Clever little Minx

A 'baby' on the burlesque scene has all the right moves, writes Christoph Vogel
The photo caught your attention, did it? It may not be what it seems. Freye Wolfe is not a stripper, she's doing burlesque.
The 32-year-old, also known as Miss Chiff Minx, saw a burlesque show in Auckland half a year ago. She's always been fond of vintage and the 1950s, but that show piqued her interest. When Ms Wolfe came across a Facebook page offering burlesque lessons, she was in.
She describes what burlesque means to her: "It's a bit empowering, part feeling sexy and part putting on a bloody good joke.
"It's physical theatre and about the tease and the glamour, wearing the beautiful outfits. Anyone can take their clothes off. It doesn't mean that it looks good."
She sees herself still as a baby on the Auckland burlesque scene, which, compared to hot spots like Hamilton and Wellington, still has not quite emerged. With just six months' experience, Ms Wolfe made it through the Auckland heat of the Miss Burlesque New Zealand competition. She and another burlesquer, called Miss V, will compete at the finals in Wellington.
Sure, there's a lot of tease and sex appeal, but it's far more than that. "You can have parts that aren't story-orientated as well. It's just a dance. But if you're going to hook the audience in, it's the story that you're telling. You want to get them there with you and have a kind of relationship with you for these eight minutes or whatever," she says.
"I don't want to do something that has been done before. If I get an idea about something I think about that and I go, 'How can I make it so it's not like the last 10 people that did perform?'."
Ms Wolfe thinks what her sets apart from other burlesque performers is her cheeky manner. She's also done theatre, so being creative and performing in front of an audience is not new territory for her.
Still, in a society that is shrugging off its prejudices, burlesque still has to cope with a few. As Ms Wolfe says, 96 per cent of the people watching her shows are female.
"I think that has to do with that empowering. Other women see it being done and enjoy what they see. A lot of women actually go and want to do it themselves. You don't have to be skinny, it doesn't matter if you've got a few more curves ..."
The caring mother of one is a teacher in her day-to-day life, so doesn't have much time for her hobby. No, she corrects me, it's more than a hobby.
"I think it's my artistic and creative outlet more than my hobby. For me, it's just another way to get creative and feel alive."
As Ms Wolfe, she plans to step aboard her flight to the April 16 finals in Wellington. But as Miss Chiff Minx, she'll try to be the second Miss Burlesque in the art's young New Zealand history.