Our recent Josephine Baker inspired shoot with Miss Noire is exclusive to the Best of 2010 Print Edition. To get your copy, visit our shop!

December cover girl Perle Noire, the Rare Gem of Burlesque, sits down to talk the “burlesque look,” New Orleans, Josephine Baker, Australia, gold glitter and Prince.

By: Divertida Devotchka  Photos: Shoshana of DallasPinUp.com

You’ve stated before that you don’t think that you have a “burlesque look.” As an avid fan, let me say that in my opinion, your sultry sass is the embodiment of burlesque, but in your opinion what characteristics must one possess to have the burlesque look? Based on your ideal of the burlesque look, who comes to mind (either legend or modern performer) as the epitome of burlesque?

Well, when people think of burlesque stars of yesterday and today they think of a woman with European features such as Tempest Storm, Lili St. Cyr. or Bettie Page. These women are the definition of a beautiful Bombshell! Tempest Storm, with her fiery red hair and that perfect voluptuous figure had the ultimate burlesque look. You can’t mention the word Bombshell without paying respect to the infamous Lili St Cyr, who had beautiful long legs and luscious lips. They were flawless. When you asked your average Joe or Joan about burlesque these names and images pop up.

Of course, when I think of a Burlesque Goddess, I think of my idol Josephine Baker. Josephine had a theater background and had perfect comedic timing. She was so beautiful and electric, but she became a Legend overseas. Even though she knew how to connect with her audience and had an exotic look she would have never became a burlesque legend in the states due to the fact that she didn’t have the standard ” burlesque look”.

Over the years as a Burlesque artist, I’ve sent my promotional kit to magazines( burlesque and aboard) and producers and thou they love my performances, I’ve been turned down for numerous jobs and promotional marketing because I don’t have the ” burlesque  look”. This is something that I’m working on and I’m enjoying every moment of it. Make up and Wigs and Heels.. Oh My!

Tell us all about your recent exploits in Toronto and at the New York Burlesque Festival.

Toronto was amazing! Starlight Burlesque put on a wonderful show and the band made me get a standing ovation. The NYBF is one of the oldest Burlesque Festivals and it was so organized. Angie and Jen put on a wonderful production.

I got a giggle when you recently posted on Facebook that you were “looking to be in ‘like’ with someone.” You also said, “I need someone who can handle my ambitions and many different personalities. I need a mixture of George Jefferson, James from Good Times, Rick James and Prince.” I’d love to know which specific qualities from these men that you’d like to see in a companion.

George Jefferson was an entrepreneur and very outspoken while James Evans from Good Times was a Man’s Man. He was faithful to his wife and children. Even though his back was often against the wall, he keep pushing and striving for a better life for his family. He never gave up. Rick James was so eccentric and confident. We would probably fight over gold glitter but I know he would go to war for me if anyone disrespected me. Finally, we have Prince. Prince and Rick James are the epitome of a true artist and performer. I love the stage presence that Prince has and I would love to borrow his clothes.

In our September 2009 interview, you stated that you really hoped “to become a burlesque queen one day.” That very same month you were crowned queen at the New Orleans Burlesque Festival, and last month you handed over the crown to Texas’ own titan of tease, Miss Coco Lectric. What have you learned since being crowned queen? Do you have any advice for new queen Coco?

I’ve learned that a title doesn’t make you a queen in the community. The title will come from the mouths of the fans. Before I competed for the Queen of Burlesque title I was honored with recognition from my fans and burlesque royalty. 21st Century Pin Ups posted an on line poll for the top 50 burlesque performers worldwide and I made the top 20! I didn’t campaign for votes, the fans voted for me and I’m truly grateful. During my burlesque career I’ve performed with Immodesty Blaize, Dita Von Teese, Dirty Martini, Kitten Deville, Michelle L’Amour and many others. How many people can say that they had a chance to work with people that they admire and respect as artists?

When I made that statement, I thought that with a title I would gain respect from my peers or producers who feel that I don’t belong to the world of burlesque. Truthfully, as an artist you have to keep pushing and striving if you want to be the best. I won a title, but I still have to keep pushing until I break through the barrier. My work is far from over. My advice to Coco Lectric is to stay true to your fans, the stage and yourself.

It’s well known that Josephine Baker is one of your biggest influences. You did extensive research on her to plan your tribute routine. Tell us more about how her life and career inspired you.

Josephine danced through so many doors as an artist. She was the first black woman to appear in a silent film and the only woman to speak at The March on Washington. What I love about her was her drive and passion to grow as an artist and individual. She started out in Vaudeville performing in blackface and ended up a glamorous singer who lived in a castle. Every morning I look a photo of her from an early theater production, in which she is wearing blackface. Then, I look at a picture of her singing with her rhinestone microphone, wearing a larger than life head dress onstage in Paris. This ritual reminds me that the only limitations I have are the limitations that I set for myself.

You’re going to Australia! Tell us all about it! Do you have any other plans for international travel in the near future?

The name of the show is Burlesque Royale. Danica Lee will present the show Saturday, January 22, 2011, at The State Theatre in Sydney. I’m working on performing in Paris and in London again in the near future.   I would love to perform in all the venues that Josephine performed in including the Follies Bergère. She was the first and last exotic burlesque beauty to grace the stage. It is a lifelong dream of mine to perform my tribute to her at the Follies Bergère and at Theatre des Champs-Elysées.

You just moved back to New Orleans. What brought you back and what are you doing next?

