Deity. Photo courtesy Deity.

Deity. Photo courtesy Deity.

Deity in one of her designs. Photo courtesy Deity.

Clothing by Deity. Photo courtesy of Deity.

DEITY TAKES THE STAGE

Those familiar with the burlesque scene have surely made Deity’s acquaintance. She is a frequent performer at Bad Ass Burlesque shows (http://www.myspace.com/badassnyc), and recently made an appearance in Gabrielle Penebaz’s “Sex Crimes Cabaret,” (http://www.sexcrimescabaret.com/) doing a sensuous strip wearing a gorilla costume, culminating in ejaculating with a dildo.

Deity tells me she was a stripper before becoming a burlesque dancer. “I loved to dance when I was a child. I remember telling my mom, ‘I want to be a go go dancer when I grow up,’ and she said, ‘NOOOO!!!’ But I didn’t mean stripper, I used to watch “Laugh In” and I liked Goldie Hawn and the other ladies dancing on a stage, and I thought, ‘That looks like fun!’ But my mom thought the wrong thing, but I turned out that way anyway, so… I love being in the spotlight. I danced at Flashdancers, NY Dolls, places like that, and I decided to stop being treated like cattle. About 1994, I heard about this place called the Blue Angel (now Le Scandal Cabaret), and I went there to check it out, and I was surprised to see what was going on, there was nothing else like it.”

For those who are not familiar with the Blue Angel (http://www.nyrock.com/spc/2002/blueangel.asp), it was a strip club down on Walker Street that featured wilder, crazier acts then what you would see in the normal strip club. Women would wear weird costumes (one act was a lactating Minnie Mouse), or do way out performance pieces that featured urination, ultraviolet paint, blood, plastic wrap, and knives. Anything went. When Guiliani closed the strip clubs, The Blue Angel moved to the Gene Frankel Theater and became a way out burlesque show. It ended up at the Cutting Room, and became Le Scandal Cabaret, now at the Westbeth Theater. Those interested should track down HBO’s “Real Sex” segment on the Blue Angel that is frequently rerun.

“I was mesmerized by what was going on, and came back later to audition, and they loved me. And I was thrilled to become part of it. I lasted two years, 1994-1996. I left after Walker Street closed, and went to the island of Ibiza, Spain, where I started doing parties called Manumission.

"This was one of the largest events on the island. Me and a friend got paid, got a free room, we only had to pay for our food. This lasted about five years, I came back in 2000, and went back to the Blue Angel at the Gene Frankel Theater, where I ran into all my old friends. I did the Angel for another year or two. Then I stopped and started working for a make up company, but I got bored and wanted to start performing again. I heard that Velocity Chyaldd [a Blue Angel regular, famous for her singing as well as for her crotch cutting] was doing a show called Bad Ass, and I wanted to do it. I did a few of these, and then I was pursuing my make up career, working at counters. But I didn’t get really creative until I started working with photographer Adrian Buckmaster, who is also my boyfriend. We’ve been together for about four years, which is about the same time I’ve been doing make-up work for shoots, and I keep getting better and better. So if anyone wants a make-up artist for a burlesque show, or a wedding, or what have you, you can contact me through my My Space page [www.myspace.com/foundationsbydeity].

"And I’m still performing at Bad Ass, which recently moved from the Bowery Poetry Club to Arlene’s Grocery.” Along with her other talents, Deity makes clothing, something she started doing when she was a child. “My mom taught me how to sew when I was about 7, I was too young to use a sewing machine. If I made a mistake, she made me take it apart and do it again. Later, I went to F.I.T., but I already knew how to do everything. I have another My Space page for my clothes.” [http://www.myspace.com/heathendesigns]

Deity remains one of the more vibrant creative denizens that keeps NY interesting.