By Robert Brune
ARKVILLE — Neil of Fortune and Fifi Dupree presented their second burlesque show of the year at Union Grove Distillery in grand fashion, with plenty of flair, humor, and sparkle. The “Kittens in the Catskills” event packed the house, delivering a night that was equal parts comedy, satire, and celebration of performance art.
The sold-out crowd responded with cheers and laughter as performers took the stage in a dazzling lineup of costumes, choreography, and classic burlesque timing. Each act built on the next, drawing from the long tradition of burlesque’s blend of sensuality, wit, and theatrical showmanship.
Burlesque has deep roots reaching back to 19th-century England, where it began as parody theatre mocking the seriousness of opera and ballet. By the early 20th century, American performers such as the Minsky brothers transformed it into a uniquely American art form one that mixed glamour, striptease, and satire to powerful effect. Neil of Fortune and Fifi Depree’s show nodded to that legacy while keeping things fresh and Catskills-local, with a wink and a laugh at every turn.
As the night came to a close, one couldn’t help but feel that this small-town spectacle carried the same pulse that once lit up stages in New York City and beyond. For a few glittering hours, the Union Grove Distillery became part of that storied tradition where art, humor, and self-expression collide under the warm glow of stage lights.
“Backstage Burlesque” by Sofia Flash
(for the legends, the lights, and the lens)
Backstage, the air hums with sequins and secrets.
A slow curl of hairspray drifts like memory,
the scent of powder and passion mingling
with the faint echo of applause from another lifetime.
A performer adjusts her garter
a small act of rebellion,
an art older than shame.
Every mirror here holds a thousand reflections:
Candy Carmelo’s feathered fans whispering,
Dixie Evans’ laugh glittering down the corridor,
Tempest Storm’s presence — eternal, electric, divine.
You can feel them
the ghosts of glamour and grit
woven into every rhinestone, every costume seam.
Women who carved freedom from desire,
who built cathedrals out of spotlight and skin.
In these photographs,
you see more than bodies;
you see the ritual of becoming.
A fan opens like a prayer.
A corset laces like a secret kept too long.
A woman exhales and becomes infinite.
The click of a camera captures what time cannot erase
the sacred in the sensual,
the courage in the curve,
the strength in the softness.
Because Burlesque was never just about taking something off.
It was about showing what remains.
It was survival draped in satin,
defiance painted in red lips,
a language of resilience spoken through glitter and grace.
Now, in the glow of the museum lights,
the past and present breathe together
the legends and the living,
the muses and the mirrors.
And somewhere, between flash and shadow,
art becomes truth again.
(Suggestion for all the snowbirds flocking south)
Sofia Flash is a photographer and writer from Ft Pierce Florida. She will be presenting her burlesque photography the World Erotic Art Museum (WEAM) in Miami, FL starting Dec 1. Follow her on Instagram @sofiaflashphoto.
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