ruby fuerza: me first and the shimmy shimmies: Fruit Hat and Rigamorticians

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Fruit Hat and Rigamorticians

October season presents a challenge: I love dress-up and costumery but sometimes it is hard to whip up a proper outfit for a Halloween party when every day dress so frequently blurs the line between holiday and the pret-a-porter. However, since I will likely be shotgunning cans of Hamm's with a stiff bunch of Democrats in a suburban Columbus bowling alley on ZEE Halloween, I had to squeeze in as much disfrazing as possible this weekend.

Friday night: Gaby's birthday party. The task: dress as your alter ego. Easy: I in a Carmen Miranda-esque get-up and Roomie as a Ren Faire maiden.

Saturday night: Much more in line with historical preferences: Zombie Pin-up Calendar launch party. Too bad I lost my purse (I found it today!) and made us miss the party. But then Laura, Daniela, Roomie and I stayed decked out as retro zombie babes and went to a gallery space masquerade party where we converted a legion of unassuming humanz into brain-guzzling rigamorticians on the dance floor. We didn't have a camera to take pictures of the gore but hopefully Kasia's shots will materialize. On a cute note, we told everyone we mistook masquerade on the invite for MASS GRAVE! Mwhahaha!

Haggard Ruby and Rengirl; Ruby+Daniela+Laura+Roomie want your GUTZZZ

Zombie school drop outs

It's hard to be a limp-wristed zombie whilst holding a booze cup - photo credit Kasia C-MvB

1 comment:

tbonetrobe said...: Has anyone ever noticed that Ruby Fuerza looks exactly like Kenley Stiles from Project Runway but has the personality of..Julia Donahue?

The makeup and costumery is masterful. A Party City for the Revolution!

I love Ruby Fuerza.; October 26, 2008 at 9:58 PM

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PERFORMER BIO

The combustible Ruby Fuerza exploded out of the Bay Area burlesque scene in January of 2008 and has been regaling a diverse audience of punks, prisoners, and perverts with her sizzling – and silly - performances. Part Gilda Radner, part Emma Goldman, this brunette bombshell thrives on sexy satire and lustful hilarity with a politically conscious twist. As a dancer and choreographer, Miss Fuerza stokes her creative fires with fabulously original numbers that include colorful costumes, bizarre props, and irreverent comedy.

Miss Fuerza, AKA Lucille Brawl, was bred and raised in Morningside Heights in the heart of the exotic Isle of Manhattan. Born into the New York City mayhem of 1984, Ruby already had a flair for rebellion and glitter. She skipped school, shoplifted sunglasses and silk kimonos, read Das Kapital, and danced Violeta Parra protest songs in Spanish Harlem. She once got arrested for sneaking into a Lou Reed concert as an old man in a wheelchair. Throughout high school, she was a true fire-starter, protesting wars, sweatshops, and corporate greed. She organized youth brigades for anti-globalization demonstrations, coining guerilla chic in dark glasses and a face bandana.

At 18, she left the Big Apple to lead a dull, unsatisfying life at an Ivy League university she doesn’t like to talk about. She finished her degree in three years, and got the hell out of academia forever by 2006. She packed up her vintage sundresses, curling irons, and work boots, and headed south. With style and grace she worked alongside cafeteleros in Zapatistaland, Mexico. She marched with picketing telephone workers in Buenos Aires. She harvested yucca in solidarity with Cubanos in Havana. She waited around at a lot of airports (but never without lipstick).

After these travels, she landed a job as a union organizer in San Francisco and finally took her passion for theatrics and stage make-up to the big Bay stages, enrolling in Bombshell Betty’s School of Burlesque the day after she moved to San Francisco. In 2008, she began performing with the Burlesqueteer Troup and has been moving crowds to ribald ecstasy ever since. She has performed at Stage Werx Theater, Benders, Annie’s Social Club, and the Uptown Club in Oakland. She is world-renowned for her parodies of Carmen Miranda. Her Frida Kahlo act subtly engages in the politics of immigration. Her Bearded Lady act asks the audience to question its notion of gender. In her most recent performance, “Caketease,” she devised a homemade 4-foot cake for a steamy homage to cake strippers, diabetics, and anyone with a sweet tooth for Jerry Lee Lewis.

ruby fuerza: me first and the shimmy shimmies

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Fruit Hat and Rigamorticians

1 comment:

INTRODUCTION

LOVE LETTERS//HATE MAIL

DON'T DREAM IT//BE IT

LOS ARCHIVOS

LOVERS

STRANGERS

PERFORMER BIO

WORLD'S SMALLEST BURLESQUE CALENDAR