Add Event My Events Log In

Upcoming Events

    We see you appreciate a good vintage. But there comes a time to try something new. Click here to head over to the redesigned Louisville.com. It's where you'll find all of our latest work. And plenty of the good ol' stuff, too, looking better than ever.

    Music

    Satire, Sex Appeal and Songs: Va Va Valentine
    Print this page

    You won't want to miss the sixth annual Va Va Valentine show if you're looking for something out of this world for Valentine's Day entertainment. "Va Va Valentine: A Faerie's Tail" is a spectacular night full of satire, sex appeal and songs. There are still two weekends left to catch the show at Headliner’s Music Hall. 

    The characters and troupe-made costumes were more elaborate than ever before and sparkling with plenty of glitter and lights. A British Mother Goose (Dita De' Ville) with a cockney accent and a pixie-stick-snorting sugar-coated Fairy Godmother (Fi Fi La Femme) duel throughout the show, pitting their "posses" against one another as they try to prove that their form of storytelling is the best. The Fairy Godmother is lit with lights from head to her twinkling toes, while Mother Goose was pretty in lots of pink, including a long pink braid of hair to whip around. Dita De'Ville usually hosts the shows with her many skills of song, humor and dance, but Fi Fi La Femme was a strong co-host bringing her own uninhibited humor to the stage.

    Fairy Godmother called on her menstruals (not misspelled - men with berets and what looked like "playing card" costumes featuring a glittery big red drop on each of them); Mother Goose called on her three little kittens (Brigitte Boudoir, Bella Muerte, and Ethel Lovelace), who were done up with beautiful airbrush paint jobs from FX artist Steve-O “The Phoenix” Shepherd. These impressive costumes appeared in just the first 15 minutes of the show. Other costumes that stood out include the Big Bad Wolf's leather jacket (with her name in glitter on the back), hilarious sparkling centaurs dressed to suggest swingers from the '70's and a huge tree (Mile High Maybelle on hand and leg stilts) walking around during a fairy aerial performance.

    If all of that doesn't sound impressive enough, perhaps the acts of breathtaking contortion and acro yoga by Madame Michon and Casa Supernova will interest you. The two are absolutely mesmerizing to watch playfully dance and bounce each other around into new positions of passion, grace and flexibility. Maybe you prefer things with an edge and will prefer the battle between Puss N' Boots (Kenya Kissme) and the other kittens as she twirls her swords.

    Another notable ongoing storyline featured scenes around Aladdin and his lamp. Casa Super nova "rubs his lamp" to bring forth Victoria D' Lite as the genie, but then along comes Lady Phoenix. Aladdin does his best to keep the genie and his new slave girl away from each other but fails as the show goes on. Lady Phoenix outsmarts him. After seducing him, she steals the lamp and woos the genie in an aerial act above the stage, giving her the lamp and her freedom. Lady Phoenix is aptly named. She continues to be a fireball of energy and joy on stage, showing off her physique of pure muscle as she break dances and twirls in the sky.

    This wonderful troupe of performers never ceases to amaze with the creative and genius ways they use dance, aerial performance and song to express the many facets of human sexuality and intimacy.  The evolution and development of the performers is one of the most surprising aspects about each show. Each of the performers seems to pick up new skills for each show, and I saw many new people up on the aerial apparatuses this time. There were new aerial apparatuses as well: a flying carpet and a spider web where Madame Michon gracefully moved from thread to thread. Electra Onyx also shared in many of the aerial scenes. She made a breathtaking Cinderella, and Venus Pearl made an adorable Tinkerbell. The entire troupe is just becoming incredibly polished and well rounded.

    "I think they become stronger, physically and creatively. Personal bonds grow. We are like a giant family and have been for years," said producer Lisa Frye. "I think most girls grow up secretly wanting to be a star, and this is my way of helping them do that."

    It was good to see Cooter Brown return and lend his strength to the acts, including the first "men only" group dance number that I remember. Cooter Brown, Super Casa Nova, Coop De' Ville and Yo Yo Parabens did a "hide behind the towel" routine, which quickly devolved into the most sacred of man rituals: a towel snapping fight.

     

    I didn't even notice that the show did not start off with the usual pre-show of music, until Dollface Molly took the stage to grace the audience with her amazing voice and her CandyLand-inspired outfit. Dita De' Ville later took the stage as a princess, bringing humor as she sang about kissing frogs. A hilarious quartet of frogs danced behind her, and Lola Licious became especially brave, puckering up and trying to kiss her. The musical aspect of the show also featured a new performer; Julius Teaser appeared twice to wow onlookers with her powerful vocals. 

    The faerie nature scene involving a whole group of faeries, a satyr, the walking tree, aerial horned moon goddess and aerial sun goddess was beautiful and breathtaking, but I have to the best pat of the show was the swingin' centaurs. Victoria D' Lite and Yo Yo Parabens come out as centaurs with people bent over behind them for their horse quarters. They are purple and sparkling and feeling good about themselves as they dance to "You Sexy Thing" by Hot Chocolate. Just when the roaring laughter at the ridiculous centaurs begins to die down a little, a green sparkling centaur with human torso, (horse head and horse rear) appears to get things "swinging". The audience exploded with laughter again, which did not stop until after they left the stage.

    If you want to enchant your date or just get lost in a magical world of mystery and fun for a night, this is the show to see this Valentine's Season. You won't even have to worry about having Valentine's Day rubbed in your face if you're single, since it's not Valentine's themed. There's a little something for everyone, and you'll leave impressed and a bit charmed. Remaining dates are February 13, 14 and February 20, 21. VIP tickets up front are sold out for all shows, but general admission tickets are available online or at door for $20. Your best bet is to buy them online ahead of time to avoid arriving to a sold out show.

     

     

    Photography: Header : The troupe poses for curtain call. Left: Mother Goose (Dita De' Ville) drinks from a pixie stick. Right: Electra Onyx hangs upside down from the aerial cube as Cinderella Bottom Left: Cooper De' Ville by Derek Hibben Photography.

    Bottom Right:  Victoria D' Lite as a centaur by Gary Quick Photography

    Jessica Lynn's picture

    About Jessica Lynn

    Jessica Lynn has been writing for Louisville.com since fall of 2010 and has also been published in LEO, Velocity, Voice-Tribune and others after serving as Editor in Chief of The JCC student newspaper, The Quadrangle. She has also served as columnist or contributing writer to an array of online publications.

    More from author:  

    Share On:

    Most Read Stories