madonna blond ambition tour hair

Madonna Wore At Least 3 Different Hairstyles on the Opening Night of Her Tour

By Kara Nesvig

Madonna is back, baby! The Queen of Pop just kicked off her massive Celebration tour in London, and in true Madonna fashion, she left absolutely no detail unnoticed, including her many hairstyles. (Oh, and she's also back to her signature bright blonde , so there's that too.)

As the name of the tour suggests, the show is a celebration of Madonna's entire career — the '80s pop tartlet, the '90s glam girl, the Ray of Light spirituality, and everything in between. The musician, who has long been known for her powers of transformation, switched up her hairstyles as a nod to some of those iconic eras and, once again, I'm left speechless by the power of backstage glam teams to make such big changes so fast. Let's check out the main looks from the Celebration tour, created by Madonna's longtime hairstylist Andy Lecompte , shall we? (Spoiler alert: If you're trying to avoid secrets from the show, do not scroll down!) 

Madonna opened the show with her Ray of Light song “Nothing Really Matters” and wore her hair in loose, free-flowing waves reminiscent of that era for a portion of the show. Her hair was parted in the center for a hippie-ish vibe with subtle dark roots and styled in easy waves down her back and shoulders, perfect for dancing. If you look closely, it appears she added a pop of yellow to the mid-lengths near her ears. 

Later, the Material Girl threw it back to her '90s Dick Tracy and Vogue period with a short, super-curly Marilyn Monroe-inspired bob , dramatically parted to one side and curled in big, fluffy ringlets. At one point in this segment, she had an intimate moment with a dancer who wore a high, braided ponytail reminiscent of the one Madge donned during her Blonde Ambition tour, as though in 2023 she was revisiting her past self.

By Aliza Kelly

By Patricia Alfonso Tortolani

By Michelle Rostamian

As if the waves-to-curls, long-to-short change-up wasn't enough, there was yet another transformation in store: an extra-long, pin-straight blonde style with just the teeniest, softest hint of pink . When paired with a mirrored silver bodysuit, Madonna looked every bit the powerful, trailblazer she is.  Each style she wore onstage, as simple as they may seem, was a reminder of how influential she has been: Without her, would we even have the “eras” of today's pop girls? Of course, this is Madonna we're talking about, so there are probably more hairstyling surprises in store for the rest of the tour.

More from Madge:

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11 memorable madonna hairstyles.

Madonna hairstyles we love including her most recent 'super blood wolf moon' hair.

Pop sensation Madonna has reinvented herself more times than we can count, with each new era revealing a whole new hairstyle to match. From her ‘ 80s wild child vibes to Marilyn Monroe-inspired curls  (and even the occasional foray into  darker hair colours ), she’s always been famous for her hair.

And since the Queen of Pop turns 60 this year, what better occasion to take a trip down memory lane and reminisce over some of her best looks?

Click through the Madonna hair gallery, above, for a sneak peek at some of our personal highlights or keep on reading to learn more about each look. How many of them you can remember from over the years?

1985 – Side ponytail goals

Probably one of Madonna’s most iconic looks of all time, it’s only fitting that we start things off with one of her trademark ’80s styles.

Along with stars like Cyndi Lauper, Madonna took the side ponytail and not only made it cool again, but made it the hairstyle of the moment.

1988 – Madonna with short hair

A host of leading ladies like  Christina Aguilera , Miley Cyrus and Kate Upton have all played dress up as Marilyn Monroe over the years, but Madonna’s short hair was the first to spark the trend with this lookalike style. Paying homage to the actress with cropped blonde curls and a slick of red lipstick, she’s a total bombshell!

Editor’s tip:  This look commands lifted, voluminous curls, so a mousse is a must. Apply a handful of the Bed Head Rockaholic Amped Up Volumizing Mousse , concentrating it on the roots where the extra height is needed.

1989 – Madonna with dark hair

We tend to think of Madonna as a through-and-through blonde , but this hasn’t always been the case. The Material Girl  is actually a natural brunette (who knew?!) and in 1989 she traded her platinum ‘do for something a little closer to her natural hue, rocking a chocolate-brown shade for her  Like A Prayer  music video.

Madonna’s dark hair gave her a more natural, fresh-faced appeal which she must have been a fan of, as she has returned to the dark side several times since!

1990 – Madonna with long hair in a ponytail

How could we do a round-up of Madge’s best mane moments and not mention this ponytail of dreams? During her 1990 Blonde Ambition tour, Madonna introduced the world to one of her most iconic looks ever with her conical bra and high-impact braided ponytail .

The clip-on ponytail she wore recently sold for £12,000 at auction, so it’s safe to say the world is still just as Hung Up over this style as ever!

1997 – Lots of layers

Thanks to the power of the  Rachel Green effect, the ’90s were all about face-framing layers and textured cuts. Staying true to the trend of the moment, Madonna accepted her 1997 Golden Globe Award for Evita with softly curled layers and a sweeping side fringe, showing off her natural beauty.

2007 – Classy curls

Proving that you don’t have to have flowing locks to Express Yourself,  Madonna rocked these short, bob -length Hollywood waves  for a red carpet premiere.

With a chic centre parting and honey blonde hue, this flirty ‘do is super flattering look for the mother of six.

2009 – Retro backcombing

Always one step ahead of the trends, Madonna was a fan of  backcombing long before the rest of us caught on to the Brigitte Bardot trend.

This sky-high bouffant and blown-out layers combo screams ’60s glam, but somehow she still manages to make it look modern and fresh. Jealous, us?! Never…

Editor’s tip: Fancy giving Madonna’s ’60s style a try? Prep your strands with a volumising dry shampoo (like the TIGI Bed Head Oh Bee Hive! Dry Shampoo ), before backcombing to help boost limp locks at the roots for gravity-defying volume!

2013 – Blunt bob at the Met Ball

Never the retiring wallflower, Madonna committed to the  punk theme of the 2013 Met Ball  with this edgy get-up. With a sharp brunette bob and statement  micro fringe , it’s safe to say Madonna with black hair is a winning combo!

2016 – Boho waves

As you’ve seen, Madonna is far from shy when it comes to playing around with her look. Yet in recent years, she’s traded in her wild child card for a more demure  bohemian -inspired vibe.

Madonna’s long hair with  grown-out roots and kinky waves  makes this effortless look may be more pared back than her past endeavours but is certainly no less stylish!

Editor’s tip:  To recreate these lived-in waves for yourself, prep towel-dried, freshly-washed hair with a wave-enhancing product, such as the  Toni&Guy Wave Memorising Balm . Then divide your hair into sections and braid , leaving them to dry overnight.

When you wake up in the morning and take out your braids, you’ll be left with the soft, natural-looking waves that you’ve always dreamed of!

2018 – Goth queen vibes

Another Met Gala, another hairstyle for the history books. Fully embracing 2018’s Catholicism theme, the Queen of Pop showed off her regal status with this gothic queen look. Complete with black net veil , pigtail plaits and an ornate golden crown , she ruled the red carpet.

2019 – Super blood wolf moon hair

The last time we saw Madonna with dark hair was in 1999 and 2013! But, it seems the recent super blood wolf moon inspired the star to switch up her signature blonde style for something more mysterious…

Taking to Instagram to showcase her drastic new look, the icon sported noticeably short dark tresses , choosing to style them into sultry,  retro curls (anyone else getting Betty Boop vibes?).

While we aren’t 100% sure this look is real, like Madonna, we’re now definitely going to start looking to the stars for hair inspiration.

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Pose Reaches Peak Madonna: a Visual History of the 1990 Blond Ambition Tour

Pose has finally done it: the series has reached peak Madonna, and there is no turning back. After heavily referencing the superstar on each episode of season two, the obsession finally reached an apex with episode five . In “What Would Candy Do?” Ricky and Damon (played by Ryan Jamaal Swain ) are on the rocks relation-ship wise, and are both auditioning to be backup dancers for the Blond Ambition tour. Going head to head in a dance-off is certainly not helping them in the love department, but we, as viewers, do get some insight into the importance of the backup dancers on the iconic tour. Over the past decade, critics have accused other pop stars—like Lady Gaga—of copying Madonna, but the show makes clear that the Material Girl also did her fair share of “borrowing.” It’s no secret now—especially not in the ballroom world of Pose — that Madonna brought voguing to the mainstream when she co-opted the moves. But the question of appreciation versus appropriation comes up here, with Blanca on one side of the argument (she sees the popularization of voguing as useful and empowering) and Pray Tell on the other (he’s fearful of the subculture being siphoned). Looking back at the real Blond Ambition tour, which was immortalized in the documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare (and later in the 2016 doc Strike a Pose ), we can see that as much as that tour is known for Madonna’s famous Jean-Paul Gaultier cone bra , it was her dancers who made the whole spectacle culturally relevant. Pose aims to unpack that in this episode. If it weren’t for the queer men of color who danced on the tour, Blond Ambition would not have been as effective or as subversive. And neither would her music video for “Vogue”—a black-and-white David Fincher project that was as inspired by the ballroom scene as it was by Isaac Julien’s film Looking for Langston and the work of Bob Fosse . Here, a glimpse of what the tour looked like nearly 30 years ago—including scenes of backup dancers Luis Camacho, Oliver Crumes, Salim “Slam” Gauwloos, Jose Gutierez Xtravaganza, Kevin Stea, Gabriel Trupin and Carlton Wilborn.

