One Mint Julep

On June 22nd, I found myself at Polesque L.A., an evening of competitive pole dancing.  It was a blast!  If you're turning up your nose at the thought, you clearly haven't seen really good pole dancing, and you have no idea what you're missing.

This was my favorite act of the night, and easily some of the best theatre I've seen this year:

Crystal Belcher of Houston lights up the room with her take on "One Mint Julep."

The pole is a phallic symbol.  Crystal takes this idea and runs with it, personifying the pole as a man she encounters, romances, and eventually marries.  Her story is very clearly told from beginning (missing her bus) to end (throwing the bouquet and heading off to honeymoon land.)  Her performance is fully committed, and engages the audience.

And it's full of joie:

It means embodying a fullness of spirit; being fully plugged in to the moment-by-moment; being present and active.  It means effervescing -- including and especially in tragic roles!  It means chasing down the invisible in a tenacious effort to make it visible. 

Video replays of live events rarely hold up on their own, but Belcher's performance is so joie-filled it reaches out across the 1's and 0's that compose this digital echo and delights.  Outstanding work.