Titillating as well as thought-provoking? Cabaret-cum-burlesque show In Flagrante pushes buttons as well as boundaries, writes Shane Gilchrist.
Those searching for blurred lines in dance routines might want to ignore Miley Cyrus' contrived bump-and-grind and instead witness In Flagrante, in which saucy routines are served up alongside a healthy dose of satire.
Or, as artistic director and choreographer MaryJane O'Reilly explains: ''It's erotica for the thinking person''.
Fresh from a successful season at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, after which the Auckland-based contemporary dance company was invited to a private party in the Seychelles, In Flagrante is about to be staged in several South Island venues, including the Mayfair Theatre as part of the 2014 Dunedin Fringe Festival.
Though it is inspired by burlesque and does feature near-naked women, In Flagrante attempts to question various female sexual stereotypes, albeit while attempting to be highly entertaining, O'Reilly says.
''People often think I've made this show for men but, actually, I haven't. I made it for myself. I have to make material I would want to watch. Yes, I was keen to entice men into the theatre because some men aren't that confident about viewing dance.
''Contemporary dance can often be deliberately obscure or contrary, but I didn't set out to be either of those things in this show. In the first instance, we are there to entertain.
''I'm finding when people watch the show that, while there is a male view that might be there for the prurient titillation, they often get past that pretty fast because it is quite a layered show, a comment on the various roles women play. It is satiric and humorous.''
O'Reilly has divided In Flagrante into a dozen or so short pieces that range from equine fetishism, a portrayal of the biblical Eve as a latter-day cigarette girl, a subversive North Korean policewoman directing traffic, to the glamour Vargas girl cartoons of World War 2 bomber-nose art.
Empowerment is a recurring theme, O'Reilly says, pointing out that though one routine, ''Horse Burlesque'', might involve her dancers wearing bondage-like bridles, it is the performers who seem to be holding the reins.
Another routine subverts the image of marching girls: strict, grid-like steps are employed, only to be broken by a sassy, sultry interlude.
''The marching girls get a bit defensive about it, thinking they are being made fun of,'' O'Reilly says.
''Sure, we are having fun with that art form but ... we enjoy visiting these genres, pulling them apart and putting them back together.
O'Reilly arrived at the idea a few years ago and, after a series of preview shows, In Flagrante officially opened in 2011, when it was staged in the foyer of the St James Theatre, Wellington.
''I was inspired by burlesque in a sense because it is back in fashion. I was director of Tempo Dance Festival when I started making this and I wanted to increase audiences for the festival, so it was a pragmatic decision in some ways.
''But I also wanted to make something fresh, to reinvent myself. I had done vaudeville and burlesque in the past and I wanted to do something that was a little more sophisticated than what you might see in a typical cabaret context,'' she explains.
''I was working with my husband Phil, who also does design. We had fun conceptualising the imagery. But we were also strongly driven by the music, this beautiful album by Austrian cabaret musician Klaus Waldeck, Ballroom Stories.
''The songs are very different. Waldeck is a conceptual artist who pulls in various players to realise his vision. It isn't a band as such. He works in aspects of songs people might know, such as Summertime, from Porgy and Bess, which then heads off in a fantastic rhythm. There are also lots of original songs, too.
''I think I'm good at picking the music. It's one of my skills and goes back to when I was with Limbs,'' O'Reilly says in reference to her roots as choreographer and artistic director of the seminal New Zealand outfit Limbs Dance Company.
Amid all the flirtatious fun, the sexual politics and reworking of roles, there is a lot of hard work, O'Reilly points out, lauding the skills of dancers Shanelle Lenehan, Maria Munkowits, Molly McDowall, Sofia McIntyre and Georgie Goater.
''There was quite an extensive audition process. I was paying them by the hour so they had to be really bright and fast and able to pick up steps quickly, because I work fast when I'm on a roll. They have to keep up with me.''
Still, even the most meticulous choreographer (O'Reilly is quick to claim such territory) accepts dancers are only human.
''I have to be realistic. I can't pay them full-time so they work other jobs, such as a Pilates teacher or working in a library. Yes, one is a librarian ...'' she chuckles wickedly, as if pondering a new routine.
''The dancers take a lot of responsibility for keeping themselves in shape. I have had the comment that women look at the dancers and don't feel intimidated, because they are not models. They are dancers with good, strong, working bodies.
''However, I do mainly audition their bottoms,'' O'Reilly admits.
''The women are all different shapes and sizes, but they do all have to have great butts.''
Catch them
In Flagrante will be performed at the following venues in the South:
• Oamaru Opera House (8pm), Saturday, March 15
• Lake Wanaka Centre (8pm), Tuesday, March 18
• Centrestage, Invercargill (8pm), Thursday, March 20
• St James Theatre, Gore (7.30pm), Friday, March 21
• Mayfair Theatre, Dunedin, (8pm) Saturday, March 22 (as part of 2014 Dunedin Fringe Festival)