Madonna poses with her backup dancers for Madonna: Truth or Dare . Photo courtesy Everett Collection.

Madonna performs with backup dancers in a Bob Fosse inspired bowler hat routine. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Madonna with backup dancers during the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Backup dancers rehearse in a scene from Strike a Pose , Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan’s 2016 documentary about the backup dancers of the Blond Ambition World Tour. Photo courtesy of Everett Collection.

Luis Camacho prepares for the stage in a still from Strike a Pose . Photo courtesy of Everett Collection.

Madonna performs with her dancers in the Blonde Ambition Japan Tour at Chiba Marine Stadium, April 13th, 1990, Chiba, Japan. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Madonna and her dancers performing in 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Madonna performs another routine that pays homage to Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon in the Blond Ambition World Tour. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Madonna’s Blond Ambition World Tour 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Madonna and her backup dancers, wearing mermaid tails, during the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Madonna plays the harp while her mermaid backup dancers surround her during the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Not all of Madonna’s backup dancers were men. Two women support the singer on stage during the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Madonna wears the iconic Jean-Paul Gaultier cone bra during the Los Angeles leg of the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Madonna and Salim Gauwloos have a Dick Tracy moment during the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Madonna shares the cone bra spotlight with a backup dancer during the Blond Ambition World Tour on June 30, 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

This story is over 5 years old.

Madonna's iconic blond ambition dancers are reuniting to tell their story.

Read more: The Cinematic History of Madonna and David Fincher

Camacho, Gutierez, Crumes, and Stea. Photo courtesy of Logo Documentary Films

I thought, I'm going to die anyway, so why would I apply for a work visa?

Photo by Robin de Puy courtesy of Logo Documentary Films

Blond Ambition tour rehearsals. Photo courtesy of Logo Documentary Films

Oliver Crumes poses with a photo of himself from the Blond Ambition tour. Photo courtesy of Logo Documentary Films

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How Madonna’s Blond Ambition Tour Changed Pop Concerts Forever

1990's Blond Ambition took Madge's natural sense of showmanship to new heights.

By Jon O'Brien

Jon O'Brien

“I know that I’m not the best singer and I know that I’m not the best dancer. But, I can f—ing push people’s buttons and be as provocative as I want. This tour’s goal is to break useless taboos.” There was only one all-singing, all-dancing chart-topper who could get away with such a bold declaration at the turn of the ’90s, and it wasn’t Paula Abdul.

From the moment that she writhed around suggestively in a wedding dress at the 1984 MTV VMAs, Madonna became the live act that you couldn’t — and didn’t want to — take your eyes off. Singing in front of a traditional guitar-bass-drums trio was never going to cut it for the woman seemingly hellbent on shocking middle America.

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Then the undisputed Queen of Pop by quite a margin, Madonna had already toyed with the theatrical on 1987’s Who’s That Girl Tour, a whirlwind of glitzy costume changes, giant video screens and dramatic reenactments that she described as “Broadway in a stadium.” But 1990’s Blond Ambition — which kicked off 30 years ago — took Madge’s natural sense of showmanship to new heights.

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Madonna asked Jean-Paul Gaultier to create more than 60 costumes for the tour, an amount which the haute couture designer admits took  350 aspirins  to get through. Luckily, all this headache-inducing work paid off. The Frenchman’s conical bra creation, which was later sold at auction for $52,000 , became one of the defining fashion statements of the decade. And items such as the polka-dotted blouse, clip-on ponytail and mic headset all became a part of the chart-topper’s style legacy, too.

Unsurprisingly, Madonna was just as fastidious when it came to the tour’s choreography. “Wimps and wannabes need not apply” read the call out seeking “fierce male dancers” for the tour. Led by Vincent Paterson, the chosen army of six were put through boot camp-like rehearsals in preparation for a tour that spanned 57 dates, five months and three continents. And with its large hydraulic platform and multiple elaborate sets, Blond Ambition’s staging essentially cost the same as the GDP of a small country. Simply no one else could compete, not even the King to Madonna’s Queen of Pop. A few years prior, Michael Jackson’s Bad Tour had impressed many with its slick moves and dazzling lights – even the BBC’s cult hero John Peel hailed it as a “performance of matchless virtuosity.” But Madge’s elaborative high-concept, five-act production left it for dust.

Blond Ambition didn’t give fans a single opportunity to get bored or head for the bar. Every four minutes there was something new to digest. Take the opening ‘Metropolis’ section, inspired by the expressionist sci-fi of Fritz Lang, for example. Madonna simulates sex in that bra while performing “Express Yourself,” straddles a chair during “Open Your Heart” and belts out “Causing a Commotion” while playfully wrestling her two backing vocalists to the ground. And this was just the first quarter of an hour.

As you’d expect from an artist whose Pepsi commercial had been yanked amidst calls of blasphemy, the second ‘Religious’ section was even more attention-grabbing. Wildly rubbing her crotch in a red velvet bed, Madonna left little to the imagination on a sensual reworking of “Like a Virgin.” And on “Like a Prayer,” the track whose provocative video had caused the soft drink giants to bail, the star and her crew are kitted out as nuns and priests.

Of course, much of the predominantly Roman Catholic nation of Italy didn’t appreciate this type of cosplay. A second date at the Stadio Flaminio was called off after none other than Pope John Paul II implored citizens to boycott “one of the most satanic shows in the history of humanity.”

The controversial blend of religion and erotica also incurred the wrath of the Toronto police force, particularly the “lewd and obscene” display of “Like a Virgin.” But despite the threat of arrest, Madonna and her management team refused to bow down to authority. The star even referenced the furor during her second show at the city’s SkyDome, asking the crowd “Do you think that I’m a bad girl?… I hope so.”

Madonna famously described Toronto as a fascist state in Truth or Dare , the illuminating backstage documentary which further boosted Blond Ambition’s pop cultural cachet. Who can forget the scene where the star pretends to gag after Kevin Costner – then the biggest movie star in the world – summarizes 105 minutes of sense-assaulting, boundary-pushing entertainment as “neat”?

Thankfully, the sell-out crowds reacted to the tour with a little more enthusiasm, even the Dick Tracy section featuring several numbers that would have been unfamiliar at the time. The comic book adaptation, which co-starred Madonna as femme fatale Breathless Mahoney, hit the big screen half-way through Blond Ambition’s run. And the ever-astute star attempted to guide fans towards the cinema with a high-kicking third act dedicated to the trench coat-wearing detective.

But for sheer entertainment value, the ‘Art Deco’ segment is tough to beat. Sporting a pink bathrobe and curlers while seated under a beauty parlor hair dryer, Madonna performed the whole of “Material Girl” in a comical Noo-Yawk accent before throwing fake dollar bills into the crowd. “Cherish” saw the star take up the harp accompanied by (what else?) a troupe of dancing mermen. And following a West Side Story -inspired routine for arguably her finest pure pop moment, “Into the Groove,” she wrapped things up with a faithful recreation of the iconic “Vogue” video.

By the time each and every crew member bids an on-stage farewell during the Bob Fosse-meets- A Clockwork Orange encore of “Keep it Together,” it’s clear that you’ve just witnessed a spectacle of ground-breaking proportions. As dancer Luis Camacho said, Madonna “wanted to give the audience an experience, rather than them just going to a concert. She set the stage for concert shows and experiences that followed.” The tour even impressed Grammy voters, who were notoriously slow to recognize Madonna’s greatness. The video of the tour won the 1991 award for best music video, long form — Madonna’s very first Grammy Award.

Sure enough, no longer were audiences content to watch their pop idol simply play the hits. Elaborate production values and strong narrative arcs soon became just as integral to the superstar tour as the music itself. You only have to look at Michael Jackson’s Dangerous shows, complete with catapult stunts and ghoulish illusions, two years later to recognize the immediate impact Blond Ambition had. And it has continued to inspire pop’s A-listers ever since. Without Blond Ambition, it’s unlikely we’d have the gravity-defying acrobatics of P!nk, the candy-colored razzmatazz of Katy Perry or the formidable conceptual journeys of Beyoncé. And it goes without saying that its footprints were all over the various balls staged by Lady Gaga.

Madonna herself has refused to rest on her laurels, going even bigger and bolder on the likes of 1993’s The Girlie Show, 2004’s Re-Invention and 2008’s Sticky and Sweet. But nothing has ever changed the game quite like her extremely blond and incredibly ambitious 1990 world tour.

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Strike a pose: madonna’s “vogue” dancers recall blond ambition tour & gay life in the ’90s.

By Richy Rosario

Richy Rosario

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In 1990, Madonna embarked on her Blond Ambition World Tour. She trekked from Japan to Europe to North America, challenging societal views on sexuality while entertaining the masses. She pushed the envelope with wildly provocative dance numbers and concert themes, yet never failed to promote safe sex. “You know you never really get to know a guy until you ask them to wear a rubber,” she unapologetically said to a crowd in Japan, before jumping into her set of “Get Into The Groove.”

