By David DeRocco

Kevin Bacon had to do a lot of dancing  to convince a small minded town it was okay to get footloose.   Jennifer McCready may have to deal with similar attitudes while organizing her event in Ridgeway, but she’s going to leave all the dancing to the professionals.

The event in question is “GET LUCKY: AN EVENING OF BURLESQUE!,” headed to the stage at The Sanctuary September 29^th.  Given the building’s former history as a church it won’t be the first time souls have been bared there. However, before the local morality squads start passing the petition, McCready wants to reassure everyone that the event is all about art and the empowerment of women.

“A lot of people are going to think it’s a strip show and it’s not,” said McCready, owner of Lady Luck Pin-Ups Photography Studio in Ridgeway who, along with The Revival Salon, The Sanctuary and The Ridgeway Vagina Warriors, is organizing the event. “The difference of being a strip show and this show is that this is a theatrical show. Yes they are getting down to their skivvies. But this is artistic, it’s theatrical, there’s dancing and choreography. It’s risqué but not raunchy. It’s tasteful and magical and beautiful.”

To ensure the quality of performance, McCready and partners have recruited five professional burlesque performers from Toronto, each of whom makes their living through the art. McCready was adamant that the performers reflect the vision of her Lady Luck studio, which invites women of all body shapes to celebrate their beauty in front of the camera.

“The reason I wanted to bring this to Ridgeway and be hosted by Lady Luck is because Lady Luck is a business that is focused on showing that all women of all sizes, of all colours and all ages are beautiful. Whether you have a typical model body or have some jiggly bits here and there. The majority of women do. By showing the world that we have five different girls coming, each a different shape and different colours that will appeal to different tastes, it’s going to be empowering.”

The burlesque performers on the bill – Ivory, Belle Jumelles, Coco Framboise, Dolly Berlin and Zyra Lee Vanity – will each be performing two different sets during the evening.  

 “They’re all top notch burlesque dancers,” said McCready. “They’re the real deal. They perform every weekend. They go hours and hours and hours planning out their performance and their costumes. It’s not just get up there and do a routine. They put on a mini-show, some come with props. It’s like a skit and a performance versus ‘here’s my naked body.’ It’s all about entertainment.”

 After the burlesque portion of the evening is over the dance floor opens up for a party with tunes from DJ S1Nc3R3. Organizers are asking everyone attending to bring a box of feminine hygiene products for donation to Women’s Place of South Niagara, which is in desperate need of supplies for clients. 

Tickets to “Get Lucky” are $20 advance/$25 at the door and can be purchased now. For more information visit https://www.thesanctuaryarts.org/.