Synopsis
Moulin Rouge meets The Full Monty in this musical documentary that tracks ten burlesque students as they study the artful striptease.
A Wink and a Smile opens with drums and sousaphone accompanying a spectacular collage of heavily-painted eyes; a delicately-painted set of fingernails removing a satin opera glove; a tightly-corseted waist; a fishnet stocking slowly peeling off a polished pointed toe; richly-ruffled skirts lifting above can can-dancing legs; milky fingers tugging at a silk ribbon; glittery red-stained lips curling into an I-dare-you smile; white feathered fans shimmering in front of a woman’s almost-bare body; and bubbles floating across a background of blue and red lights.
"Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to the show!" announces the evening’s master of ceremonies.
The camera cuts to the sumptuous surroundings of Seattle’s Little Red Studio.
"Burlesque is a simple formula: Performer enters stage wearing clothes - something happens - performer exits stage wearing fewer clothes," explains the sultry headmistress of the Academy of Burlesque, Miss Indigo Blue. "Your job is to learn that formula...and then poke holes in it."
Over the next six weeks, Indigo guides her budding divas as they learn to wiggle, jiggle, bump and grind their way into audiences' hearts.
We find out why homemakers, students, professionals and artists are joining the American cultural revival that's swelling from fringe fascination to mainstream obsession. What is the journey as students abandon their plain-Jane lives and assume the roles of 19th-century Parisian call-girls, golden gun-wielding international spies, and fumbling straight-laced secretaries with a naughty secret? And how do they feel about publicly exposing their very real bodies in a culture that idolizes air-brushed tans, fake breasts, anorexic waistlines, and short-lived youth?
Performances of local leading ladies weave throughout the film, illustrating Indigo's practical advice with eye-popping performances of hilarity and beauty.
During this 120-minute documentary shot on high-definition video and busting with music new and long-forgotten, audiences will travel the rocky road as the women embrace their sexuality — trading their good-girl social strings for rhinestone-encrusted g-strings and spread their erotic wings.
Welcome to A Wink and a Smile. A world where performance art and showgirl spectacle kiss you on the cheek and leave you swooning. A world where music, theater, and sexuality crash into over-the-top glitter and glamour. A world where many want to go, but most never have the nerve.