New Orleans played an important role in my burlesque career so I wanted to go back to my burlesque roots.  I have a few top secret plans that I can’t reveal at the moment but keep your eyes open!

Editor’s note: Our very own Hella Goode has her very first book out (under her legal name, of course)! We couldn’t be more proud of her! You’ll check it out, won’t you? 101 Mexico City Travel Tips

Legends: Josephine Baker
Story: Hella Goode

When Frida Kahlo painted her double self-portrait, the Two Fridas, she couldn’t possibly have been imagining that she would meet another Frida one day that would enchant her so.

The other ‘Frida’ in the rumored love affair, was actually born Freda Josephine McDonald on June 3, 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri to Carrie McDonald and drummer Eddie Carson, who hesitated very little in abandoning the new mother and child. She would later choose to go by her middle name, Josephine. After a series of family changes and a few short-lived marriages, she would become the legend known today as Josephine Baker, sometimes called ‘Black Venus,’ ‘Black Pearl,’ or ‘Creole Goddess.’ Josephine was renown worldwide for many of her passions, dancing, singing, mothering a menagerie of unusual pets, rallying for Civil Rights and setting the example for such adoption-happy celebs as Mia Farrow and Angelina Jolie, with her dozen adopted multicultural children which she lovingly referred to as the “Rainbow Tribe.”

One might ask, how did a black woman shoot to such fame and success at a time when racial restraints would not let her so much as sit in the front of the bus in the United States? Josephine mentions, “One day I realized I was living in a country where I was afraid to be black. It was only a country for white people. Not black. So I left. I had been suffocating in the United States…A lot of us left, not because we wanted to leave, but because we couldn’t stand it anymore…I felt liberated in Paris.”

Before departing for Paris, she had performed in the first all-black Broadway musical, Shuffle Along in 1922 at the age of 16 in New York. In 1925, she joined La Revue Nègre in Paris. Her performance with her partner, Joe Alex in the Danse Sauvage made her a star. She then took on La Folie du Jour at the Follies-Bergère Theater. Meanwhile in 1926 she recorded music for the first time ever. She briefly returned to New York to perform at Carnegie Hall, where she never before would have been accepted, but after her success in Europe and social growth in the Civil Rights movement, she was given a standing ovation.

In France, she starred in movies and on stage. Off stage she lead her life the way she saw fit. She became iconic, known for her exotic beauty, although she mocked it, saying her good feature was her legs, and the rest of her body was simply ‘amusing.’ She had presence that few other stars had.

Her films included:
La Sirène des Tropiques (1927)
Josephine plays a tropical beauty who aspires to dance in Paris. She was used to overacting for the live stage and thus gave an exaggerated performance which later haunted her.

Zouzou (1934)
Josephine portrays Zouzou, a circus performer in love with the man who plays her twin brother, but leaves her for another woman.

Princess Tam Tam (1935)
Josephine takes on the role of a primitive woman again, introduced to the French culture by a man.

The French Way (1945)
Josephine plays a cabaret performer named Zazu.

One can speculate as to why, despite being such a proponent of equal rights, she would accept roles as a ’savage,’ however, she made sure that she was not pigeonholed as such. She was civilized in all other aspects of her life, after, her favorite food was spaghetti.

Josephine never left the United States behind completely. She kept vigilant watch over the events going on in the Civil Rights movement while enjoying her success in France. By the time she had amped her popularity in film and on stage in Europe, becoming one of the best if not, the highest paid performer of her time and ranking amongst the most photographed women in the world, she knew she had a new mission, to aid in the fight for Civil Rights in the United States. She was invited to speak at the 1963 march on Washington DC, where Martin Luther King Jr.’s infamous speech still runs shivers down the spines of those who hear it. “Until the March on Washington,” Josephine stated, “I always had this little feeling in my stomach. I was always afraid. I couldn’t meet white American people. I didn’t want to be around them. But now that little gnawing feeling is gone. For the first time in my life I feel free. I know that everything is right now.” Josephine continued to help the cause by refusing to perform or appear in places that did not allow blacks to enter or refused them seating. She was very public about her stance on equality, even when it meant open and public media battles.

How ironic for the spirit of political activism to come from the woman most known for the image of the costume she wore for the Danse Banane. It was nothing more than about a dozen bananas strewn together to make a less than skimpy skirt. Josephine gave new meaning to many things, but she topped the sweet cake by showing us what Chiquita Bananas really meant with this one. She wasn’t recognized for being very modest in her costumes, but often wore revealing and sensual digs, performing and posing topless as well, which was not nearly as scandalous in France in the 1920’s and 1930’s as it was in the United States. It took until the 1950’s in Las Vegas for American girls and venues to accept the daring challenge of having topless showgirls. She lit up the venue no matter what she did, taken over by the thrill of the stage. … “I improvised, crazed by the music… Even my teeth and eyes burned with fever. Each time I leaped I seemed to touch the sky and when I regained earth it seemed to be mine alone,” she said.

She died at the age of 69 on April 12, 1975 in Paris, France of cerebral hemorrhage, a recognized contributor to the victory of World War II on the French side, earning her a 21-gun salute, an American Civil Rights activist, the cause of the contagious jazz bug in Europe, amongst other achievements including giving hope to those who had none. She was honored with the presence of over 20,000 people in her funeral procession and status as a stage legend, inspiring women of her time and future generations to not let beautiful and bold be determined by the opinion of the masses, but to simply bleed it from the inside out.

For more: http://www.cmgww.com/stars/baker/