- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
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."
M.Fischer--AMWN