wasn't always an easy task and I had to send several girls 'drowning' into the sea to readjust things multiple times. (Maybe this is why it was such a favorite!)
The Chief Minister of Sarawack, the 74 year old man by the name of Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib bin Mahmud was our special guest. He was meant to stay for twenty minutes, but to everyone's shock he stayed for the entire show, which we've been told is the highest of compliments! The show was for 1000 people, about half were Muslim, a fourth Chinese, and a fourth Christian Malays. It is safe to say that about half of the people there did not look up from their plates, barely ate, and didn't talk to each other. Out of the rest some people did not like us, but a surprising amount of Malay women, Chinese woman, brave men, and people living their as expats thought we were the best thing since sliced bread, and lined up to have their pictures taken with us after the show.
The show felt to us like a bit of a marathon. We usually stick to a very well thought out show plan that goes between group acts, songs, and solo acts allowing plenty of time for costume changes, etc., but in this case we had very little solo acts and tons of extra costume bits ("Feathers! You need more Feathers!"), causing us to sweat profusely and scramble into places. We were told by the client that we were a huge success, that the fact that half the people looked up from their plates meant we had achieved something, and that some people clapped at the end of numbers- even better! It was one of the strangest shows I have ever done- Burlesque in Borneo- I shall never forget it!
The most rewarding moment for me was afterwards we were packing up and the staff were just getting off work, and they were fussing over us like we were the Beatles! Everyone wanted pictures, autographs even! (I guess when a country rejects Beyonce we look like the next best thing!) It was really sweet. One boy asked me to give him a kiss on the cheek and they went nuts! I ended up giving many kisses on the cheek and left feeling like I had honestly made a few people's days (But I have to admit... they really made mine!).
What followed was Norman and I taking a week on the beach at a resort we had to ourselves in the middle of the closest thing I have ever witnessed to paradise. To the left there was clear, beautiful ocean, to the right, miles and miles of mountainous rain forest. We took some much needed rest and personal attention and felt like two of the luckiest people in the whole world! Words can't describe, but if you get a chance to see the photos you will see what I mean!
Since we have come back we have been right back in the thick of it. We are dealing with the Shanghai Expo starting in a little over a week, which has meant constant surprise visits and exciting new rules from the police and Cultural department. We are expanding to include a lot more Chinese language into our shows and suspect we will be a bit more geared to tourists on Wednesdays and Thursdays, leaving us to please ourselves over the weekends. We have been working so hard and very much appreciate all he support we have received from family and friends all over the world. We very much encourage you all to come and pay us a visit! It is an extraordinary time we are living in at the moment and watching Shanghai develop is a good example of the world changing rapidly. Also, it is looking more and more likely that they will float the RMB against the dollar in the next few weeks, which will mean a big value increase for anyone with money invested in this country! (Yea!)
I'd like to encourage you to view our Borneo photos at the address below,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ameliakallman/
No comments:
Post a Comment