In 2002 I contacted theThe Golden Days of Burlesque Historical Society and presented to them my idea of producing an exhibition of painted portraits of burlesque dancers. My sincere thanks go to Jane Briggeman and Dee Milo for their assistance in getting this project off the ground. This project has been reviewed by Bob Florence for the Saskatioon Star-Phoenix in an article entitled Girls! Girls! Girls!

Apart from the obvious beauty of the dancers I was fascinated by the colors, the gestures, the costumes and the ostrich feathers. Burlesque, as the name suggests, goes to comic extremes and therefore allows for the ultimate in creativity.

My intention is to create a series of paintings, each of which would resemble a burlesque poster. On each would appear a dancer's name and a biographical collage of images relating to her career. A written biography would accompany each painting. I have had a number of offers of exhibition space, however, nothing has been finalized.

The following portraits have now been completed and prints are available by contacting the artist at dacardiff@sympatico.ca:

Dee Milo, "Venus of Dance"
Sugar Bouche, "The Divine Barbarian"
Mary Taylor, "Ciara Love"
Shirley Jean Rickert, "Gilda and her Crowning Glory"
"Lava North"

These will be followed by paintings of "Kiva" also known as "Celeste" and "Angela, Queen of the Fandance", star of the famous 500 Club on Bourbon Street in New Orleans;

Candy Caramelo, "Candy Baby" who appeared on the "Roseanne Show", "The Tonight Show with David Letterman"; and at "Club Tropigala" in the Fontainebleau Hilton in Miami where she was billed as the "World's Biggest Showgirl";

"Mystique";

Cecilia Bravo, "The Blaze", founder of "The Fluffgirl Burlesque Society" and "Victory Burlesk";

"Lola the Vamp" from Brisbane, Australia;

from "The Lavender Cabaret", choreographer and star, Miss Michelle "Toots" Lamour, "The Hottest Thing Since the Chicago Fire"; 

From New York, "Miss Elyse", star of "Miss Elyse for Dessert";

"Ezi Rider", a top burlesque performer from the 1970's who toured Europe with a striptease and magic act; Anna Marie Fritz, "Satin Doll";

Angel "Ce Ce" Walker, "Satan's Angel...The Devil's Own Mistress" international burlesque performer, star of movies and plays, interviewed by Johnny Carson and featured in "Time" magazine;

"Marinka" who danced with Ann Corio's "Burlesque, The Way it Was";

Former "Miss Cuba", Gina Bon Bon, "The Love Potion Candy"; 

Tura Satana, "Miss Japan Beautiful" star of burlesque, movies, television and comic books, voted one of the 10 best undressed women of all time;

Little Miss Risk (aka Tristan Risk), the Canadian dynamo who has been everything from a film scream-queen siren to a cute retro pin-up cupcake. Quickly becoming a force of nature in the burlesque scene from her fetish/Goth roots in Vancouver B.C., she is a member of Canadian burlesque troupe Sweet Soul Burlesque as well as the current brains behind the tassels of Big John Bates' devil-may-care duo, the Voodoo Dollz.

For more "Painted Portraits of Burlesque Dancers" click [HOME] to start the tour or [NEXT] to read about Dee Milo, "Venus of Dance".