Fortune presents gifts not according to the book
When you expect whistles it’s flutes
When you expect flutes it’s whistles

‘Letrillas’ (1581) by the priest Luis de Gongora.

Thanks to the folk at Absinthesalon, we were supplied with a bottle of Nemesinthe, an absinthe produced by Liqueurs de France and distilled at the Timbermill Distillery in South West London.

As the product promotional speil goes, Nemesinthe Absinthe takes its inspiration from the ancient Greek Nemesis, although known as the Goddess of Vengeance and Retribution, Nemesis was also a distributor of fortune, in due proportion to each according to their deserts.

Well, my lotto numbers clearly did not come up tonight. And I obviously did something worthy of retribution to be presented with such disappointment.

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While enjoying the afternoon at the Absinthesalon, I had the opportunity to partake in a sneaky glass of absinthe, and chose to indulge in the Jade PF 1901 – yet another creation of the master, Ted Breaux.

PF1901 is a tribute absinthe to perhaps the most famous of absinthe’s, Pernod Fils, with the date reflective of the year that the famous Pontarlier absinthe distillery caught fire and was destroyed.

from the Melbourne “Argus”, 15 August 1901

This verte absinthe comes in at 68% alc/vol, in an attractive amber bottle with a ornate label highlighted in gold leaf.  The liquid was clear and intense in a convincing natural peridot colour, leaning more towards the olive yellow end of the spectrum.

My first long inhale was something of a surprise – to be honest I did not get the usual herbaceous hit of many absinthes, rather this absinthe had some similarities to a fine Pinot Noir.  It was an integrated perfumed nose, touches of violet and other sweet floral notes. It actually initiated discussion about the use of wine as a spirit base and to what degree this can influence the taste of an absinthe. The other surprise was I could smell a certain pleasant minerality that usually I only taste and generally seek out as one of my benchmarks for quality.

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It must be said that the location of Sydney’s Absinthesalon, halfway along a steep hilly Albion Street, is well placed – given that the natural effects of gravity can only but assist the imbiber down the hill towards Central train station and other responsible forms of public transport. Let this be ample encouragement to leave the car at home dear absintheur, and enjoy the full experience.

Bad timing, pregnancy and the global financial crisis have all plotted against me in my efforts to be able to fly into Sydney to get along to the new Absinthesalon premises before now, but now I am here outside the dark grey toned establishment.  You may sometimes read this in other reviews of the Salon, but I can myself verify that as you linger outside the door you may detect the tell tale aromatic signature of aniseed in the air.

Proprietors Joop van Heusden and Gaye Valttila are most welcoming and usher me inside into the front room of the salon – exposed rustic brickwork, displays of the extensive range of quality absinthe products and water fountains, a giant antique cash register adorning a counter serve as a prelude to the inner sanctum behind the draped curtain adorned doorway.

Behind the curtain is a most intimate and inviting environment that captures the feeling of a proper absinthe salon. Now, don’t get me wrong, Belle Époque in Brisbane is an excellent representation of retro-French dining, all gold leaf edging and fleur-de-ly’s, but Gaye and Joop have utilised the limited space typical of a period Surry Hills terrace to manifest a very different type of neo-Gallic experience.  The interior is illuminated with a ‘petite’ version of wrought iron street lamp posts, tasteful minimalism to the interior decoration, round mirrors and sparing use of stylistic wallpaper. The far wall is adorned with a graceful mural of La Fée Verte, the Green Fairy herself, a fine rendition of one of the most famous representations of her from the original heyday.

With room for at most 30-odd patrons, all seating is set around a pleasingly non-crowded arrangement of small café tables adorned with 4 tap water fountains for the absinthe ritual. And let’s be clear, the experience and discussion of absinthe is not unlike that of wine, it should be shared amongst convivial company. The spacial design suitably encourages this.

Friday and Saturday nights are generally booked out in advance so don’t be surprised if you rock up on a whim and unable to satisfy your curiosity.  Another aspect to be aware of is that there is a three drink limit per person. Some may find this as profoundly odd that a drinking establishment would be seeking to limit their own sales, but as any absintheur worth their salt will tell you, the consumption of each glass of absinthe should be prolonged, savoured, and well considered. When approached in this fashion most will be satisfied after two glasses, some even after one.

So as Joop himself may tell you, “Slow Down!”.
(I know this is counter-intuitive to most Sydney-siders, but advice well worth heeding. Hey, you got a booking, stay around and enjoy the ambience for a while.)

Also, don’t be surprised if your hosts take on the role of Sommelier, and in fact steer you away from initially diving head-first into the high-proof absinthe brands. They are there to help you enjoy the absinthe experience as much as possible, and as such they will guide you through appropriate entry level absinthes until you have a better appreciation for the flavours, the nuances and styles. There are many absinthes to try in a range of price brackets (from around $12 a glass upwards), many styles and regions to explore.