Due to the tour’s highly sexualized and risqué acts, she faced various death threats, ban threats from the Vatican, and warnings of arrest. However controversial, there was no denying the pop star was on a journey to put a human face on the gay community and empower female sexuality.

After the tour in 1991, came Truth or Dare , a behind-the-scenes documentary of the show, which also chronicled the lives of seven of Madonna’s back up dancers—Luis Camacho, Oliver Grumes III, Salim Gauwloos, Jose Gutierez, Kevin Stea, Gabriel Trupin, and Carlton Wilborn.

“You see the dancers that I work with and little bits and pieces of their life,”  said Madonna during an interview on  Good Morning America  circa 1991. “I deal with a lot of  issues… and what I think to be a big problem in the United States and that is homophobia. There is a real big section in the movie devoted to that. These things exist in life. I’m only presenting life to people. I’m not presenting anything that they are not exposed to in everyday life, but maybe they don’t want to deal with it. If you kept putting something in somebody’s face eventually maybe they can come to terms with it.”

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Twenty-five years later, these dancers are telling their own narrative (with the exception of Trupin, who died in 1995 at 26, due to complications from AIDS) in Strike A Pose , a Tribeca Film Festival documentary created by Ester Goud and Reijer Zwaan. The film, which had its grand North American debut on April 15, explores the truth behind everything that happened on tour and in the aftermath of the release of Truth of Dare. Three of the dancers — Stea, Trupin and Grumes — sued Madonna for the film due to issues with contracting and for publicly showcasing their homosexual identities, a huge issue for Trupin at the time. Trupin’s mother echoes his feelings about Truth or Dare in the recently-premiered  Strike A Pose. “[It’s] not a statement that he wanted to make. It was Madonna’s statement,” she said of her son’s sexuality.

The documentary also sheds light on how the tour first got started, with Madonna recruiting a pair of Latino dancers from New York City: Luis Camacho of Puerto Rican descent and Jose Gutierez of Dominican descent. Together, they choreographed her famous “Vogue” video.

Both were kids from the underground voguing scene and part of the House of Extravaganza, a crew of the New York ballroom scene.  Camacho and Gutierez were dance majors at Fiorello H. La Guardia High School Of Music And Performing Arts, and with a little hard work and a serendipitous encounter, they got the job.

“It’s crazy when you have this person give you this opportunity and we really didn’t work for it,” Jose muses. “It wasn’t a job that we were training for, like most dancers do.” Prior to dancing with Madonna at just 18, Jose trained at Eliot Feld Ballet Tech School since the third grade and traveled to Brazil and Japan with the House of Extravaganza.

On a bright spring day, Luis and Jose are holding court in a pressroom on the second floor of The Smyth Hotel. They discuss their experiences with Madge, the tour, Strike The Pose and the impact Truth Or Dare had on the gay community. “The first film gave us an opportunity to be express ourselves,” says Luis.“This new movie gave us an opportunity to express ourselves in a different light.”

VIBE VIVA: What was it like being a gay Latino in the early ’90s? Jose: At the time it was crazy because there was a lot of a crime in the streets. Being gay wasn’t accepted as it is today, and I was very rebellious at a young age.  [Laughs]  So growing up then, even though what was around me was very distracting I managed to try to stay focused on my dancing. I’m from the Lower East Side—my family came from nothing really, they migrated here from the Dominican Republic. [Dancing] was a way to get out of the ghetto.

The gay scene opened my eyes to so many artistic things, and that also helped me develop as an artist. I was more dedicated as a kid, growing up I loved to dance, but other than that it was very hard growing up in the ghetto, trying to stay focused when everything around is drug deals and stuff like that. I came out at a very young age to the club scene, and that was my escape where I got to dance, perform and travel.

So were you part of the famous ballroom scene voguing documentary Paris is Burning ? Jose: Yes, oh my god I was a baby! I was 16-years old. I remember sneaking off for a weekend to Washington, D.C. to go compete at a ball. I snuck away without telling my mom. And that was a scene from Paris is Burning . I remember thinking to myself ‘I want to win, so I’m trying to get everything in there.’ I was voguing at the speed of light, ’cause I didn’t want to lose.  [Laughs] Take me back to that night when you and Luis auditioned for Madonna at the club? Jose: It was in club Sound Factory. A mutual friend of ours, Madonna’s make-up artist Debi Bazar, was like ‘Madonna’s coming she’s looking for dancers soon, and I told her about you guys, you have to meet her.’  In situations like that, you’re always like ‘yeah yeah, whatever.’ And so we submitted a video of us dancing with the whole House of Extravaganza.

One night we walk into the club, and we see Debi and she was like ‘Come here I want you to meet somebody.’ She introduced me right there to Madonna. I remember being in awe. She said, ‘Hey, I heard a lot about you guys, you guys do this vogue thing and I want to see.’ I was still stuck ’cause I remember thinking ‘you want us to show you now in the club? And she was like ‘Yeah, right now.’

I was always fashionably inclined, I was done up in this crazy Gaultier outfit. And I was like ‘how do you want me to dance like this?’ Her bodyguard took off his pants and gave them to me in the VIP bathroom. I couldn’t believe I was wearing her bodyguards’ pants; he was this huge dude. But I managed and practically auditioned on the spot. And once the club got wind that she was there, the whole club turned into an audition. She said ‘Sit here with me,’ to me and Luis. ‘And let’s watch these guys, tell me what you think.’

We were there for at least two hours, then she invited us to the actual audition. We beat out 7,000 dancers. It was crazy, because she thought that I was just an underground dancer—a voguer from the gay community. She didn’t know that I was 10 years into training. So she was like ‘Oh I want you to come and do the “Vogue” video, but I don’t know if I’m going to take you on tour, because there are other forms of dance that you have to be able to do.’ Then when she saw me she said ‘I didn’t know you can do all of that.’ I was like ‘You didn’t ask me’.  [Laughs]

“DATHROBACK” A photo posted by INtheNAMEoftheFATHER(J🙏🏾SE) (@fatherjose.xtravaganza) on Dec 18, 2014 at 1:43pm PST

Did you feel any pressure to do well in the video for “Vogue”? Jose: Oh yeah! We wanted show good work coming from the community—especially on a main stage for the world to see. We wanted to deliver the goods.

What was that first night like on tour? Jose: The minute she came up on a lift and they saw a little bit of a hair, everyone just went crazy. And your heart is beating out of your chest. I remember that was the first moment in time I was like, ‘Oh sh*t is real’ And when you hear them screaming your name, at 18-years old, you’re like ‘They are screaming for me?’ It was like you just want to jump out into the crowd—such a great feeling.

How did it feel like when Truth or Dare came out? Jose: It was very overwhelming for me at the time. I didn’t set out to move people; you’re so young that you don’t realize that. You don’t think that people are like ‘Oh my god Truth or Dare saved my life.’ Today, I still get ‘Watching that movie, saved my life, seeing you being so open and comfortable made me want to come out to my family.’ That to me is amazing cause at that age, you don’t set out to do any of that. You’re not looking to be a role model, you’re just looking to live in that moment. That’s why I think I didn’t realize till much later what I had accomplished. I was just there to dance, and I loved what I was doing. I was just a young kid expressing my art. I’m so glad I was able to touch and move people. The fact that people still appreciate it 26 years later is amazing. Why do you think the ’90s needed this? Jose: Because it was a time where we needed something new. The ’90s just came in and being part of the community and part of the scene—with the rise of pop art, I think they needed somebody like Madonna to put the community on the map. [She] opened up people’s eyes to so many things that are going on in the world. It’s here: boys like each other, we’re gay, we’re human, we’re talented.

I think it played a major part in the early ’90s because you never seen anything like it. That was before reality shows, now you see it like nothing. But back then to see two boys kissing was overwhelming, but it was happening. I can’t even imagine someone being not proud of who they are. We have to be proud of who we are, and everybody is somebody. We are all here for a reason. And ever since I was a kid I always remembered that: ‘You’re gay, but you are special.’

Truth or Dare showcased the love Madonna had for you guys. How would you define your relationship with her back then?  Jose : I didn’t know how to take it. I was so young, and yeah I loved the love. She was almost like a mother to us.

Luis: This was our first big mainstream thing. We were quote in quote kings of the underground with House of Extravaganza. But this crossover was the first to us. She really took to us. By the time we got to Los Angeles and started working we were really tight. We felt very akin to her. She was really loving towards to us.

Oh yea!!!”almost forgot.”HOPE ALL YALL HAD A WONDERFUL FOURTH O JULY WKND!!!!” A photo posted by INtheNAMEoftheFATHER(J🙏🏾SE) (@fatherjose.xtravaganza) on Jul 7, 2014 at 1:25pm PDT

Can you describe to me a different side of Madonna that you guys were privy to? Jose: I saw such an emotional side. I thought I was going to lose my job because I got her so upset, to the point where she was crying. The tour was almost ending and we got into a conversation, and she was promising us to continue with a record deal, and performing at the MTV Awards. And I sad, ‘You’re a liar, we’re not going to see you again.’ I said ‘Oh please, you’re just gong to forget about us.’

