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Sex Ed for Dummies

Do you remember the talk?

The big one, the awkward discussion when one or both of your parents stammered through their version of the birds and the bees. It's a subject you never wanted to associate with your mom and dad.

Today, sex education is still controversial, and debates rage as to whether it should be taught in schools or if it is best handled at home by parents. The post-World War II baby boom is evidence that in the 1950s they learned mostly by doing.

Which is why we need 'Sex Education ,' brought to you by the Modern Burlesque Brigade , starting a new run at Studio X (no Virginia, there is no Studio Y, yet) this weekend. Like sex, the show has many facets -- there will be dance, music, comedy and some strategically exposed flesh.

The word burlesque rolls around in the mouth, ripe and full of juicy promise, like a grape. At what point you bite into it says a bit about your personality. It's a bit of tease one might do with oneself.

This is a subject Rebecca Bernard knows something about. She's the burlesque part of the brigade. For those with a filthy mind and cupidity in their heart, burlesque is not what you might think.

It's not flying g-strings and va-va-voom over a stripper beat, while lonely men hunch over watered down drinks and shuffle through a stack of one dollar bills. That's why the French, never at a loss for ways to riff on anything related to love, death and desire, invented such a fancy word for it. Burlesque is an art of many forms.

Bernard sees it this way, "We have this desire to get back to the glamour. If you show everything, what else is there? It has a teasing element, not showing everything, making an art of desire, and that makes it much more interesting."

When I asked her how important clothing was to an act that is mostly about their removal, she replied, "How important is the wrapping to a Christmas present?" Touché.

Bernard has been burlesquing for about two and a half years. It all started with a notice on a bulletin board. She was a VCU theater major at the time, but she was feeling dissatisfied with theater stage performance.

It turns out she was craving collaboration, and sexier outfits. When she saw an audition notice for a burlesque troupe, it was kismet. She discovered that burlesque involved collaborating with live musicians, dancers and vaudeville-style comedians.

She says, "It was the best avenue [by which] to pack in all the arts. It was a celebration, a very fun time."

She was so inspired she spent the last year studying commedia dell'arte in Italy. Commedia dell'arte is a kind of improvised street performance by a troupe, with a glorious four hundred year history.

Italy is to commedia dell'arte performance what New Orleans is to jazz, what Appalachia is to bluegrass, what Richmond is to Confederacy. Bernard called the experience her "poo poo platter of European training," which involved developing new skills such as clown work and acrobatics, as well as a profound appreciation for Tuscan wine. Amen.

Last year, she threw in with Slash Coleman and Larry Volz to form the Modern Burlesque Brigade. They decided to write their own material, and being who they are the first thing on their minds was … sex.

The soundtrack for the event will be provided by the Miniver Cheevy Jazz Trio , who improvise along with the other performers. Bernard thinks it a good fit, "Jazz is such a beautiful music form, it's classy. You automatically think back to a speakeasy. It works really well for this show. These are great musicians, marvelous improvisers."

Those of a certain age might suffer a grade school flashback when the show opens with sex education films from the 1950s. Any film about masturbation done in the 50s is sure to be both informative and … ahem, visually stimulating.

For Bernard, the show is "a satire of our perceptions, playing with stereotypes of what is sexy, not just pencil-thin women on billboards. It's a celebration of all different forms of beauty."

In keeping with the interactive nature of commedia dell'arte, Bernard encourages audience participation, "We don't want the audience to be passive. We encourage them to be involved. If something comes into your mind, yell it out." Tres risqué. 

For those who want to learn more about the art of desire, Bernard is teaching a six week course, which she is calling Burlesque Bombshells. So if bombshell is exactly what your life is missing, you've just run out of excuses.

Sex Education opens Saturday, June 28, at Studio X, 2707 W. Broad St. Tickets are $15. Shows at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Call (804) 353-3799 or visit www.slashcoleman.com to get advance tickets.

Burlesque Bombshells classes are held at Studio X; call (804) 340-0255 or visit www.dancestudiox.com for more information.