You’ll just have to keep coming back won’t you?

I know I will.

Stay tuned for review of Jade PF 1901 absinthe conducted in situ

We have just updated our comprehensive listing of Australian Burlesque performers in our directory listing, with website, facebook pages or myspace listings to this bevvy of beauties.

Get to know these names and faces, because pretty soon will be the inaugural Australian Burlesque Festival - to be held in Melbourne June 3-6, and in Sydney June 11-12, where many of these names will be gracing the stage showing that Australian burlesque is just as innovative and stylish as what may be occuring elsewhere around the globe.

Are you a burlesque performer that we have somehow overlooked? -  then drop us a line and let us know about you, we would be happy to add you to the directory listing on our blog.

And while we are talking blogs, pop on over and bookmark the fine folk at Aussie Burlesque - a new Australian blog focussing on the movement down under run by burlesque belles, Samantha Bell and Lola The Vamp, with critique and commentary from those who know it from the inside.

The depiction of the absinthe imbiber as a figure of satire and ridicule is increasingly apparent in period newspapers and publication of the late 1800’s to early 1900’s, riding shotgun to more formal prohibitionist sentimentality.

A curious piece reproduced in the New Zealand Taranaki Herald (Volume XLVIII, Issue 11755, 23 February 1900) effectively borrows a Boer War propaganda poem & song by Rudyard Kipling of 1899 ‘The Absent Minded Beggar’, making social commentary on the then state of Anglo-French relations by changing it to ‘The Absinthe Minded Beggar’.

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Burlesque Beauties, by Kitty Kemble’s Mirror Mirror Company, at La Boheme has made something of point of difference in Americana inspiration, whereas many a burlesque and cabaret troupe give a good nod to the stylistic themes of Vegas, this performance took more cues from New York.

Chair routines, and somewhat tame but aerobic Feather fan performances to the likes of All That Jazz, show where a good dose of the aesthetic was pitched.  There were some very good traditional French style tease routines and acrobatics amongst the dancing, the latter quite commendable given the restricted stage area.

The Broadway nod continued with a rendition of New York New York by a shirtless, buff and highly capable male cabaret singer, Jesse James, with him really hitting his strides and owning the performance space by the second number, a soulfully delivered Cry Me A River.

Singer, Madison K, is a stunning performer who really impressed me with a particularly striking cabaret number involving murder and comedy – singing while manipulating a corpse on stage is no mean feat.

The laughs were maintained through some other well delivered cabaret favourites by other performers,  Whatever happened to class? and a witty fashion advice number with an unsuspecting audience member ending up as a Corey Worthington clone.

Again we have hit that interesting question of continuums between other forms of dancing, Show Girl routines and Burlesque.  Maybe one of the things I like about burlesque is that it is often a celebration of ‘beautiful imperfection’. The character portrayal, physicality and the delivery of routines have a certain realistic quality that are within the grasp of any woman (or man).

As a result, when I am presented with burlesque performed by athletically buff and stunning performers, delivered with a certain military precision, sculptured perfection and style of choreography I would normally associate with other exotic dance forms, it does give me moment to pause.

Maybe I feel we weren’t quite teased enough…that the bridge between performer and audience had not quite been traversed.

Did you know the domestic adoption and use of the vibrator preceded the home vacuum cleaner by nine years?

Neither did I?

And that once upon a time medically administered manual masturbation by your local doctor was the standard treatment for women suffering genital congestion and hysteria and that it was not regarded as anything to do with sex?

But could you claim it on Medicare?

All these tit bits, and historical pink bits, are contained in cabaret song and delicious silliness in this production by Isabel Hertaeg on “the little death”, La Petit Mort – The Orgasm.

Accompanied by her talented pianist, Geoff “Magic Fingers” Urquhart, this sexy siren, a metaphorical and literal Lady in Red, gets us into the mood with a good dose of Luciferian lavisciousness as she serenades the Devil’s horn.

Alternating between story and song she takes us from period Germanic art song dripping frank Freudian connotations to lesbian laments for labia left behind.  If I could critique one thing, it would be that the strength and delivery of her dialogue maybe didn’t carry the gravitas or conviction of her singing, less vamp, more vixen.

La Petit Mort has two more shows, 11 & 12 March at the Promethean Theatre.  Grab a ticket, but not yourself, and see why this show received rave reviews at the Edinburgh and Melbourne Fringe Festivals.

On the related topic of vibrators, and the absinthian cultural mores of neo-Victorian Steam Punk, here is a website by a creative genius who has managed to bring the two together.

Dear fellow supporters of free expression,

I have had a review, a less than complementary one at that, sitting in the draft file for a while now, not quite sure when to post it. Circumstances seem to have emerged such that it seems timely to make a comment about a certain establishment in Adelaide owned by the Booze Brothers chain, known as The Boho Bar.

