- Bagnaia eyeing summit on home ground in 100th MotoGP
- 'Something was wrong', defendant in French mass rape tells court
- Hezbollah chief admits 'unprecedented' blow in device blasts
- Sales of US existing homes slip slightly in August
- Fear, panic haunt Lebanese after devices explode
- Labuschagne sparks Australia fightback in England ODI opener
- S.Africa's HIV research power couple says fight goes on
- Why is Israel focusing on border with Lebanon?
- Mpox vaccines administered in Rwanda, first in Africa
- US Fed rate cut is 'very positive sign' for economy: Yellen
- Unknown Mozart string trio discovered in Germany
- 'Are we five-year-olds?' F1 drivers won't mind their language
- Brazil judge orders X to reimpose block or face hefty fine
- Munich to rename stadium street after Beckenbauer
- Champions Italy to face Argentina in Davis Cup Final 8
- The winding, fitful path to weight loss drug Ozempic
- Italians defeat American Magic to reach Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Norris has 'nothing to lose' as he hunts Verstappen in Singapore
- Kyiv 'outraged' at Swiss showing of Russian war film
- French city renames Abbe Pierre square after abuse claims
- Footballer charged after huge cannabis seizure at UK airport
- Vatican recognises Medjugorje shrine, but not Virgin's messages
- Israel bombs Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon after wave of deadly blasts
- Bank of England freezes rate after jumbo US cut
- Playing Nadal is 'kind of a nightmare', says Alcaraz
- Portugal tackles last of deadly northern forest fires
- Ton-up Ashwin lifts India to 339-6 against Bangladesh
- Departing NATO chief warns US against 'isolationism'
- Coming winter 'sternest test yet' for Ukraine energy grid
- Evacuations as tail of Storm Boris floods northeast Italy
- Lebanon's Hezbollah reeling after second wave of deadly blasts
- Taiwan recognises same-sex marriages between Chinese, Taiwanese
- Stock markets rally after jumbo US rate cut
- Gabon's ousted leader Bongo says renouncing politics for good
- Lebanon device blasts: what we know about deadly attacks
- Equity markets rally after jumbo US rate cut
- Late Harrods owner Al-Fayed accused of rape: BBC
- Hong Kong man sentenced 14 months for wearing 'seditious' T-shirt
- Lebanon's Hezbollah in disarray after second wave of deadly blasts
- Equity markets, yen rally after jumbo US rate cut
- Meta and Spotify blast EU decisions on AI
- Hasan takes three as Bangladesh rattle India in first Test
- Two killed during police operation in New Caledonia
- Flood-hit region leaders to meet in Poland to discuss EU aid
- Sri Lanka to vote in first poll since economic collapse
- Hong Kong probe finds Cathay Airbus defect could cause 'extensive' damage
- AI development cannot be left to market whim, UN experts warn
- All Blacks primed for 'hell' of a Wallabies clash
- Japan firm says no longer makes radio reportedly used in Lebanon blasts
- Zoom fatigue? Try some nature in your background: study
American burlesque meets Mexican wrestling in Lucha VaVOOM
Veronica Yune hangs upside down over the stage as she slowly undresses; below, wrestlers "Sexi" and "Mexi" gyrate their hips and steel themselves to face Dirty Sanchez in the ring.
Welcome to the carnival world of Lucha VaVOOM, a flamboyant mix of American burlesque and Mexican wrestling.
"Blood is coursing through our veins!" says Serafina, a stilt dancer wearing a red corset and a huge bell skirt from which emerge the emcees who open this troupe's first performance in Los Angeles after a two-year pandemic hiatus.
The audience that fills the Mayan Theater knows exactly what they are getting; many are seasoned veterans of the spectacle.
"It's my seventh show," says Clix, an artist who uses one name, who has traveled from Arizona and is marking the occasion with a souvenir T-shirt.
"Vavoom is a lifestyle, it's a call to embrace freedom of expression," explains Serafina.
"We are alive!" she shouts, grabbing a heart-topped cane as a prop for this Valentine's Day-themed show.
The loose story that the evening presents resembles the plot of a romantic comedy, but with a modern twist.
That romance finds echoes in the real lives of those on stage.
More than two decades ago, Liz Fairbairn abandoned her comfortable American life and headed for Mexico, following a wrestler she had met on a movie set in California.
The relationship ended, but the love affair with wrestling endured, says Fairbairn, who embraced the show and brought it home.
Convinced she needed something a little special to make Mexican wrestling work in Los Angeles, she partnered with a burlesque troupe.
"We thought that if we drew the audience to see the burlesque, they would see the wrestling, too, and love it. And they did," says Fairbairn, sitting in a stunning yellow chair surrounded by hearts.
- Hair and makeup -
When Covid-19 began tearing through the United States in early 2020, public venues across California were shut down, and the entire cast was sent home.
"I practiced at home. It was like continuing to practice to be ready to come back," says Veronica Yune, as a stylist adjusts the pink wig that tops off her vintage look.
"I dreamed a lot about Lucha VaVOOM performances," says Serafina. "It's an honor to be back on this stage."
The dressing room where the performers put the final touches to their characters smells of spray and singed hair as stylists fashion improbable coifs and outlandish wigs.
Makeup artists stick on huge false eyelashes and garnish eyes with dramatic lines.
In among the stretching dancers there are feathers, glitter and discarded lingerie, as well as the occasional wrestler slathering oil on toned muscles.
During the shutdown, the cast worked on other projects but mostly without an audience.
"It was super hard," says Taya Valkyrie, a former WWE wrestler.
"(The spectators) are part of the show, they give me their energy and I give them mine. It's an interaction," she explains as she swishes a huge black cape around her shoulders.
Valkyrie refuses to speak her native English during an interview with AFP.
"If we're going to talk about wrestling, it has to be in Spanish," she insists.
Taya is the only wrestler who fights without a mask, a defining element of the genre.
Mystery is non-negotiable for the entire cast of Lucha VaVOOM -- the dancers will only say they are "timeless" when asked their age and the wrestlers never step outside their roles.
"The magic of the character I bring is what's important to people," says El Chupacabra, a wrestler inspired by a folklore character who resembles a reptile and is known for attacking cattle and fowl.
His opponents tonight are The Crazy Chickens. Unfortunately, they proved impossible to interview, emitting barely a cluck when questioned, and nothing that resembled either English or Spanish.
On stage, audience favorite Dirty Sanchez is screaming into the microphone, promising an action-packed night.
"I'm going to hurt people," he shouts.
For Arizona-based fan Clix, it is manna from heaven.
"During the pandemic, my heart was broken. Two years without Vavoom was like hell. But now I'm back on Cloud Nine."
O.Bulka--BTB