Lola the Vamp, also known as Lola Montgomery and Meghann Montgomery, is an Australian scholar and performance artist who is part of the neo-burlesque movement.[1] Her PhD research at Griffith University included her burlesque performance, and she is a senior lecturer at the SAE Creative Media Institute in Brisbane.[2]
Lola the Vamp | |
|---|---|
 Lola the Vamp performing at Miss Exotic World 2006 | |
| Other names |
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| Occupation | Senior lecturer |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Griffith University |
| Thesis | A Burlesque (2013) |
| Website | www |
Early life and education
editAs a dancer, Montgomery trained in ballet and modern dance.[3] She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Creative Arts, with majors in Theatre and Visual Art at Griffith University.[2]
Her academic work includes presentations at Tease-o-rama conferences in 2003 and 2005, at Australian National University as part of the Canberra Fringe Festival in 2009, and The Beyond Burlesque Symposium at the La Trobe University Australian Centre for the Moving Image in 2010.[2] In 2012, she presented at the annual Australian Women's and Gender Studies conference at University of New South Wales.[2]
She incorporated burlesque performance as part of her research for her PhD[4][5][6] in Creative and Performing Arts at Griffith University.[2] Her thesis, published in April 2013, is titled "A Burlesque."[7][8]
Career
editMontgomery began developing her burlesque performance in 2002.[4] Her neo-burlesque performance is influenced by the early era of the Moulin Rouge, as well as Loie Fuller and Josephine Baker.[9]: 145–146 She incorporates various props and costumes into what she has described as a "performance of the fetish."[9]: 145
She began her career in 2002 at Tease-o-rama in San Francisco, where she auditioned for a panel that included Dita Von Teese.[6] Her performances have included Go Go Burlesco in Sydney,[10][11] the Woodford Folk Festival,[12] the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and a tour of the east coast of Australia.[13][14] She began performing at the Australian Burlesque Festival in 2010,[15] and was a headline act in 2013.[16] She performed at Tease-o-rama in 2005,[17] and was a headliner in 2008 with Cirque Du Soleil, Catherine D'lish, Dirty Martini and Kitten on the Keys.[2][18] She also performed in Vamp & Burn at the Wonderland Spiegeltent with Desert Blues Cartel.[8][2]
A 2008 review in The Age of her performance at Melbourne's Butterfly Club highlighted her "sophisticated props such as Venetian masks and duelling parasols" and described her as displaying a "highly developed aesthetic and a sly wit."[19] A 2013 review in The Examiner described her headpiece as a "bejewelled shroud of feathers" with a "matching showy neckpiece," stating she "seems to be the embodiment of traditional burlesque" and "Her face and personality, and how she uses them, are all just as important as the magnificent costumes."[20]
In 2010, she operated Dr Sketchy's Anti-Art School in Brisbane, a franchise owned by illustrator Molly Crabapple.[12]
References
edit- ^
- Baldwin, Michelle (2004). Burlesque: and the new bump-n-grind. Denver: Speck Press. p. 120. ISBN 9780972577625.
- Ferreday, Debra (1 May 2007). "Adapting Femininities: The New Burlesque". M/C Journal. 10 (2). doi:10.5204/mcj.2645. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
- Millner, Jacqueline; Moore, Catriona (2 January 2015). "'Performing Oneself Badly?' Neo-Burlesque and Contemporary Feminist Performance Art". Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art. 15 (1): 20–36. doi:10.1080/14434318.2015.1042625. S2CID 191313406.
- ^ a b c d e f g "SAE lecturer Dr Lola Montgomery". SAE Australia. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
- ^ Stephens, Elizabeth (3 August 2011). "Chaotic cabaret". The Australian. ProQuest 880377181
- ^ a b Macfarlane, Duncan (27 June 2003). "Dancer plays up to her fans". The Australian. p. 5. ProQuest 357732728
- ^ "Student Gains Her PhD... By Performing A Striptease". HuffPost UK. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
- ^ a b "Performing Burlesque For Your PhD: Why Would You Do It?". This Is Cabaret. 4 August 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
- ^ Montgomery, Meghann Yavanna (2013). "A Burlesque" (PDF). Griffith Research Online. doi:10.25904/1912/76. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ a b Dezfouli, Liza. "Vamp And Burn: New Orleans Burlesque". Beat Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
- ^ a b Willson, Jacki (6 November 2007). The Happy Stripper: Pleasures and Politics of the New Burlesque. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9780857736420.
- ^ Bodey, Michael (11 March 2005). "It's risque business". The Daily Telegraph. ProQuest 359302463
- ^ Hutchinson, Jane (7 August 2005). "She was a Showgirl". Sunday Herald Sun Magazine (Sydney, Australia). p. 20.
- ^ a b Hoffman, Bill (11 December 2010). "Leave reality behind and embrace festival world: The Woodford Folk Festival has evolved into a successful event that just gets better". Daily Mercury. ProQuest 816818199
- ^ Johnston, Marnie (9 December 2013). "Dancer brings glamour to Kyogle stage: Revealed: Burlesque performer is serious about her act". The Northern Star. ProQuest 1465743531
- ^ "A tease sensation". Star Observer. 20 April 2008. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
- ^ Stevens, Annie (2 June 2010). "Game to make a few feathers fly". The Age [Melbourne, Vic]. p. 19. ProQuest 356739039
- ^ Kane, Young (6 June 2013). "Global burlesque stars shine". The Mercury. ProQuest 1364877890
- ^ Pullen, Suzanne (18 September 2005). "TEASE-O-RAMA". SFGate. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
- ^ Lola the Vamp (21 November 2019). "Burlesque Festivals: A History". 21st Century Burlesque Magazine. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
- ^ Bragge, Lily (19 July 2008). "Cabaret: the critical guide". The Age. ProQuest 364049151
- ^ Bird, Isabel (16 June 2013). "The beauty of burlesque". The Examiner. ProQuest 1367714001