Located on Unley Road, a hop skip and stagger away from Adelaide city, The Boho Bar describes itself thus on its website

“Indulge your sense in true bohemian spirit. Boho incorporates the nostalgic elements of the circus, the old burlesque sideshows and classic, bohemian cabaret theatres - and mixes them with a sleek, modern service and a kaleidoscope of sounds, light and movement. Its menu is bursting with colour & flavour with a fantastic selection of tapas style dishes and platters. Lavish, cheeky, sinister and enticing…”

I attribute the Adelaide Fringe for the rise in local Boho Chic, which in itself is not a bad thing, but when a venue seeks to make this its raison d’etre, well – I expect a certain standard to be achieved.

I’ll say it up front, The Boho Bar is to the French Parisian Café and Burlesque Hall what PJ O’Briens is to Irish Pubs. It’s a plastic paddy pub in a beret. Instead of fiddles, road signs pointing to Dublin and hurling sticks, its repro-french furniture, bad stage sets and cabinets with early 20th century entertainment flotsam and jetsam. Strip back the superficial fleur-de-lys patina and you would have a standard steel framed, television lined sports bar.

Yes, they serve absinthe, or rather ‘absinth’ – of the most atrocious and overpriced kind.  More to the point they seem happy to charge an extra $5 on each cocktail for using “King of Spirits Absinth” which isn’t fit to disinfect my toilet basin, and nary a true absintheur would disagree (i.e. so bad we find it hard to justify purchasing a bottle to review). And they burn their absinthe for heaven’s sake, showing their schtick for cheap theatrics extends to the bar.

Now, the downward spiral has continued, with this establishment being reported in the Adelaide Advertiser as now implementing a “No Drag” policy.  Sorry, come again?  A bar that supposedly embraces the “true bohemian spirit”  is bothered by cross dressers?

The paper reports that Male-to-female transgender retail worker Susan was refused entry to The Boho Bar while out with three non-cross-dressing friends.  When she contacted Booze Brothers co-director Leon Saturno two days later seeking an explanation she was told there was a new policy that “no cross-dressers would be allowed anymore”.

Well, I think the more discerning Bohemian in Adelaide can probably find much more accommodating neo-Bohemian establishments in Adelaide that serve much better absinthe anyway - but it shits me that an establishment riding on the coattails of an attitude and aesthetic, that by its very nature embraces and promotes individuality and difference, may allegedly be implementing a policy of discrimination.

Might I suggest that all within the Burlesque arts and Bohemian culture think about reposting the Adelaide Advertiser article on their blogs and websites. Perhaps this will let Mr Saturno know exactly what the community thinks about his policy.

Methinks maybe it is time to relegate Boho alongside the likes of other theme restaurants like the Medieval Dirty Dicks ?

What is burlesque? What is neo-burlesque? Where do allied performing arts interface and intersect with either, or both?.

Circus. Cabaret. Vaudeville. Show Girl/Boy. Dance. Physical Theatre.

Why am I asking?

A Deli Burlesque has thrown up some challenges to me – about what I expected to see, versus what I saw.  Performers Emmaline Macartney and Gemma Falk presented a series of vignettes that straddled a number of genres, some sitting within traditional territory, others less so. They themselves describe it as a show of cross-pollination. And it is only natural, both are devotees and proficient in no small number of disciplines. As the late Robert A Heinlein wrote “Specialisation is for insects”.

Just to cover a selection of the performances

“Babes on Bikes” was a Newton-Johnesque routine on exercise bikes that exuded 80’s jazzercise glam, but at the same time was a little open ended as to the intended narrative.

“Bride” was a solo piece by Gemma Falk that mixed mime and dance in a story arc of the descent into deadening domesticity often hidden beneath the happy billows of the wedding gown.

“The Underwater Hula-Rena” was a standout hoop routine by Emmaline Macartney that made this prop an aquatic metaphor to great effect.

There was more than a cursory nod to the traditional arts, with an elegant and sensual “Lady Bird Fan Dance” by Ms Falk, that was a dancing wildlife documentary complete with David Attenborough commentary.

Emmaline’s most striking physical theatre piece, albeit minimalist, also invoked something of the sensuality of burlesque. Titled “MADE (Pandora is…)” , like a forest dryad she emerged from the foliage and sprouted into a natural bloom, counterbalanced by the eventual decay and decomposition, a return to the metaphorical humus. It was quite a powerful performance, and again seemed to achieve their lofty aims of developing a neo-burlesque style that draws from very different performance traditions.

Because what they are doing is so new, I think there may be some expecting more traditional fare who might react negatively to what was performed. But I think you need to let it incubate a bit, question your own preconceptions and biases, and question whether burlesque is really a museum exhibit or a tradition under active evolution.

Remaining performances are sold out but keep these two on your memory list - I suspect there will be further Dawinian transformation in Fringe Festivals to come.