By Nicole Gleeson
On a cold February evening, I went to see the sex worker cabaret, Sexquisite. The show opened with an aerial hoopist twirling around and around to Christina Aguilera’s ‘Hurt’, bathed in light by the giant pink heart which illuminates the back wall of Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club.
They were followed by a dancer dressed like a Barbie spinning round a pole to Katy Perry’s ‘I Kissed A Girl’ as her girlfriend cheered her on from a front row seat. The crowd were shy at first but were soon won over by the charming host April Fiasco, and made their pre-paid fake dollars rain down on the stage.
It wasn’t all pop music and poles, though; the evening also allowed for moments of reflection, with lived-experience led poetry readings and talks advocating for sex workers’ rights – most notably, from the founder of Sexquisite, Maedb Joy.
By Nicole Gleeson