ANDY WARHOL'S KISS THE BOOT

to WINTER 1966: ANDY WARHOL FILMS KISS THE BOOT

Gerard's whip dance was part of Warhol's The Exploding Plastic Inevitable show which featured Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground. Malanga "gyrated wildly, in what he described as 'a cross between the Frug and an Egyptian belly dance', while brandishing his whip." (As a teenager, Gerard had danced regularly on the 'Big Beat' television show)

Malanga originally perfomed the whip dance with Edie Sedgwick, but as her relationship to the Warhol crowd became more tenuous, she was replaced with Mary Woronov. Velvet Underground band member Sterling Morrison recalled that while the Velvets played Venus in Furs, "Malanga knelt on the stage and kissed Mary Woronov's black leather boots...'"

Gerard Malanga:

"Mary was someone I invented, put a whip in her hand and spread her name around and made her a star..."

Warhol's film of them performing their dance was meant to be a "promotional preparation for a poetry reading of Venus in Furs by Malanga at New York's Folklore Center."

The only technical details available for the film is that it was filmed in 16mm and starred Gerard Malanga and Mary Woronov. It is unknown how long the film lasted. (BN84)

"Kiss the boot of shiny shiny leather
Shiny leather in the dark
Tongue the thongs, the belt that does
await you
Strike dear mistress and cure his
heart."
[lyrics from Venus in Furs by Lou Reed]

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