Sat. Sept. 26

Modern burlesque. A feminist statement? A soft-core turnon in a hardcore-at-your-fingertips age? Well, it's a big deal in Boston and Boston Babydolls are on the the leading troupes. Mr. Scratch, who mcs, it all promises the Sat. Sept. 26 show at Arlington Center for the Arts to be "a circus spectacular with that hint of spice that only New England's leading burlesque troupe can add!" This is billed under the name of Buxom & Bawdy's Flirting Circus, which we're guessing is a Babydoll subdivision or something, and we like the nod to Monty Pyton. Scratch promises "a jaw-dropping combination of the best in big top acts and the classic bumping and grinding burlesque that has made The Boston Babydolls the best known burlesque troupe in the north east! You may have been to the circus ... and you may have seen burlesque before — but you've never seen anything like Buxom & Bawdy's Flirting Circus" Ok, so he speaks - and e-mails - like a carnival barker but that's what he's supposed to do.

Specifics, Scratch, c'mon: "Extra-ordinary acts of Skill and Daring: Ol' Scratch mystifies you! The high-flying Dominque Immora! The Amazing Baz towers over you on stilts! Zehara Nachash and her serpentine companions!you'll enjoy the ministrations of regulars like Miss Mina, who promises to put spice in your cider, the six-foot tall Betty Blaize who combines burlesque and showgirl traditions." The Babydolls mission statement: "To recreate a golden age of burlesque that never really existed."
Show at 8 p.m.Tix: $12.

41 Foster St. Arlington, 800-838-3006 www.BrownPaperTickets.com