It really hurt her feelings. And she just kicked me out of her dressing room. So that was a moment for me that I never saw—cause you think, ‘When this is over you’re going to move on.’ She just started crying and she said, ‘Just get out of my room.’ She kicked me out.

Luis: She honestly was really loving and motherly to us. But besides that, she was an around-the-way girl when there weren’t any cameras around. She was really chill, relaxed and we hung out.

What was it like adjusting  after you guys got back home from tour? Luis : The phone wasn’t there for room service!   [ Laughs]

Jose: It was a rude awakening. You’re spoiled with this lifestyle. As a kid you can easily adapt to all of that. I hated home, I didn’t want to be there. I didn’t want to be in my mom’s house. My mother looked at me like ‘Calm down before I smack you down.’ [Laughs]

Luis: Even though we didn’t come back to the situation we were accustomed to, we came back with so much knowledge. Jose, in Strike A Pose, your mother mentions her disappointment because you didn’t continue with your dancing career. Why didn’t you keep going after working with Madonna? Jose: I got distracted for a moment and I hid for a while. A lot my friends started dying when AIDS began to hit and I lost grip of a lot of things. I was still so young and I didn’t know how to deal with everything. All my family and friends that we had looked up to passed on. I was also caught up in messy relationships. Not to say that I regret anything, it made me who I am today, but I think that all of that was happening so fast. There were times where I had three or four friends in the hospital dying at 18-years old and nobody knew where it was coming from. It became very hard, and you do things that you wouldn’t normally do because you feel cheated and you walk around bitter. I did that for a while. I was getting so much love and adoration, but I didn’t see any of that stuff. What are your fondest memories of Gabriel? Luis: He was never upset about anything.

Jose: He was always smiling—so sweet.

Luis: He was such a good-natured person. We never came across someone like that, especially us—we came from a lion’s den. We come from this background of either you’re fierce or you’re not. Gabriel was this little ball of sunshine and light.

How did you guys feel about the lawsuit Kevin, Oliver and Gabriel filed? Luis: We were in the middle of doing a record deal, so we really didn’t want to get too involved with what was going on. At that time we didn’t understand why.

Jose: It divided us. Luis: They had something in their contract from their agency that they were not honoring. Do you guys understand why Gabriel did it? Luis: I understand why he did it, but that wasn’t our situation. We were out and proud already. Do I understand why he wanted out the movie? Yes. Do I understand why she would want him in the movie? Yes.

How does it feel like not having a relationship with Madonna now? Jose: Sometimes it feels weird, because you like to think that these moments you share with a person aren’t just business. There are feelings involved. I know she thinks the same. Whatever the reason is, she has moved on. Life happens and she is a celebrity as well. I don’t expect her to come knocking on my door, but I definitely miss her on a personal level. It doesn’t have to be gig. It was more than that.

How do you feel about critics who say Madonna hasn’t given people of color the proper recognition for starting the vogue dancing movement? Jose: She took two of our own and allowed us to take it all over the world. This vogue thing needed somebody like her.

If you can give your younger selves advice what would it be? Luis: To be more focused

Jose: Be more present. Do you guys have any regrets? Luis : I don’t regret anything.

Jose: Sometimes. I always say that everything that we did has made us who we are today. No I wouldn’t change anything that happened. We would do everything the same way. [But] just be more focused like Luis said.

Luis: If could have went to Los Angeles afterwards and gotten represented, I would’ve probably done that.

What are you guys doing now? Luis : I own a show in Palm Springs, it’s called “Carnival Cabaret,” and it’s a female impersonator show. I choreograph for it, but I’m not in the show. And I’m writing a memoir right now, too.

Jose: I’m working with the kids at The Door , an organization dedicated to helping youth. I just did a project with Baz Luhrmann and Jaden Smith, which is coming out on Netflix. It’s called The Get Down . I was on it as a consulting choreographer, and they asked me to be in the project. I also just got back from Sweden, from teaching a workshop there— still trying to keep dancing.

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How Madonna’s Blond Ambition Tour Changed Pop Concerts Forever

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• How Madonna’s Blond Ambition Tour…

Madonna performs on stage at the Feyenoord stadium on July 24, 1990.

“I know that I’m not the best singer and I know that I’m not the best dancer. But, I can f—ing push people’s buttons and be as provocative as I want. This tour’s goal is to break useless taboos.” There was only one all-singing, all-dancing chart-topper who could get away with  such a bold declaration  at the turn of the ’90s, and it wasn’t Paula Abdul.

From the moment that she writhed around suggestively in a wedding dress at the 1984 MTV VMAs, Madonna became the live act that you couldn’t — and didn’t want to — take your eyes off. Singing in front of a traditional guitar-bass-drums trio was never going to cut it for the woman seemingly hellbent on shocking middle America.

Then the undisputed Queen of Pop by quite a margin, Madonna had already toyed with the theatrical on 1987’s Who’s That Girl Tour, a whirlwind of glitzy costume changes, giant video screens and dramatic reenactments that  she described as  “Broadway in a stadium.” But 1990’s Blond Ambition — which kicked off 30 years ago — took Madge’s natural sense of showmanship to new heights.

Madonna asked Jean-Paul Gaultier to create more than 60 costumes for the tour, an amount which the haute couture designer admits took  350 aspirins  to get through. Luckily, all this headache-inducing work paid off. The Frenchman’s conical bra creation, which was later sold  at auction for $52,000 , became one of the defining fashion statements of the decade. And items such as the polka-dotted blouse, clip-on ponytail and mic headset all became a part of the chart-topper’s style legacy, too.

Unsurprisingly, Madonna was just as fastidious when it came to the tour’s choreography. “Wimps and wannabes need not apply”  read the call out  seeking “fierce male dancers” for the tour. Led by Vincent Paterson, the chosen army of six were put through boot camp-like rehearsals in preparation for a tour that spanned 57 dates, five months and three continents. And with its large hydraulic platform and multiple elaborate sets, Blond Ambition’s staging essentially cost the same as the GDP of a small country. Simply no one else could compete, not even the King to Madonna’s Queen of Pop. A few years prior, Michael Jackson’s Bad Tour had impressed many with its slick moves and dazzling lights – even the BBC’s cult hero John Peel  hailed it  as a “performance of matchless virtuosity.” But Madge’s elaborative high-concept, five-act production left it for dust.

Blond Ambition didn’t give fans a single opportunity to get bored or head for the bar. Every four minutes there was something new to digest. Take the opening ‘Metropolis’ section, inspired by the expressionist sci-fi of Fritz Lang, for example. Madonna simulates sex in that bra while performing “Express Yourself,” straddles a chair during “Open Your Heart” and belts out “Causing a Commotion” while playfully wrestling her two backing vocalists to the ground. And this was just the first quarter of an hour.

As you’d expect from an artist whose Pepsi commercial had been yanked amidst calls of blasphemy, the second ‘Religious’ section was even more attention-grabbing. Wildly rubbing her crotch in a red velvet bed, Madonna left little to the imagination on a sensual reworking of “Like a Virgin.” And on “Like a Prayer,” the track whose provocative video had caused the soft drink giants to bail, the star and her crew are kitted out as nuns and priests.

Of course, much of the predominantly Roman Catholic nation of Italy didn’t appreciate this type of cosplay. A second date at the Stadio Flaminio was called off after none other than Pope John Paul II implored citizens to  boycott  “one of the most satanic shows in the history of humanity.”

The controversial blend of religion and erotica also incurred the wrath of the  Toronto police  force, particularly the “lewd and obscene” display of “Like a Virgin.” But despite the threat of arrest, Madonna and her management team refused to bow down to authority. The star even referenced the furor during her second show at the city’s SkyDome, asking the crowd “Do you think that I’m a bad girl?… I hope so.”

Madonna famously described Toronto as a fascist state in  Truth or Dare , the illuminating backstage documentary which further boosted Blond Ambition’s pop cultural cachet. Who can forget the scene where the star pretends to gag after Kevin Costner – then the biggest movie star in the world – summarizes 105 minutes of sense-assaulting, boundary-pushing entertainment as “neat”?

Thankfully, the sell-out crowds reacted to the tour with a little more enthusiasm, even the  Dick Tracy  section featuring several numbers that would have been unfamiliar at the time. The comic book adaptation, which co-starred Madonna as femme fatale Breathless Mahoney, hit the big screen half-way through Blond Ambition’s run. And the ever-astute star attempted to guide fans towards the cinema with a high-kicking third act dedicated to the trench coat-wearing detective.

But for sheer entertainment value, the ‘Art Deco’ segment is tough to beat. Sporting a pink bathrobe and curlers while seated under a beauty parlor hair dryer, Madonna performed the whole of “Material Girl” in a comical Noo-Yawk accent before throwing fake dollar bills into the crowd. “Cherish” saw the star take up the harp accompanied by (what else?) a troupe of dancing mermen. And following a  West Side Story -inspired routine for arguably her finest pure pop moment, “Into the Groove,” she wrapped things up with a faithful recreation of the iconic “Vogue” video.

