The bright lights lit up a curious scene at the Corner Brook Arts and Culture Center last April: a clothesline in the center of the stage, adorned with a variety of items, from a dazzling Newfoundland and Labrador flag up to a crochet bikini.
Alanna Myles’ Black Velvet then rang from the speakers, and three dancers crawled from the wings for a one-night stand called Ruralesque, a cabaret that uses burlesque to subvert rural Newfoundland and Labrador troops.
“The idea of burlesque was originally a parody, it was a farce, it was a mockery,” said Josh Murphy, co-creator of Ruralesque and one of its three dancers.
Burlesque is more than just undressing, Murphy said. It doesn’t usually involve total nudity, but rather emphasizes cheekiness and celebration on stage. “It’s about including all the bodies. All the bodies have value in burlesque,” he said.
Murphy has a long history with this stage trade: he created his burlesque alter ego Newfound Lad while living and working in Toronto and touring with the group Boylesque TO. COVID-19 stopped these stage shows and Murphy was back in his hometown of Corner Brook.
“I’m from here and I lived far away for a long time. And I never really thought I’d live here again just for the chance and to be queer,” he said.
25:05 Undressing Newfoundland
Three Corner Brook dancers take to the stage to show it all … at least when it comes to Newfoundland identity. Behind the scenes of a burlesque show about belonging in this documentary by Melissa Tobin.
Now, 2 and a half years later, the Ruralesque has taken place. Murphy and his two co-creators put on a variety show of discovered monologues, a lobster mating ritual reinterpreted as contemporary dance, and a sexy, cheeky mami.
“It’s about bringing in the aspects of myself that I don’t always feel fit in Newfoundland, but they should fit into Newfoundland because I’m from here. I belong here, all aspects of me belong here,” he said.
“I never imagined it”
Rural co-creator Hilary Knee echoes that sentiment. She left Corner Brook at the age of 13 to study dance in Halifax, and then in Toronto, spending nearly 15 years dancing on the mainland before the pandemic also saw her return home.
Knee never thought he could create contemporary dance pieces in his hometown, and seeing the Ruralesque take place has been an emotional journey.
“I never imagined it. I didn’t know it was possible. It’s amazing how some things work on their own and come together,” he said.
Pike, Murphy and Knee perform at their Ruralesque stage show at the Corner Brook Arts & Culture Center on April 26th. (Melissa Tobin / CBC)
Once Knee and Murphy’s dance teacher, Ruralesque’s third collaborator, Candice Pike, agreed that her show was born out of a desire to express an art form not commonly seen in small towns. Pike also moved to the mainland, but returned long before Knee and Murphy did so to establish a teaching practice and a career at home.
Ruralesque is proving to be a turning point for her creatively.
“For the first time, I’m starting to feel supported, I’m feeling the urge behind the job. For me it’s entering a new stage in my career,” Pike said.
In addition to personal satisfaction, Pike said, he hopes his show can expand on ideas about traditional provincial troops.
“In the context of Newfoundland, we are sometimes resentful of this idea of what our identity is or is,” he said. “So I’m trying to be very careful … maybe using the word ‘identities’ more and understanding that there are a lot of different experiences and expressions of being in Newfoundland.”
The trio hopes to re-stage Ruralesque for the province in the coming months.
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