Le Serpent Rouge

Rex Theatre

Tonight, 7 p.m.

$17/$20

Ages 21… Le Serpent Rouge

Rex Theatre

Tonight, 7 p.m.

$17/$20

Ages 21 and older

rextheatre.com

Le Serpent Rouge is French for “the red snake.” But tonight, it will mean a hybrid of music and movement for the city of Pittsburgh.

The Le Serpent Rouge Tour brings together three acts not commonly seen together on one stage.

The tour features The Crow Quill Night Owls, who make music with instruments such as banjos and harmonicas to odds and ends like washboards and spokes of a bicycle.

Adding to the lineup are The Gallus Brothers, Devin Champlin and Lucas Hicks, who are known for adding humor to their variety of music.

Last but not least are the ladies of The Indigo: Rachel Brice, Mardi Love and Zoe Jakes. These three are known for their innovative style of belly dancing and 1920s burlesque.

According to Brice, founder of The Indigo, an arrangement as diverse as this can only mean one thing — a good time.

“It’s not really a sit down, be quiet and hold your hat kind of show,” Brice said, explaining that a Le Serpent Rouge show is more involved. From experience in past tours, she warned that “people go kind of nuts.”

Fellow belly dancer Love, who has been with The Indigo for five years, calls Le Serpent Rouge a variety show.

Yes, The Indigo has a belly dance background, but “we went for more of a variety show feel in collaboration with these musicians so that we can appeal to a larger audience,” Love said.

“In total there are seven performers,” Brice said. “And we all wear different hats during the show.”

Audiences can expect The Gallus Brothers to somehow manage to perform acrobats while simultaneously juggling and telling jokes to the rhythm provided by The Crow Quill Night Owls.

Afterward, the four performers will join together to form a quartet that plays ragtime country blues.

Brice explained that The Indigo’s contribution to the show is intricate as well. “Sometimes we play music, sometimes we do burlesque with props, sometimes we belly dance and sometimes we even sing a little bit,” she said.

“Our aesthetic has sort of a 1920s, 1930s and vintage cabaret feel,” Love said. She added that since the trio’s acts tend to borrow a lot from the early twentieth century, it was only right to incorporate The Gallus Brothers and The Crow Quill Night Owls.

“Their music is also music that we love so we wanted to share that by exposing [audiences] to our show,” Love said.

“I think the show is pretty unique,” she said, adding that most of the belly dancing shows she has been exposed to have been strictly centered on belly dancing and its surrounding culture.

“They are shows that tend to either not have live musicians or tend to strictly play music suited for belly dancing,” Love said.

“This show is a collaboration with musicians who aren’t after that,” she said. “We find [The Gallus Brothers and The Crow Quill Night Owl] to be very talented performers who we’re excited to work with,” she said.

For Brice, belly dancing is first and foremost, but she loves that Le Serpent Rouge offers a wide spectrum and a variety of different acts. “As a performer, I love doing belly dance, but I also love watching the crazy antics that go on and listening to the music,” she said.

Though in the past she’s seen shows that range from strictly belly dancing to those of Vaudevillian style, she said Le Serpent Rouge is a show like no other. “I’ve never actually seen a show quite like this one because it involves so many different elements,” she said.

Love calls the show a “well-rounded bucket of entertainment.” She added that she thinks the tour has been received well thus far.

“In most of the reviews I’ve seen people are excited that it wasn’t just two hours of straight belly dance,” she said. “In general, I think people find the bands quite delightful as well.”

Love encourages the Pittsburgh area to come to the show to “see something a little different than they typically see.” She says she can “almost guarantee” that statement. What she can definitely guarantee is that this tour raises the bar for traveling shows.

“The music is great, the performers are incredibly entertaining and the dancers are very good at what they do,” she said.