The Dazzle Dancers
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"The Dazzle Dancers" are a performance group founded in 1996 in New York City's Tompkins Square Park during Wignot (the first year that Wigstock didn't happen in the park) by artist Mike Albo (aka Dazzle Dazzle) and Gregg Guinta (aka Vinnie Dazzle). The male and female dancers appear in spare costumes or nude at festivals, night clubs, and the Hipster scene. With ever-changing membership, ideas and styles the group describes itself as "....more of a movement than an institution". Their goal is "spreading a message of love and sexual freedom".
The group is loosely organized, "unified by our commitment to dazzle in this often dreary world". Their performances in various night clubs and theaters retain the spicy immediacy of street theater. The dazzle dancers are a collaborative effort, sharing the credit for their performances with the multitudes who have contributed their talents to this project.
The DD's follow a tradition of radical queer underground performers such as The Cockettes in the 1970s or pop icons like the Solid Gold dancers. Their nudity and costumes question any kind of traditional gender roles and sexuality. They take the meaning of genderfuck from its homosexual context and translate it to a broader audience and meaning. "We battle the forces of blandness, fear, and isolation so common in our clenched culture of coffee franchises, fear marketing, and money worship. All of this is accomplished through the powerful forces of dance, glitter, and fun."
The Dazzle Dancers have performed nationally at many late-night clubs, Coney Island Amusement Park, Wigstock, the Burning Man Festival in Nevada, and onstage with the band Blondie to a crowd of 20,000 people at the Millennium New Year's Eve Celebration in Miami, Florida.
In 2005 the Dazzle Dancers were a central theme in a feature film, the romantic gay comedy Adam & Steve. Steve (played by Malcolm Gets) is a Dazzle Dancer who falls in love with Adam (Craig Chester), the main protagonist of the movie. The actual DD's perform at the beginning of the movie, in the establishing scene where Gets and Chester first meet.
The group has recently expanded its member list, including a more diverse company of "baby dazzles" from interesting walks of life.
List of dancers
- Dazzle Dazzle
- Vinnie Dazzle
- Cornflake Dazzle
- Cherry Dazzle
- Hole Dazzle
- Machine Dazzle
- DT Dazzle
- Pretty Boy Dazzle
- Propecia Destiny Dazzle aka "Project"
- Robbie Dazzle
- Sochny Dazzle
- Chalupa Dazzle
- Negro Noir Dazzle
- Smokey D Dazzle
- Houdini Dazzle
- Booty du Chef Dazzle
- Besame Dazzle
- Edible Dazzle
- CyberNambla Dazzle
- Chunky Cupcake Dazzle (Chalupa's adopted baby)
- Rinky Dinky Dazzle (Machine's Baby)
- Dolly Dazzle (orphan)
- Hassle Dazzle (Vinnie's baby)
- Gaza Strip Dazzle (orphan)
- Possum Dazzle (PDD's baby)
- Ho Dazzle (Cherry's baby)
- La Dazzle
- Sneaky Dazzle (winner of So You Wanna Be a Dazzle Dancer contest 2004)
- Bklyn Dazzle aka Lil Bklyn (winner of So You Wanna Be a Dazzle Dancer contest 2004)