By the time each and every crew member bids an on-stage farewell during the Bob Fosse-meets- A Clockwork Orange  encore of “Keep it Together,” it’s clear that you’ve just witnessed a spectacle of ground-breaking proportions. As dancer  Luis Camacho said,  Madonna “wanted to give the audience an experience, rather than them just going to a concert. She set the stage for concert shows and experiences that followed.” The tour even impressed Grammy voters, who were notoriously slow to recognize Madonna’s greatness. The video of the tour won the 1991 award for best music video, long form — Madonna’s very first Grammy Award.

Sure enough, no longer were audiences content to watch their pop idol simply play the hits. Elaborate production values and strong narrative arcs soon became just as integral to the superstar tour as the music itself. You only have to look at Michael Jackson’s Dangerous shows, complete with catapult stunts and ghoulish illusions, two years later to recognize the immediate impact Blond Ambition had. And it has continued to inspire pop’s A-listers ever since. Without Blond Ambition, it’s unlikely we’d have the gravity-defying acrobatics of P!nk, the candy-colored razzmatazz of Katy Perry or the formidable conceptual journeys of Beyoncé. And it goes without saying that its footprints were all over the various balls staged by Lady Gaga.

Madonna herself has refused to rest on her laurels, going even bigger and bolder on the likes of 1993’s The Girlie Show, 2004’s Re-Invention and 2008’s Sticky and Sweet. But nothing has ever changed the game quite like her extremely blond and incredibly ambitious 1990 world tour.

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Meet the Dancers Who Vogued Their Way Onto Madonna’s Blond Ambition Tour in ‘Strike a Pose’ Doc

The title for Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan’s documentary, Strike a Pose , almost demands you finish the iconic line: “there’s nothing to it.” Madonna’s “Vogue” is as perfect an introduction to this film’s interests as anything else not least because it should ultimately conjure up in your head the dancers alongside the Queen of Pop in the David Fincher video. And of course, there’s no way of talking about those dance moves and that black and white video without invoking José Gutiérrez and Luis Camacho (both of the Xtravaganza house in New York) — it was the two of them, a couple back then, who choreographed the video and who had introduced the Material Girl onto the ballroom scene where voguing was thriving in the late 80s.

José and Luis would go on to join Madonna’s Blond Ambition tour as well as be part of the infamous 1991 Madonna: Truth or Dare documentary which gave fans a titillating look at what went down behind close doors during that scandalous tour. The dancers are back in the spotlight as part of Gould and Zwaan’s documentary which catches us up with Madonna’s male dancers from that tour and explores what each of them have been up to since having been thrown into the limelight alongside one of the most influential pop artists of the twentieth century.

“It was such a gift,” Luis tells me. “You know, we were two Latin kids from, I don’t want to say ‘the ghetto,’ but not the best part of town. And for both of us to have this opportunity as Latinos, was major. We didn’t feel that at the time but looking back, it was such a great opportunity.”

On paper, Strike a Pose may sound like Truth or Dare at 25: Where Are They Now? , a type of Behind the Music special that would nevertheless keep the Queen of Pop as the gravitational force of the six remaining male dancers (the seventh, Gabriel Trupin, still referred to as Madonna’s favorite, passed away from AIDS in the mid 90s). That’s what made both Latino dancers hesitate about joining the project. Luis outright admitted that he ignored the original email that told him of the project; he thought it might be the type of interview requests he’d been happily avoiding all these years: “I mean, how many times can you answer the question, ‘Is she a bitch or not?’”

José, the last one to agree to come on board, was equally wary. Persuaded by fellow dancers, Kevin Stea and Salim ‘Slam’ Gauwloos — who’d already been in talks with the Dutch pair — both eventually caved and met with the directing duo. Coasts apart (Luis now lives in sunny LA, José still lives in NYC), they were won over by the project. The film, they understood, would be about all of them not her, “She-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless,” Luis quipped. “Yes we miss her, and we think about her,” José admitted. “I’m sure she does as well. But we’ve all moved on. We didn’t want it to seem like a big Madonna bash,” he told me.

“You know, we were two Latin kids from, I don’t want to say ‘the ghetto,’ but not the best part of town. And for both of us to have this opportunity as Latinos, was major.”

While Madonna is center stage (quite literally) at the start of the film, in clips from the tour and in archival footage, she very quickly cedes the screen to her dancers. Finally freed from being in the background, these men are put in the spotlight and as the film unfolds, you can see them basking and straining under its glare. Secrets they’d kept from each other (and from themselves) in the intervening decades become the central focus of the film. We hear tales of addiction and recovery, of then-unspeakable diagnoses and brave struggles, of career downturns and resilient comebacks. Strike a Pose is particularly touching in its depiction of middle-aged dancers who all struggled to come down from the career and addictive high of having traveled the world in one of the most talked about tours of all time.

One of the most affecting scenes in the film comes courtesy of José’s mother. Seated at her home, in the apartment where he grew up (“Did you see the plastic coverings over the sofas?” he asked me while fighting back laughter, “She loves them!”) he’s tasked with translating as his mom explains to Ester and Reijer off-camera that she’s always been disappointed that her son didn’t turn the momentum he’d had back then into a more successful career. She wishes he’d have made enough money to at least buy her a house. She says so neither with cruelty nor candor. “I never knew she still felt like that!” he confessed on the phone. “You know, the last time I’d heard anything like that was 25 years ago!” It’s clear watching the clip that the interview had dredged up a lot of unspoken stuff between them and in the English-Spanish back and forth, we gather that she’s none the wiser about the “dark times” that her son lived through following his success in the early 90s.

Luis speaks more openly about his own dark times in the film. His road to recovery from drugs and alcoholism, “the biggest learning experience” of his life, has allowed him to approach Strike a Pose with a more level head, embracing the opportunity to tell his story and perhaps yet again offer a voice of advice and caution to those watching. He admits he was too young a boy when he went on tour; he cackles over the phone remembering how unabashed he was in front of the Truth or Dare cameras. “I mean, I was this kid from the Lower East Side. I always dreamt of being in that position. I’d ask, what do you want me to do? What do you want me to say?” What he couldn’t have known back then is how much of an impact that documentary would still have. As José put it, you never set out to move a nation, but the correspondence him and the other dancers keep getting suggest they’ve become inadvertent role models in their own right.

It may have taken 25 years to get the band back together, but they are intent on making the most of it. Both teased that the group of boys have big things planned for the future while José seemed just as excited to talk about his involvement in Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming Netflix series The Get Down where he served as consultant and got to work alongside Jayden Smith (“A very special boy. So ahead of his time! So free-spirited”). He was proud to say that Luhrmann had been so impressed with him that he’d actually gotten him in front of the camera for some scenes. Even Australian visionaries, it seems, cannot help but see what’s made Father José Xtravaganza, as he’s known in the ballroom scene, an icon in his own right.

Strike a Pose played at t he Tribeca Film Festival from April 13 – 24, 2016. We partnered with Tribeca to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the Latino talent at this year’s fest. Follow our coverage on remezcla.com and tribecafilm.com .

You can now stream the documentary on Netflix .

Meet Musiana: Venezuelan Artist Who Went From YouTube Covers to Songwriting Success

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25 Reasons Madonna's Blond Ambition Tour Still Rules, 25 Years Later

A quarter of a century ago, cone bras ruled the world

Madonna kicked off her Blond Ambition World Tour on April 13, 1990, 25 years ago this week. Besides offering the world Madonna in her absolute prime – as a performer and as an all-around focus of attention – Blond Ambition changed the pop-culture landscape.

Fans might be surprised to learn that it’s not Madonna’s highest-grossing tour; Sticky & Sweet, MDNA and The Girlie Show each performed better. And it featured only 57 stops. But it’s still hugely important and might have done the most to define Madonna as a music icon – and here are 25 reasons for that.

(NSFW warning: The article features clips from Madonna in concert, and some of the language might not be work-appropriate. Hey, it’s Madonna.)

1. It reinvented the concert tour.

Today, most major pop tours are full-scale productions with costume changes, special effects, elaborate sets and a sense of drama that takes the experience beyond someone just singing into a microphone. It wasn’t always that way, however, and Madonna and choreographer Vincent Paterson specifically set out to elevate the concert.

As Paterson explained to PEOPLE in a 1990 interview, “The biggest thing we tried to do is change the shape of concerts. Instead of just presenting songs, we wanted to combine fashion, Broadway, rock and performance art.”

2. It has full-on acts

The fact that Madonna divided her performances into five thematic categories – Metropolis, Religious, Dick Tracy, Art Deco and Encore – suggests not only a level of creative planning unusual for concerts at the time but also the sheer volume of material Madonna had to work with – and at only 31 years old, no less.

3. It made a ton of money.

In the first two hours that tickets went on sale, a total of 482,832 were purchased, for a grand total of $14,237,000. By the end of the tour, Madonna had generated more than $62 million – that’s $113 million adjusted for inflation.

