Dita von Teese returning to Paris to star at Crazy Horse theater

Dita von Teese, is returning to one of the most famous nude revues in Paris, happy to be back in a city with a respect for her craft.

The raven-haired reincarnation of striptease artistes from 1940s America, will do a two-week run at the celebrated Crazy Horse theater beginning February 1.

Von Teese who was once famously married to Marilyn Manson, is a familiar figure at the Paris couture shows, and has carved a peculiar niche over the years, leading the way as burlesque has grown from simple striptease to becoming an established part of the fashion world.

Two years ago she emerged from a rhinestone-encrusted bubble-bath as the first guest star at the Crazy Horse but the new show will have more specially designed numbers, including two songs she has recorded herself.

“I feel I have to raise the bar,” she said.

The Crazy Horse has been a Paris institution since 1951, regularly drawing celebrities like Madonna or fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier to see its dancers strut the stage in little more than fluorescent wigs and strobe lights.

“I’ve always had a real fascination with the Crazy Horse ever since I was a teenager and I found a picture of this line of nearly nude toy soldiers standing at attention,” Von Teese said, referring to the trademark parade that opens the nightly show.

“I wanted to do something more elaborate this time,” she said. “Combine the Crazy Horse style with what I do which is classic American burlesque.”

Von Teese, born Heather Sweet, might have stepped from the pages of an old Life Magazine pictorial.

“Everything I do professionally comes from what my hobbies were, which was dressing in vintage clothes, driving in vintage cars, listening to retro music and reading about burlesque stars,” she said.

The distinctive look, which she maintains even when not performing, has always made her stand out but she said the attention had been a help in her stage life.

“I started performing burlesque in 1991 and originally my audience was in strip clubs, pole dancing clubs, fetish clubs and I’ve watched the way it changed,” she said, reclining in the armchair of a luxurious Paris hotel.

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