This Saturday night in Santa Monica, The Burlesque Gala presents an evening of celebrating the venerable art of Burlesque. An annual event held at the Illusion Magic Lounge. You’ve seen the movie, now see a show featuring dozens of artists performing that thing called Burlesque.
Burlesque began in 18th-century Europe as theatrical parody, using comedy, music, and exaggeration to mock high art and society. In the mid-1800s, Victorian burlesque in London blended satire with song-and-dance performances and suggestive costuming. When it migrated to the United States in the late 19th century, burlesque evolved into a variety-show format featuring comedians, chorus girls, and musical acts. By the 1920s–30s, striptease became central, creating the “Golden Age” led by performers like Gypsy Rose Lee and Sally Rand. After a decline in the mid-20th century due to censorship and competition from film and television, burlesque experienced a major revival in the 1990s, reemerging as “neo-burlesque,” an artistic, empowering, and often retro-infused performance style that thrives today.
One of the featured performers in Yasmine Vine.
Yasmine Vine was born in Tehran and moved to America at age three, where she quickly absorbed American pop culture. At ten, her family had to return to Iran. Life shifted from color to black and white. She was required to wear a veil, and the things she loved like dancing and singing were illegal for women. She soon found an underground dance school run by a former ballerina from the Shah era. Classes took place in a basement because any form of dance or self-expression could be punished. She excelled, and at eleven she also discovered a gift for songwriting. Lyrics and melodies came to her in dreams, and she would wake to write them down before falling back asleep. After high school, her dream of returning to America came true. She moved to Los Angeles on her own, earned a degree in dance, and studied at Musicians Institute, where she learned to turn her early scribbles into real music. Creating songs felt magical to her, a direct pull from imagination to sound. Growing up under strict rules meant she had to shed layers of inhibition to perform freely. Burlesque became the answer. After a year of training, she debuted as a Hollywood burlesque dancer, performing to her own songs. The work opened doors to acting roles and a pin-up modeling career. Once she met her goals in burlesque, she returned to her true passion: music. Yasmine now creates and performs regularly in Hollywood and around the world. She performed at Vancouver Pride last year and was a regular headliner at major Hollywood venues before the pandemic. Her latest release, Social Distance, has received strong support.
Yasmine will be performing along with a host of other Burlesque performers starting at 6:00 and going into the night to Midnight.
For more information and tickets: http://www.burlesquegala.com/
Illusion Magic Lounge | 1418 4th Street Santa Monica