4. It helped cement the link between pop costumes and couture.

In addition to the vast majority of Blond Ambition’s many stage costumes, Madonna’s bullet bra was designed by haute couture legend Jean Paul Gaultier. In 2012, one of these very bras sold at a Christie’s auction for $52,000.

5. It gave us that iconic ponytail.

According to a 1990 edition of PEOPLE’s Style Watch, Madonna’s clip-on ponytail quickly became a look that fans copied when attending Blond Ambition stops. “Lots of women – and men – are showing up at her concerts with this hairdo,” remarked Warner Bros. Records publicity VP Liz Rosenberg. “It’s really catching on.”

You might think Madonna would do anything for a look, but that clip-on ponytail resulted from one specific need: she needed a style that wouldn’t get tangled in the headset she wears when she sings.

6. The title itself was a stand for independence.

Initially, it was to be the Like a Prayer World Tour, sponsored by Pepsi. Of course, the “Like a Prayer” video was met with a great deal of controversy, and Pepsi eventually backed out of a licensing deal with “The Donner.” Thus, Blond Ambition was born.

7. It overcame a rough start.

Blond Ambition kicked off on Friday the 13th – Friday, April 13, 1990, near Tokyo, Japan. Suitably, the weather was miserably wet and cold, and at one point Madonna slid across the wet stage and proclaimed, “You didn’t know you were here for an ice-skating show. Well, I’m Dorothy Hamill.”

8. It featured Madonna at her most perfectionist, for better or worse.

And according to the New York Times review of the concert , that meant the concert was more “live” than live. “Madonna has become so perfectionistic, and so athletic in her dancing, that she would clearly rather lip-sync than risk a wrong note,” the review notes. “With tickets priced at $30, concertgoers might expect a more live concert.”

9. It made Madonna confront "the fascist state of Toronto."

As documented in the 1991 behind-the-scenes movie Madonna: Truth or Dare , Toronto police threatened to arrest Madonna should her performance of “Like a Virgin” feature her miming masturbation. When the faux-Middle Eastern arrangement of the hit song played, however, Madonna did her usual dance, hand motions and all.

Ultimately the police opted not to arrest her on obscenity charges, but she still famously called the Canadian city a "fascist state."

10. It was condemned by the Vatican.

Not that it’s a good thing to earn the wrath of the Roman Catholic Church, but it speaks to what a big deal the Blond Ambition tour was that the Vatican’s official newspaper, Osservatore Romano , declared the show sinful – a more or less unprecedented decision.

11. "Don’t talk. If you talk, I will stop speaking, all right?"

Madonna’s response to the condemnation, however, was 100 percent Madonna. After commanding the Italian press to cease talking, she defends her performance. “Like theater, [Blond Ambition] asks questions, provokes thought and takes you on an emotional journey, portraying good and bad, light and dark, joy and sorrow, redemption and salvation.”

12. Every Blond Ambition performance began with a prayer.

Regardless of what the Pope may have thought of Madonna’s work, she felt she was on good terms with God, and Truth or Dare notes that she began every show with a group prayer.

13. She sang "Happy Birthday" to her dad at the tour’s Detroit show …

There’s been no shortage of kerfuffle about Madonna’s relationship with the rest of the Ciccone clan, but the tour featured a touching moment onstage with her dad, Silvio Ciccone, at her hometown show in Detroit.

14. Which means she performed all those naughty bits with her dad in the audience.

There’s a moment in Truth or Dare when she mentions that her dad watching the racier parts of the Blond Ambition tour is scarier than confronting the Toronto police.

15. It was a decidedly pro-gay show.

It’s notable that Madonna was up-front about the fact that six of her seven male backup dancers were gay men. Madonna, after all, had been outspoken about gay rights and gay people in general long before it became the norm among celebrities. In fact

16. Its final U.S. performance was dedicated to Keith Haring.

Madonna was good friends with the pop artist Keith Haring, who died of AIDS-related complications on Feb. 16, 1990. The Blond Ambition World Tour’s last American stop, in East Rutherford, New Jersey, was dedicated to Haring’s memory, and the more than $300,000 the show made was donated to the Foundation for AIDS Research. (Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour used a Haring-inspired backdrop, seen in the above clip.)

17. It featured a gay Dick Tracy chorus line.

Skip forward to the 5:45 mark in this clip of the Blond Ambition performance of “Now I’m Following You” to see six dancing Dick Tracys pair off into three male-male pairs. It’s quite the spectacle, and it’s even more notable when you realize that most of the tour began before the 1990 Dick Tracy remake (in which Madonna starred) hit theaters, meaning this chorus line was the first glimpse fans saw of the reinvented Dick Tracy.

And no, none of those Dick Tracys were Warren Beatty , who played the title character and who was dating Madonna throughout the tour.

18. It was also pro-safe sex.

You have to hand it to Madonna: Encouraging the use of condoms was on-point in 1990, and every show had her introducing “Into the Groove” by saying, “You really never get to know a guy until you ask him to wear a rubber.”

19. It mocked the perception of Madonna as a dumb blond sexpot.

For the Blond Ambition take on “Material Girl,” Madonna sang the entire song in an accent that falls somewhere between dumb blonde, “Noo Yawk” housewife and gangster’s moll. Say what you will about Madonna taking herself very seriously, but most singers wouldn’t ever perform in curlers and a bathrobe.

20. It had grand cinematic aspirations beyond Dick Tracy .

The first act of the show is themed “Metropolis.” That’s not Superman’s city. That’s the 1927 German expressionist epic Metropolis , and you can see it in the retro-science-fiction aesthetic of the stage. Hey, if you were Madonna, you’d aim for high art.

21. There’s some Stanley Kubrick in there, too.

In a 1991 New York Times interview , Madonna described the Blond Ambition performance of “Keep It Together” as “Bob Fosse-meets- Clockwork Orange .”

“It’s the show’s ultimate statement about the family, because we’re absolutely brutalizing with each other, while there’s also no mistaking that we love each other deeply,” she said.

22. Kevin Costner thought the show was "neat."

There’s a famous scene in Truth or Dare in which Madonna parties with other celebs after a Los Angeles show. Among them is Kevin Costner, who tells Madonna he found the show “neat.” It’s an amazing moment, and Madonna is predictably incensed that Costner would use that adjective to describe her. “No one’s ever described me quite that way,” she tells him. Later, she decrees “Anybody who says my show was ‘neat’ has to go.”

Costner would forgive the diss in 2007.

23. Truth or Dare was a success, too.

The documentary about Blond Ambition was released in 1991. It cost $4.5 million to make. It earned $29 million. Sure, Madonna was nominated for a Razzie for Worst Actress – for playing herself, no less – but she had piles of money with which to console herself.

24. It was parodied twice.

Truth or Dare – and by extension, Blond Ambition – were skewered two times, by Julie Brown in Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful and by English comedians Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders in In Bed with French and Saunders . We’d like to think Madge took it all in stride.

25. It essentially made The Immaculate Collection happen.

The tour concluded in August 1990. Everyone was all “Wow, Madonna has an amazing library of hits.” In November 1990, her first greatest hits collection, The Immaculate Collection , was released. You do the math.

Madonna Felt Like She’d Lost Part of Herself When Lourdes Left for College

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• News ✖ Discussion

Your Favorite Madonna Tour Hair

By Voguerista , November 21, 2019 in News ✖ Discussion

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Voguerista 11,534.

What is your favorite Madonna Tour hair? Here is my absolute favorite. I love when she wears tight curls and when they bounce around as she dances....

• Semtex1 , Levon , geert and 5 others

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nito84bcn 2,713

I loved when she had this geisha look / hair for Nothing really matters promotion. (Also used at Drowned World Tour 2001). I was obsessed back in the day and for me it's one of her best ones hair styles!

• Levon , alanuk , Voguerista and 2 others

PWCCA 2,498

Blond Ambition... both the curls and the ponytail. Sheer perfection

Guest Ashley

You can't beat the blonde perm bob she had for BAT. 

The runner up IMO is the Varla Faster Pussy Cat Kill Kill look she had for 'Transgression' section of MDNA.

geert 2,968

Blond Ambition: curls and ponytail

• Voguerista , AntiSkilled , rlittler81 and 3 others

louis.exe 1,992

For me it's the pixie cut she had on girlie show tour

• Levon , Semtex1 , blondboi559 and 3 others
• Popular Post

Enrico 15,774

Although we probably all agree that nothing can beat the BAT iconic looks - both ponytail and curly hair - I love the one night only hairdo fro Birmingham RHT:

• Ekans , Levon , Gabocicco and 7 others

Guest Nobody Knows Me

Blond Ambition World Tour ponytail and the opening segment of The MDNA Tour are probably my favourite tour looks from her. 

skyfitswim 905

1 blond ambition tour both  curls and ponny tail hair 

2 re invention look ( so natural )

3 confessions tour 

4 rebel heart 

the worsed hair styles for a tour , who's that girl , girlie show and drowned world tour 

• Levon and Voguerista

Paulo MDNA Tour 1,801

this hair, this body, this tour... <3 

• somethingscomingover , Levon , cosmicarlo818 and 5 others

poserdemadonna 1,628

somethingscomingover 428

The Girlie Show pixie is one of my favourite M haircuts of all time. I also like her hair for the Re-Invention Tour, Drowned World Tour and the MDNA Tour.

