Article by Anne Levin
Newhouse News Service

All the world's a stage for the World Famous Pontani Sisters of Trenton, N.J.

The campy dance trio is part of a burlesque revival that began in New York about a decade ago and has turned into a bona fide boom. There are burlesque shows in New York on almost any given night, at places with names like the Slipper Room and Kate Valentine's Va Va Voom Room.

The Pontanis - Angie, 28, Tara, 29, and Helen, 30 - are right in the middle of it - playing clubs, appearing on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" (five times) and Fox's "Good Day New York," teaching "GoGorobics" (their blend of burlesque and go- go) and appearing at the Tease- O-Rama conventions celebrating burlesque, go-go and vaudeville.

The sisters' act is sexy, but their wide-eyed, broad smiles add a certain touch of ingenuousness. They know their moves - every shimmy is choreographed; every kick is concise.

Burlesque was born in the late 19th century and was popular into the middle of the 20th century. Many people think burlesque is a fancy word for strip ping, but the sisters don't incorporate that into their act.

"There is no stripping, no nudity - but it's flashy," Angie Pontani says in a telephone interview from a tour stop in Canada. "It's glamorous. We wear rhinestones, we do mambos and can-cans and tap dancing. Burlesque has a satirical element - that's what makes it burlesque."

"Entertainment has become very contrived," adds Helen Pontani. "And burlesque has a raw element. Things are so serious these days, and people want to go out and have fun."

The Pontanis' repertoire is diverse. Their routines include "Mambo Italiano," inspired by Carmen Miranda and her towering fruit headdresses; "I Wanna Be a Lifeguard," a 1920s bathing- beauty tap routine; and "Rat Pack," described on their Web site as "a vintage Vegas showgirl routine with pounds of plumage and mile-high headdresses."

Angie Pontani had wanted to be an actress. "I was really into musicals, but the stuff I like doesn't really exist anymore," she says.

As young adults, the Pontani sisters moved from Trenton to New York. Angie attended New York University for a while, but left to pursue work in off-Broad way shows and revues. Helen took classes in different dance techniques - from those of Katherine Dunham to Martha Graham - at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center.

Tara left dance altogether to earn a graduate degree from Columbia in social work and special education.

"I got hired to choreograph a stage show for a popular swing band called the Flying Neutrinos," recalls Angie. "I wanted to do an old-fashioned stage show with dancing girls. Helen came on board, and we had these great numbers with amazing costumes. For fun, we asked Tara to join us."

The crowd at the midtown Manhattan club Swing 46 was enthusiastic, and the World Famous Pontani Sisters were born.

The Pontanis make their own costumes. "We learned sewing from our grandmother and our mother," Angie says. "It just kind of runs in the family. We always had very crazy Halloween costumes."

At each show and on their Web site (www.pontanisisters.com ), the sisters sell a slew of items - a makeup book titled "Makeup by Number," their "GoGorobics" video, knitted hats and T-shirts among them.