Security was lax, promo items for sale (like the calendar) were shoddily produced and food was so-so, but none of that took away from the excellence in Mirell's performance. I found the choice of some of the songs odd (or too literal, like having dancers dressed in black for Black Magic Woman) and male dancers distracting (one guy was doing John Rambo by way of John Travola in Staying Alive), but again, Lola and I were here for Mirell, and she did not disappoint. Lola said Mirell hates performing the more "provocative" dance numbers, w/c I found ironic she was in almost all of them. A particular favorite was the schoolgirl number danced to a remake of Yakap Sa Dilim. Brief and amusing intermissions came in the form of stagehands who quickly climbed the poles w/ rags in hand to wipe them down. They're like the pole dancing equivalent of the guys who wipe the sweat off the basketball courts during playtime.
The center pole --which was bolted from floor to ceiling, but still wobbled-- took the most punishment, from the belly dancers that dry-humped it to the sexy heifers (pronounced HEH-fer) that climbed it like a rope ladder hanging from a helicopter. I then realized why pole most dancers had thick thighs: all that cellulite is needed to get a better grip on the pole when they attempt their Cirque du Soleil-like balancing acts on it. Mirell was again the exception, as her "hams" were fitter than Vina Morales' abs. Still, I think none of them escaped any bruising to their inner thighs, w/c would probably make those guys from Law&Order: SVU cringe if interpreted the wrong way. After the show we had a nightcap at Starbucks, where Mirell showed us her slightly blackened palms. Dirty Dancing, indeed.