• Levon , Voguerista and Semtex1

cosmicarlo818 2,009

So is no one is gonna mention the fabulous Who’s That Girl Tour hair style!? Never mind — ME! My absolute favorite hairstyle!  

Followed by the super straightened, cyber-punk hairstyle during most of the Drowned World Tour shows! 

Levon 2,222

Pixie is one of my (many) favourites

• Semtex1 , cosmicarlo818 , Voguerista and 2 others
• 7 months later...

On 11/24/2019 at 4:55 PM, Levon said: Pixie is one of my (many) favourites    

• Levon , Semtex1 and Voguerista

2 hours ago, Ian said: she looks amazing here

Her eyes and make up so beautiful too! 

On 11/22/2019 at 11:24 PM, godx said: Probably on my own with this one 

I loved it long and wavy like this too!

RUADJAI 14,692

On 11/22/2019 at 2:19 AM, Nobody Knows Me said: On 11/24/2019 at 2:55 PM, Levon said:

#STOPPHOTOSHOPPINGMADONNA

#THISISHERFACE

I cheated a bit... 

I really wish this hair/whole look was in the Madame X show. It's so beautiful to me. 

13 minutes ago, RUADJAI said: #THISISHERFACE

1 hour ago, RUADJAI said: #STOPPHOTOSHOPPINGMADONNA

17 minutes ago, Nobody Knows Me said: I’m sorry, I remember being in a rush when I posted that and it was the first image that appeared on google 

MDNA22 1,156

Confessions 

Blond Ambition  - so iconic both the ponytail and the curls 

Gabocicco 1,318

Blond Ambition World Tour ponytail is my favorite but watching her descend the stairs on the Virgin Tour, she blew my head off with tremendous sensuality and beauty, I loved that hairstyle like disheveled, even from the Virgin Tour to the BAT marked my life forever as her loyal fan. That must be why I love those looks and they are my favorites forever.

• Levon , RUADJAI and Semtex1

Aiwa08 16,166

For me, Barcelona Blond Ambition Tour. It's identical to the Express Yourself video.

• Voguerista and Levon

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Madonna’s Most Iconic Fashion Moments

From her red carpet ensembles to onstage costumes, take a look back at the material girl’s most memorable (and sometimes shocking) fashion moments..

From the moment that she released her self-titled debut album in 1983, Madonna has shown audiences that she understands the power of a multifaceted performer—and she’s been delivering ever since. Whether through multimillion-dollar world tours or on-screen in films, the Michigan native has become so influential (and at times, controversial) that she’s surely earned her moniker as the Queen of Pop.

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On stage, fashion has always played a major part in the singer’s career, serving as a tool to help create looks that are as memorable as her music. Drawing inspiration from various periods in history as well as from religion, Madonna’s fashion choices have included everything from feminine lace- and lingerie-inspired looks to more masculine suiting.

And while fashion has undoubtedly been at the center of Madonna’s reinventions over the past 40-plus years, offstage, she’s also played muse, model and even creator in the design world. She championed designers like Olivier Theyskens and fashion houses like Dolce & Gabbana at the start of their respective careers, and strutted the runway for Jean Paul Gaultier (her most constant fashion collaborator) on multiple occasions. No stranger to style campaigns, Madonna has starred as the face of advertisements for luxury fashion houses like Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and Louis Vuitton, and she’s ventured out into the design world herself, too. First collaborating with H&M on her M by Madonna fashion line in 2007, Madonna and her daughter Lourdes later launched the teen clothing brand Material Girl in 2010.

Still, it’s her sartorial choices for music videos and live performances that have been the most enduring. From the signature Jean Paul Gaultier cone bra that catapulted her to fashion icon status, to the current barely-there ensembles that prove she still knows how to cause a stir, take a look back at the fashion moments that have helped to define Madonna’s career.

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1984, MTV VMAs

From the start, Madonna wasn’t afraid of making waves, taking to the stage at the first-ever MTV Video Music Awards for a now-infamous performance of “Like a Virgin.” Wearing a lingerie-inspired wedding dress, complete with white lace gloves, strings of pearls and her ‘Boy Toy’ belt, Madonna’s performance caused such a scandal that she says it nearly ended her career at the time. Of course, as history shows, the moment made Madonna a household name, and was eventually recreated in another iconic instance nearly two decades later.

1985, American Music Awards

The 1985 American Music Awards marked the beginning of a style (and partnership) that became synonymous with Madonna. The “Material Girl” singer wore a corset-style top by Jean Paul Gaultier, and the mini cone-shaped bra hinted at things to come from the duo. The look was completed with a mix of crucifix necklaces and rosary beads, and because it was the ‘80s, Madonna’s bleached blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a scrunchie.

1987, ‘Who’s That Girl’ Tour

Two years later, Madonna went blonder and shorter with a platinum pixie for the “Who’s That Girl” tour, but her sartorial tastes stayed the same: a bustier leotard with fishnet stockings.

1987, American Music Awards

Madonna sported a more glamorous look at the 1987 American Music Awards, where she collected the award for Favorite Female Pop/Rock Video in this shimmering off-the-shoulder number.

1990, ‘Blond Ambition’ Tour

For her 1990 “Blond Ambition” world tour, Madonna personally reached out to Jean Paul Gaultier to design her iconic costumes. After she ascended the stage in a pinstripe suit, Madonna whipped off her jacket during the opening number to reveal a pink conical bra leotard. The structured corset was belted at the waist, but it still allowed enough movement for the singer to perfectly execute all of her choreography.

1990 , MTV VMAs

Later that year, Madonna channeled Marie Antoinette when she performed “Vogue” at the MTV Video Music Awards in an elaborate costume by Marlene Stewart that was fit for Versailles.

1991, Academy Awards After Party

From her hair to her white stole, Madonna went for a full-on Marilyn Monroe moment when she attended an Oscars afterparty on the arm of Michael Jackson. She wore a custom embellished strapless gown by Bob Mackie, but it was her Harry Winston diamond earrings, necklace and bracelets (which, when combined, were worth more than $20 million) that really stole the show—diamonds are a girl’s best friend, after all.

1991, Madonna: Truth Or Dare NYC Premiere

The New York City premiere of Madonna’s documentary marked the first time that the Queen of Pop wore Dolce & Gabbana; she arrived in a multi-colored, jeweled bustier that she paired with thigh-high stockings, an oversized black jacket and a darker hair color. D&G design duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana would later go on to create the costumes for the singer’s 1993 “The Girlie Show” tour, and Madonna would even collaborate on a line of sunglasses with the Italian fashion house in 2010.

1991, Cannes Film Festival

At first glance, Madonna appeared to be going a more conservative route when she arrived at the Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of her documentary, Madonna: Truth or Dare (also titled In Bed with Madonna ). But beneath her pink coat, the singer revealed a lingerie set by Jean Paul Gaultier, complete with her now-signature cone bra.

1995, Bedtime Story Party

To promote her new album, Bedtime Stories , Madonna threw a pajama party in New York City, where she donned a long silk nightgown under a leopard-print coat.

1996, Evita Premiere

For the Los Angeles premiere of her 1996 film Evita , Madonna channeled on-screen leading lady Eva Perón in a red ombré Versace dress that was covered in flowers, and styled with a veiled fascinator.

1997, Golden Globe Awards

Several months after giving birth to her first child, Madonna attended the Golden Globes (where she won Best Actress for her role in Evita ) in a black Dolce & Gabbana bustier gown, which she styled with opera gloves, a diamond necklace and earrings, and a classic red lip and smoky eye combo.

1997, Met Gala

Madonna’s first Met Gala was meant to celebrate the late designer Gianni Versace, and for the occasion, she wore a blue floral-print gown from the Italian fashion house, with a matching cape that was printed with astrology motifs and trimmed in fur.

1998, VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards

For the now-defunct VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards, Madonna wore a corseted yellow gown by the then-relatively unknown designer Olivier Theyskens. The long-sleeved gown, which featured gothic elements throughout that Madonna played up with her jet black hair, helped put Theyskens on the fashion map. 

1998, Fire & Ice Ball

In 1998, Madonna attended the star-studded Fire & Ice Ball, benefiting the UCLA Women’s Cancer Research Program, with Donatella Versace. She wore a slashed black leather Versace dress, which featured an open back and fur-trimmed skirt that was made edgier thanks to Madonna’s sleek, dark hairstyle.

1999, Grammy Awards

In a red kimono-style number by Jean Paul Gaultier, Madonna opened the 1999 Grammys with a performance of “Nothing Really Matters” from her 1998 album, Ray of Light . Afterwards, the singer (who won three awards, including Best Pop Album) changed into a more relaxed white tank top and embellished lavender pants from the Gucci spring 1999 collection—and her red lip and eyeshadow from her onstage look were, impressively, still intact.

2001, Snatch Premiere

Weeks after saying “I do,” Madonna and her husband, director Guy Ritchie, attended the premiere of his latest film sporting coordinating suits. While Ritchie opted for all-black, Madonna chose a cream suit with “Mrs. Ritchie” embroidered on the back of her jacket.

