INTERVIEW… Kitty Willenbruch… The Queen of Burlesque in Vienna.

It was a beautiful October day and it became even more beautiful in the following hours… when we found ourselves, face to face with the Queen of Burlesque in Vienna…Kitty Willenbruch, creator of Salon Kitty Revue!

Athenscalling.gr: Welcome dear Kitty, creator of Salon Kitty Revue in Vienna, a spectacle that has enriched the Burlesque scene in Vienna for over ten years!

Kitty Willenbruch (Salon Kitty Revue): Hey!
I started with Salon Kitty Revue almost 16 years ago, but I perform since now almost 20 years. Vienna is always very slow when it’s coming up to new trends, so I wanted to create a space for creativity for performing art for different gender.
But it was very hard to find a venue back than, it felt like people were afraid of nudity and gays.

Athenscalling.gr: Tell us about your first steps?

Kitty Willenbruch (Salon Kitty Revue): We started in very small beautiful theater, Varieté Arena with our first host Conchita Wurst and first Boylesque Jacques Patriaque.

2 shows because we had only 50 seats.
But after Dita Von Teese became a big star also the audience for this kind of art started to grow.

Athenscalling.gr: Was its creation the dream of your life?… I mean about it.

Kitty Willenbruch (Salon Kitty Revue): I don’t wanna say that it was the dream of my life but I saw an opportunity to give a space to amazing artists and to meet people from all over the world.

Athenscalling.gr: ”Welcome to the Balkans”… I would say with participants, if I’m not mistaken, from Serbia, Turkey, Bosnia, Romania—so from the Balkans… and Greece?

Kitty Willenbruch (Salon Kitty Revue):”Welcome to Balkan”, was actually a fun during some drinks.
We were laughing because we realized that most of us from Salon Kitty are immigrants, so why not dedicate a show to our roots?
With Balkan songs and acts related to the country were we was born.

Sadly I don’t have an Greece performer in my crew and honestly I don’t know any Greek performer what is truly sad.

Athenscalling.gr: How long did it take to create this entire show, and what was the reason for its creation?

Kitty Willenbruch (Salon Kitty Revue):This season I decided to give more attention to immigrants at all as Vienna is a city with multiple cultures and we have amazing artists who live here from all over the world.

As we are taking place in a cinema I am always connected with a movie we show before the show. So the whole night is key theme in particular.

As we have every month a new show with a new theme I have just the time in between to prepare everything, what can be sometimes really exhausting, but it’s fun we do burlesque not heart surgeries.

I am looking forward to a bunch of crazy funny acts.

Athenscalling.gr: Truly, how does the audience respond to your performances?
Does the audience discover something deeper beyond the “nude,” or does it remain only at the “nude spectacle”?

Kitty Willenbruch (Salon Kitty Revue):I have to say that we build over the past years a great open minded audience, the people know that we are not a classy burlesque show and most of them are open to deep emotional or political acts as well.

Athenscalling.gr: I’m wondering and I’m telling you the truth… Who are you really?

Kitty Willenbruch (Salon Kitty Revue): For myself I was never a so called burlesque performer.

I am coming from another background, when I started with burlesque my main focus was always on the message I try to explain through my art and with my body, nudity is only a small component.

Athenscalling.gr: What do you think about burlesque?

Kitty Willenbruch (Salon Kitty Revue): I see burlesque more as an political outcry against a bourgeois society.

Sure over the past 10 years it changed and developed further with the movement of feminism and body positivity.

For good and for bad, don’t get me wrong.

Athenscalling.gr: What is the image of burlesque today?

Kitty Willenbruch (Salon Kitty Revue): Many performer opened their on burlesque schools or teach classes.

”Unlock your inner beauty with burlesque”.

I thing it’s a beautiful idea when women learn how to love their bodies and find their sexuality through the glamour of burlesque but also on the other had this schools and classes produce every year a bunch of new performer and the capacity to give them all stage is very limited even if burlesque is very popular it’s still a niche.

Athenscalling.gr: Thank you Kitty about the interview and before the end …send your message to the people.

Kitty Willenbruch (Salon Kitty Revue): At least I am 43 now and I am still burning for the art of burlesque… Thank you!

EPILOGUE…
Wich is Burlesque Queen in Vienna?

The Burlesque Queen in Vienna is Kitty Willenbruch,the artist with many facets, has led a life full of adventures and extraordinary experiences.

Born in Timisoara, Romania, her family fled to Vienna during the unrest.
There, she learned what it means to be poor but also got a taste of wealth.

Kitty is known for her Burlesque art, a striptease art form often described as thoroughly feminine. She has made many headlines with it but Kitty has much more to offer.
She has also made a name for herself as a “Comedian Sideshow Extravaganza”,”Super B Movie Scream Queen” and “Salon Kitty Revue Master Mind”.
Additionally, she has been a jury member at the Landshut Short Film Festival and Cinestrange Festival or for Dead Line Magazine.

In the 1990s, she was even nominated as the “Most Beautiful Tattooed Woman in the World” by Tattoo Magazine. She has also hosted her own TV talk show.

Kitty Willenbruch is a woman who doesn’t limit herself to one thing.
She loves to express herself and share her art with the world. Whether on stage or as a jury member, Kitty always has something to offer and lets her personality shine through everything she does.
With her colorful life story and unique art, she is a role model for many women and a symbol of the freedom to be yourself.