The Wau Wau Sisters

Wearing high heels and clutching cocktails, The Wau Wau Sisters, NYC's bravest and bawdiest burlesque duo and the act The NY Times calls "irreverent, sacrilegious, foul-mouthed and uninhibited" straddle the hilarious gap between performance art and burlesque.

Their hour-long show starts at a break-neck pace and gets wilder from there! With technical snafus and unscripted one-liners the show holds the audience rapt with a sly mix of jaw dropping physical prowess and guileless mayhem. While suspended in a boozy state of awe and delight The Wau Wau Sisters and the audience careen through a show full of surprises and teetering on the brink of a delicious disaster! Dirty songs and double entendres mix with irreverent circus routines and guilty pop culture pleasures as old-time variety gets a new twist with brilliant executions of "bad ideas", like their signature audience participation costume changes!

Challenging the state of reverence and preciousness of the Cirque du Soleil aesthetic, the Wau Wau Sisters carve out a new niche for circus events – right in front of you, so close you can see the tear in their fishnets, the sinew of their muscles and the sweat on their skin! Don't miss them as they fly through a Guns 'n' Roses trapeze routine with all the adrenaline and abandon of a rock concert, deconstructing the humor and paradigms of country and heavy metal music, while playing matching guitars and barely sitting on one another's shoulders! They do it all in a festive, freewheeling hour that keeps the audience guessing every second, who's in control and for how long?!

I got a chance to throw some questions to Adrienne and Tanya as a precursor to their return to Louisville on October 2nd and 3rd at the Kentucky Center.

Alex: What did you think of our city the last time you were here?

Adrienne: EVERYTHING WAS REALLY QUITE WONDERFUL. I KNEW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE LOUISVILLE MUSIC SCENE AND NEW SOME MUSIC FOLKS FROM THERE WHO HAD BEEN IN NYC FOR A WHILE. BESIDES THAT I JUST REMEMBER ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS CALLING ME FROM LOUISVILLE, FROM UNDER A TABLE DURING A TORNADO! THE CROWD THAT TURNED OUT FOR OUR SHOW WAS GORGEOUS – REALLY FUN, SMART AND INTERACTIVE WITH US. ONE OF THE GUYS WE GOT ON STAGE AND DRESSED LIKE A MONKEY ENDED UP BEING FRIENDS WITH ONE OF MY OLD ROOMMATES IN BROOKLYN! SMAAAAAAAAL WORLD! I THOUGHT LOUISVILLE WAS ONE OF THOSE SPECIAL, ARTSY OASIS TOWNS LIKE ATHENS, AUSTIN, WITH A SPECIAL SOUTHERN FLAVOR.

Alex: Did the two of you grow up together?

Adrienne: NO, I GREW UP IN CONNECTICUT AND NEW JERSEY! TANYA GREW UP IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. WE BOTH MOVED TO NEW YORK TO PURSUE PERFORMANCE AND DANCE. AND WHEN WE WERE KIDS WE BOTH DID SHOWS SIMILAR TO OUR CURRENT SHOW – GOOFY COSTUMES, INAPPROPRIATE MATERIAL, WONKY PROPS. IN NYC WE WERE BOTH PERFORMING TOGETHER IN DANCE COMPANIES AND CIRCUSES, AND DECIDED TO MAKE SOMETHING OF OUR OWN.

Alex: How would you categorize your act? Do you blaze your own trail? Are you still evolving as your popularity grows?

Adrienne: OUR ACT FALLS SOMEWHERE IN THE WORLD OF CIRCUS, CABARET AND BURLESQUE…VAUDEVILLE. IT DOES FEEL LIKE WE BLAZE OUR OWN TRAIL QUITE A BIT, BECAUSE WE WRITE AND CHOREOGRAPH ALL MATERIAL OURSELVES. WE MAKE OUR COSTUMES, AND TANYA MAKES OUR TRAPEZE. IT'S VERY D.I.Y., AND THAT GIVES US A LOT OF FREEDOM AND CONTROL. LAST YEAR, FOR THE FIRST TIME, WE STARTED DOING STREET FESTIVALS WHICH IS A WHOLE OTHER BALL OF WAX - REALLY QUITE TERRIFYING AT FIRST. IT MAKES YOU A MUCH QUICKER PERFORMER. WE USE A LOT OF WHAT WE LEARNED ON THE STREET IN OUR THEATER SHOWS NOW. WE DO GIGS WITH THIS GREAT LESBIAN CRUISE COMPANY WHICH MAY ALTER THE ANGLE OF SOME OF OUR MATERIAL, AND NOW WE'RE IN EDINBURGH DOING THE FIRNGE FESTIVAL – LOTS OF RAIN AND PERFORMING IN THESE OLD STONE CAVES UNDER THE CITY WHERE THEY SENT PEOPLE WHO CONTRACTED THE PLAGUE BACK IN THE DAY. IT'S A BEAUTIFUL STONE ROOM WITH VAULTED CEILINGS, A WEIRD HISTORY…AND A LOT OF DRUNKEN SCOTS.

Alex: You both are so dynamic with your various abilities. Do you ladies individually specialize in any component of your show? Is one the creative one and the other the athletic training NAZI?

Tanya: Yes, we both grew up studying dance and theater and doing gymnastics. And we were both jocks in High School. Adrienne, my Sis, even went to college on a field hockey scholarship. I was offered one for Soccer, but I decided to go with the Dramatic Writing Scholarship instead. I started training solo and flying trapeze 15 years ago in New York, London and France while Adrienne joined in studying Doubles Trapeze about 10 years ago. We both share equally the creative and athletic parts of the show.

Alex: What do you want your audience to say about what they experienced?

Tanya: We hope to surprise them, and a little jaw-dropping and blushing ain't too bad either. Many people have trouble describing what we do and I like that. It should be a smorgasbourg to the senses, sneaking up and nipping you in the ass kind of experience. It's like Cirque du Soliel meets Laugh-In or Lucille Ball. It's Cirque du T-n-A. One guy said it's like The Vagina Monologues on acid. I like that. It's the best ho-down you'll go to all year!

Alex: Are y’all lesbians? Because I am cool with that. My cousin is a lesbian and I used to be one...HA!

Tanya: I can't speak for my Sis, but I identify as BI. I love women and men…and my Sister very well. I mean A LOT. I mean as much as I can. And as my Sis always says, "I don't think it's gay if you're related!"

Don’t miss the Wau Wau Sisters on October 2nd and 3rd at the Kentucky Center. I guarantee you’ll never see anything like it!

 By Alex Craig