The World Famous Pontani Sisters are a dance act and

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, consisting of three sisters:

Angie Pontani Angela Pontani is a contemporary burlesque dancer, choreographer, producer, and blogger based in Brooklyn, New York. She was crowned Miss Exotic World Pageant, Miss Exotic World in 2008. Biography Andrea Louisa Pontani is originally from Trento ...

, Tara Pontani, and Helen Pontani. They have been billed more recently as Angie Pontani and the World Famous Pontani Sisters. The three sisters, who had danced and performed informally since childhood, got their professional start during the late 1990s swing revival craze, as a side act of the popular swing band The Flying Neutrinos. They have since taken part in burlesque-style performances and revues on the East Coast and throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The sisters dance in a wide and eclectic variety of styles covering much of twentieth century dance, but often in a high-energy "

go-go Go-go is a music subgenre, subgenre of funk music with an emphasis on specific rhythmic patterns, and live audience Call and response (music), call and response. Go-go was originated by African-American musicians in the Washington, D.C. area du ...

" style to instrumental

Rock and Roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

. The sisters perform in a variety of exotic costumes featuring ostrich feathers, tassels, sequins, and fancy headdresses, many of which they design themselves. The act was conceived by performer/costume designer/choreographer Angie Pontani, the youngest of the three dancing sisters. She described the beginnings of the act in an interview: "The Pontani Sisters were literally born dancing on the boardwalk in Coney Island. I had been performing in a burlesque show in Manhattan almost direct from high school. When that show closed, I didn't know what to do with myself, so I turned my curtains into costumes, made three headdresses out of my

plastic fruit Food models (''shokuhin sampuru''), also known as fake foods or food samples are a model or replica of a food item made from plastic, wax, resin or similar material. These models are commonly used in restaurant street displays in Japan to represen ...

kitchen table centerpiece, threw them on my sisters and we went to Coney Island and danced on the boardwalk. Within a month we were performing four nights a week throughout NYC. It was really kismet." There is also a younger sister in the family named Dana, who, according to the Pontanis' official website, occasionally performs with her sisters as a singer. The sisters have toured

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and the United States extensively, often with

Los Straitjackets Los Straitjackets is an American instrumental rock band that formed in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, in 1988. Originally comprising guitarists Danny Amis (formerly of the Raybeats), Eddie Angel and drummer L. J. "Jimmy" Lester under the na ...

. The Pontanis appear on the cover of the Los Straitjackets album ''Twist Party!!!'', also credited to "Los Straitjackets with the World Famous Pontani Sisters and Kaiser George", and appear on an accompanying DVD. They have performed several times with Los Straitjackets on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

''. The Pontani Sisters were the subject of a 2004 documentary film by Rebecca Shapiro, '' Showy and Five Foot Two.'' The Sisters have released two DVDs combining dance instruction with

aerobic Aerobic means "requiring air," in which "air" usually means oxygen. Aerobic may also refer to * Aerobic exercise, prolonged exercise of moderate intensity * Aerobics, a form of aerobic exercise * Aerobic respiration, the aerobic process of cellu ...

exercise- "Go-Go Robics" & "Go Go Robics II". Since 2008, Angie Pontani has also been performing as a solo artist, and all three World Famous Pontani Sisters have been prominently involved in a movement to save historic

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

in New York from developers.SAVE CONEY ISLAND, PONTANI STYLE! , This Is Burlesque
The Pontani Sisters were awarded the title, "Best NY Based Dance Company", in 2002 by Show Business Weekly, "Best Super Hot Dancing Trio", by The Village Voice in 2006 as well as "#1 Burlesque Attraction in the Nation" in 2006 by AOL.com.

Footnotes

External links

Pontani Sisters website
*Paul Harri
Who said burlesque was dead?
Guardian {{DEFAULTSORT:Pontani Sisters, The World Famous American neo-burlesque performers Women in New York City 21st-century American dancers