In the beginning, there was burlesque - beautiful scenery festooned with even more beautiful, barely clad women. There wasn't much plot but there were a lot of musical dance numbers in these elaborate variety shows.

And then came vaudeville around the first of the last century, and burlesque morphed into striptease, with usually no more than one thin pastie between the dancers and the law.

Then came movies and then talkies, and as far as burlesque was concerned, all bets were off. By the early '30s, burlesque was considered seedy and best-be-forgotten theater.

Until the recent rebirth of burlesque, that is, courtesy of dancers like those sequined real-life New Jersey siblings, the World Famous Pontani Sisters - Angie, Helen and Tara. They are appearing tonight at Real Art Ways' inaugural "Creative Cocktail Hour," celebrating the opening of the arts venue's Real Room, a new exhibition/ performance space, and the Loading Dock Lounge. The sisters, in their mid- to late-20s, have traveled the globe, earning a designation as the "Best New York-Based Dance Company" by Show Business Weekly.

And they've garnered the attention of television networks. A chat with Angie:

Q: Your website says you and your sisters have been entertaining the masses since birth. You weren't wearing sequined diapers, were you?

A: Actually, we were. We come from the school of old-fashioned dance recitals that were like MGM Technicolor musicals, so sequined diapers, sure!

Q: When did the Pontani Sisters as a burlesque act first hit the stage?

A: Probably about three years ago now, but we had always danced. I've been dancing in the city since I was about 17 in different off-Broadway musicals and performance things like that. This is insanely fun.

Q: When did you become "World Famous," and is there a hyphen between "world" and "famous?"

A: No, there's no hyphen. I think we were automatically world famous. The Internet helps, and we do a lot of traveling. We've pretty much hit the entire country.

Q: How difficult has it been to bring glamour back into entertainment?

A: It's been a little difficult. It's been a bit of a challenge. It was an incredibly tough sell. Nobody really knew what burlesque meant. We started performing in a lot of nightclubs, and people were thinking `stripper.' Or the owners would say, `This is a bar; we have bands; we don't have dancers.' This was a very thin line that was difficult to cross, but now people will tell us, `I know a burlesque troupe in Detroit' or Baltimore. It's really been in the last two years we've heard that.

Q: Is there such a thing as the Burlesque Revolution?

A: I think it's happening right now. I think it's a backlash against the reality television world we're living in. People in this generation aren't used to seeing live performers entertain. It's like an old musical to me. It's a live, over-the-top performance. It's nothing serious, nothing heavy. It's about having a good time. I think people are ready for something where you don't have to think.

Q: Your website says you use a sequined toothbrush. Is that hard to brush with?

A: No, it's not. You get used to it. And the sequins are only on the handle.

Q: Have you a favorite routine? The can-can? The shimmy-shimmy? The naughty fan dance?

A: Our favorite routine is the Apache, like the tribe. We actually got all the costumes from the Cherokee reservation in the Smokey Mountains. It's totally authentic, basically a war dance.

Q: Now would be a good time to plug your Go-Go Robics exercise video.

A: Yes! It's a 40-minute dance workout and video where you learn all the moves we perform in our '60s-inspired routines. You actually learn one of our routines.

Q: Traditional burlesque acts used elaborate sets. Do you?

A: We travel so much, we really don't use too many sets. We have humongous costumes with two huge rolling costumes trunks. One's full of headdresses and feathers, 25 pairs of shoes and gloves. We did a month out in Las Vegas. It would be great to have a big fabulous show where we would have different sets, an underwater tank, waterfalls, Why not?

Q: At the risk of sounding like a pervert, what does a burlesque queen wear on her day off? What are you wearing right now?

A: I have on a red leisure suit with pink sneakers.