Does sexy dancing ever go out of style?
Burlesque, an art form that never seems to die, will be explored in the last week of June when a group of volunteers puts on a show called “American the Beautiful: A Modern Burlesque Performance,” at the Strand Theater.
The event, tickets for which will be $30 including an open bar and cocktail hour, will benefit the Strand. It is the first full-scale benefit show to be put on at the old theater in the 12 years or so that it has been operated by the Seymour Culture and Arts Commission.
The commission rents the theater from its owner, the Knights of Columbus.
Twenty local women showed up in leotards Thursday night to audition for the show.
“The first thing I want you to know is, you all passed the audition,” said Meghan Tarby, the producer of the show, who has no experience in burlesque but got inspired by the movie, “Burlesque,” which has been playing at the Strand in its second run.
Tarby owns the Mad Hatter Boutique, just around the corner downtown, so she has a vested interest in Seymour and the downtown district in particular.
So does Aimee Ckatzcasini, owner of Aimee’s Academy of Dance, down the street, one of the show’s sponsors.
“It could help business,” Ckatzcasini said, before leading the women in dance routine to help prepare them for their work.
The fundraiser is expected to raise as much as $15,000 for the theater, according to Tarby.
The volunteer performers will raise funds for their own costumes by seeking sponsorships, the way people do in walk-a-thons.
All proceeds will go to the theater’s renovation fund, to pay for a marquee, seating, carpets, lights and lavatories, said Judy Simpson, chairwoman of the Seymour Culture and Arts Commission.
Simpson sat in the back row and watched the auditions, which included a stirring dance routine set to Nancy Sinatra’s 1966 hit, “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.”
“It will be a nice night, almost like a black tie for us,” she said.
The theater will also benefit from a Feb. 28 fundraising pizza, beer and wine tasting party at Zoie’s Pizza Palace downtown, she said.
All the activity downtown, with the excitement of a live show, will boost business for the little shops and boutiques around the theater, said Bob Pieper III, owner of GuitarFixer Bob LLC, next door to the theater.
“It will absolutely bring business downtown,” said Pieper, who had just finished showing some guitars to one of the women auditioning. “A cabaret will be great.”
And of course he’ll be there to see the show.
“Do I like burlesque dancing? Oh yeah,” he said with a laugh.
For the dancers, it is a chance to do something a little different.
Alicia Feller of Derby said she is a social worker.
“I’m interested in anything that’s kind of sensual and empowering to women,” Feller said, explaining that “one thing women struggle with in society today is accepting their bodies. There is pressure from the media to have perfect this or perfect this. We are beautiful just the way we are.”
Performer Alaina Vasmatis works down the road at the TD Bank on Route 67. She will not only dance, but flex her vocal chords in the show.
She said she normally sings in church choirs, and once sang in a high school choir for President Bill Clinton at the White House.
“I’m going to be singing ‘Summertime,’ from ‘Porgy and Bess,’” she said.
The show is set for the last weekend in June, with shows 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 5 p.m. on Sunday.
For more information, please call Meghan Tarby at the Mad Hatter Boutique at 203 – 400-4625.
