If you’re looking for a different type of workout, or an exciting way to celebrate a special occasion, it’s time to consider Scenic City Burlesque.
Relax, folks. This form of burlesque is not the tawdry striptease act many think it is.
True burlesque is a performance art featuring stylized striptease, cabaret, and satire, focusing on glamour, comedy, and audience interaction. It has evolved into a popular form of artistic self-expression.
It’s this art form Dorothy Demure embraces as she seeks to share this unique version of story-telling that combines everything she loves - theater, music, art, and costumes.
Demure founded Scenic City Burlesque and, for the past four years, the group has been entertaining the community while also offering pole fitness classes at her Hixson Pike studio.
I have an art background,” she said. “I have a master's degree in art, and art history and a minor in women's studies. We're all about female empowerment. That's what we base ourselves on.”
Demure started offering burlesque parties about 10 years ago with a friend.
“At first it was just bachelorette and birthday parties for ladies and to celebrate,” she said. “We still do birthday parties, bachelorette parties, divorce parties, girls’ night out parties and anything to celebrate women.”
Demure said there is a major misconception when it comes to burlesque.
“Burlesque is not striptease,” she said. “That's what everybody thinks it is. It is a part of it. But we focus more on the costume and storytelling. It's an amazing form of entertainment. It brings people together.”
She said Scenic City Burlesque has performed at several events and locations throughout the city. They also host performances at the studio so their fitness students can showcase their talents.
“We have surgeons, doctors., teachers, nurses and a variety of professionals,” she said. “So, when we host a student showcase, we invite their family and friends. Moms come to watch their daughters. Husbands come to watch their wives.”
The studio is another example of just how important art and creativity are at the forefront of the group. Brightly painted pink walls, large murals, ornate and vintage items, eclectic decorations all of which match Demure’s charismatic and outgoing personality.
“All of it's been thrifted and gifted,” she said. “Everything in this place came from Goodwill or the side of the road, or somebody's grandmama getting rid of stuff. Most of the murals were done by local artist Olivia Reckert. She came to the studio at the tail end of the COVID pandemic and started taking classes.”
Reckert painted several of the murals inside the expansive studio which Demure calls a safe space.
“This is our safe sanctuary place for women to hang out and do fitness and be creative and have a community,” she said.
The group does welcome men but most people who take her pole fitness class are women.
The entrance to the studio is set up for community gatherings.
“We have a book club, and we hold book club meetings,” she said about the front entrance. “And we have an art bar.”
She said the group is currently reading a book by a pioneer burlesque entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee.
“She was a burlesque dancer, but also an author,” she said. “She wrote a book called The G-String Murders. We will meet up at the end of April; we’ll discuss the book and then we're going to do a dance to her music.”
She compares her fitness class to Pilates, a full body workout that incorporates strength and flexibility.
“We call it Pole-lates where you use the pole to help you stretch,” she said.
She added they teach a variety of classes. A typical class is roughly an hour. Saturday classes are two hours long.
“We take about 30- 40 minutes to learn new things, and then we put it together with choreography,” she said. “We do fitness through dance. To me that’s why it's called pole dancing. It's not, it's not pole tricking. We don't just try to do tricks on the pole. It's all about dancing, together as women.”
She said you can burn a lot of calories with this workout.
“I don't know exactly how many calories, but it is a total body fitness workout,” she said. “We've had women who added our class to their gym fitness routine and have lost 80-90 pounds. It is ab work, core work, leg work, flexibility, dance and cardio all in one hour.”
Beginners can attend baby steps classes where you learn basics moves and build a strong foundation. Clients interested in taking a class can purchase a 10-class punch card or a 6-class punch card.
“And you've got three months to use it, and you can come to any and all classes, and you just re-up when you're ready,” she said.
The fitness studio is equipped with poles and can accommodate 12 students per class.
Most of the classes are held in the late afternoon and at night to accommodate people who work during the day. Private classes are also available by appointment.
Dorothy Presley said she drove by the studio on her way to go swimming at the YMCA and noticed the bright pink curtains on the door.
“I'm like, what is that building with the pink door?” Presley said. “I Googled it. I called.”
Presley has been with the group for three years now assisting Demure with students and events.
“I was hooked from day one,” she said.
Presley said the most challenging aspect of her training was to learn to trust herself.
“Not necessarily my strength, but myself,” she said. “And what I like to help women with is to build confidence in themselves. We all have critiques and personal comments about our own body versus what other people see when they look at us.”
Presley said she doesn’t swim at the YMCA anymore and practices doing laps on the pole instead.
“I'm the daredevil of the bunch,” she said.
The best way to book a class or hire Scenic City Burlesque for a show is through their Instagram Page at instagram.com/sceniccityburlesque/.
Scenic City Burlesque is hosting a show on Saturday April 18, 2026, at their studio. The show entitled The Awakening A Showcase of Abundance is at 8 p.m. Advance ticket purchases is $20 or $30 on the night of the event.
Scenic City Burlesque/Party Girls Dance & Fitness Studio
- 1101 Hixson Pike, Suite A, Chattanooga, TN
- (423) 596-9770
- www.sceniccityburlesque.com