A BoB short
B.C. liquor laws have forced Miss Rosie Bitts, a Victoria-based burlesque dancer, to cancel her PG-13 show Shimmy Town.
The performance was supposed to take place on June 29 at Svelte Cocktail Lounge in Victoria. The choreography included a kiss between Bitts, 37, whose real name is Trinda Reed, and a male performer. However, the Liquor Control Board told her that she could not touch other performers during the show. B.C. liquor laws view burlesque as “adult oriented” entertainment and state that performers must follow the same laws as exotic dancers.
No touching. Not even a kiss.
“They’re written for exotic dancers and not wanting to have live sex acts on stage,” Reed told Metro. “If you think about them in that way, then it makes sense . . . But it doesn’t make sense for a burlesque show.”
Now, Reed is challenging LCB laws with a racier, unscripted show, featuring “less theatre and more nudity.”
“Apparently I can be fully nude but can’t share a chaste kiss or touch another performer, so who knows what I’ll do on my own?” writes Reed on the Facebook page for the event.
This isn’t the first time she has aroused the LCB.
Last year she had to cancel an event called “Naked Girls Reading” at a local restaurant. Although the event was to be held in a room separate from the main dining area, it was shut down due to the risk of minors entering.
Miss Bitts’ revamped, uncensored show is also scheduled for this coming Friday.