2002, Die Another Day Premiere

The Queen of Pop met the Queen of England in 2002, at the London premiere of the James Bond film Die Another Day , for which Madonna wrote and sang the theme song. Going a more conservative route for the occasion, Madonna chose an embroidered black dress that she paired with a fur-trimmed black coat, plus a polished French twist and plenty of diamonds.

2003, MTV VMAs

For one of the most iconic VMA performances of all time, Madonna recreated her 1984 hit, “Like a Virgin,” with the help of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera (and later, Missy Elliott, too). This time around, Madonna played the groom in an all-black tuxedo-inspired outfit that included a belted corset top, while Spears and Aguilera put a modern spin on Madonna’s original bridal look.

2004, ‘Re-Invention’ Tour

Madonna played with multiple themed looks for her “Re-Invention” world tour, from Stella McCartney pinstripe suits to a circus segment in Chanel. But it was her embellished corset by Christian Lacroix—paired with fishnets and over-the-knee boots—that most embodied Madonna’s sense of style…and still somehow allowed for her to pull off backbends and headstands every night.

2005, MTV Europe Music Awards

With a new album, Confessions on a Dance Floor , on the way, Madonna unveiled a disco-inspired take on her beloved leotard. For a performance of her latest single (which opened the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards), the “Hung Up” singer paired her purple leotard with matching boots, a sequined belt and a feathered hairstyle.

2006, ‘Confessions’ Tour

One of the standout looks among her Jean Paul Gaultier-designed costumes for the “Confessions” world tour was this three-piece suit, which appeared to reference John Travolta’s character in the 1977 classic Saturday Night Fever .

2007, Vanity Fair Oscar Party

To attend the Vanity Fair Oscar party in 2007, Madonna turned to an old favorite: Dolce & Gabbana. She accessorized the strappy black satin gown with stacks of diamond bracelets and a crystal-embellished clutch.

2008, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

After more than 20 years of musical contributions, Madonna was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. Her look for the evening came courtesy of Chanel’s spring 2008 collection, in the form of an entirely sheer dress with black and white sequin details.

2008, Cannes Film Festival

In 2008, Madonna returned to Cannes with a new documentary, this time putting the focus on Malawian orphans in I Am Because We Are . For the premiere, Madonna opted for a black Chanel couture design that was covered in sequins and accented with fringe and feathers along the sleeves and skirt.

2008, amfAR Cinema Against AIDS Gala

Dressed in a long-sleeved coral dress by Stella McCartney, Madonna auctioned off one of her own Chanel handbags during the Cannes amfAR gala, to benefit AIDS research.

2009, ‘Sticky & Sweet’ Tour

Madonna’s “Sticky & Sweet” world tour featured bespoke costume designs from Moschino, Miu Miu and Stella McCartney. But it was Givenchy (and then-creative director Riccardo Tisci) that created the bulk of her looks, including this black dress that was accented in multicolored ribbons and accessorized with strands of gold and hot pink necklaces (an ode to her early days, perhaps).

2011, Met Gala

Rather than go the unconventional route at the 2011 Met Gala, Madonna went Old Hollywood glam in this pale blue satin Stella McCartney design. The short-sleeved gown featured an added dose of sparkle thanks to silver star embellishments that started at the bodice and ran down the entire back of the train. She wore her blonde hair styled in volumized curls, and completed the look with a red lip.

2011, Venice Film Festival

Madonna may have taken a behind-the-scenes role as writer and director of the 2011 film W.E., but she celebrated its premiere at the Venice Film Festival in a statement-making Vionnet gown (the French fashion house was featured in the movie, too). The pale blue number included bright red butterflies embroidered throughout, and Madonna gave it a retro feel with Old Hollywood waves, a red lip and red sunglasses.

2012, W.E. UK Premiere

For the U.K. premiere of W.E. in London, Madonna added a few twists to her black velvet Jean Paul Gaultier column gown, with a black lace cape by Dolce & Gabbana and red leather driving gloves by Chanel that matched her red lip. Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry added some sparkle, and Madonna even wore a customized ‘WE’ pendant.

2012, Golden Globe Awards

Madonna wore Reem Acra when she took home her second Golden Globe award (this time for Best Original Song in W.E. ) in 2012. The elaborate gown featured a silver bodice that sparkled with embellishments, and a voluminous dark green skirt. Madonna paired the look with a more laidback beauty aesthetic, but upped the drama with diamond jewelry (including a cross necklace) and one leather driving glove.

2012, Super Bowl Halftime Show

In 2012, Madonna reached another music milestone when she headlined the Super Bowl halftime show. The “Vogue” singer once again turned to Riccardo Tisci, who designed not one, but three Givenchy looks for her performance (all of the changes taking place onstage, of course). After entering in an embellished gold cape, Madonna spent the bulk of her performance in this gladiator-inspired belted mini dress, before closing out the show in a black sequined coat.

2012, ‘MDNA’ Tour

Jean Paul Gaultier put a futuristic spin on Madonna’s cone bra with this cage-like version that she wore during her “MDNA” world tour, paired with pinstripe pants, a white shirt and tie and black gloves.

2013, Met Gala

Madonna fully embraced the 2013 Met Gala’s punk theme in the most mini of blazers by Givenchy. The (mostly) all-black look included metallic studs and safety pins, a chain belt and fishnets, with Madonna adding a black wig to complete the ensemble.

2014, Grammy Awards

In a sweet matching sartorial moment with her son, Madonna wore a black Ralph Lauren suit from the designer’s spring 2014 collection. The tailored look featured wide-leg pants, a cross pendant-accessorized black tie and crystal-encrusted fingerless gloves that she kept for her onstage performance, switching out suits for a white Ralph Lauren design.

2015, Grammy Awards

A year later at the 2015 Grammy Awards, Madonna took an entirely different approach with her red carpet look, wearing a Givenchy design that was a cross between burlesque and matador (and on theme with her single, “Living For Love,” which she performed later that evening). The totally out-there look included lace and embellished detailing, leather gloves, over-the-knee boots and a veiled hat.

2015, Met Gala

Madonna donned custom Moschino for the 2015 Met Gala, in an off-the-shoulder black gown complete with gloves, cape and graffiti that read ‘Rebel Heart’—a nod to the singer’s most recent album (and upcoming tour) of the same name.

‘Rebel Heart’ Tour

Madonna’s “Rebel Heart’ marked her 10th tour, and it featured an array of elaborate themed costumes, from a matador-inspired number by Fausto Puglisi to a colorful look by Gucci. But it was the glittering, flapper-esque design by Moschino’s then-creative director Jeremy Scott that was perhaps the most noteworthy, with its Swarovski crystal-embellished fringe.

2016, Billboard Women In Music

To celebrate being named Billboard’s Woman of the Year in 2016, Madonna turned to Gucci’s then-creative director Alessandro Michele for a custom look. Landing on a suit that was embroidered throughout with flowers and tigers, it was the back of the jacket that made the biggest statement, as it featured Greek embroidery that read “the goddess of music who brings joy,” according to stylist Arianne Phillips .

2018, Met Gala

The 2018 Met Gala’s “Heavenly Bodies” theme seemed made for Madonna, whose music and fashion have often drawn from her own upbringing in the Catholic church. The “Like a Prayer” singer teamed up with Jean Paul Gaultier on this black gown, which featured a cross on the bodice and was accessorized with a black veil and bejeweled headpiece. Inside the Met, Madonna changed into a white gown (complete with her go-to Jean Paul Gaultier corset) for a short performance.

2021, MTV VMAs

At the 2021 VMAs, MTV celebrated 40 years since its 1981 debut (though the first televised VMAs didn’t come until 1984), and Madonna kicked off the evening’s festivities with a look that certainly garnered attention. Underneath a Burberry trench coat, Madonna revealed a custom latex corset by House of Harlot that was styled with a matching hat, gloves and fishnet stockings.

2023, Grammy Awards

Madonna and her new stylist Rita Melssen turned to the Mugler archives for the singer’s appearance at the 2023 Grammy Awards. The black-and-white ensemble was from Mugler’s 1997 couture collection, and was styled with black fishnet stockings and sky-high platforms by Vivienne Westwood.

• SEE ALSO : Noah Tepperberg’s Recipe for Mastering the Art of Hospitality

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Blond Ambition Tour

Tour poster, tour schedule.

The Blond Ambition was first planned to only visit Japan and North America because Madonna was busy with several movie roles. But considering her popularity in Europe , another tour leg was added. Kicking off in Makuhari, Japan, Madonna played a total of 57 shows in 10 different countries.

→ Check out the full tour schedule here

Tour setlist

Originally titled the Like A Prayer World Tour, this tour promoted her latest studio albums Like A Prayer and I'm Breathless .

→ Check out the full setlist here

Tour crew & collaborators

The Blond Ambition Tour was a much bigger production than her previous two tours, which meant a more extended crew. Madonna was joined on stage by backing singers Niki and Donna , as well as 7 dancers , who we all got to know better in the tour documentary Truth Or Dare .

→ Check out the full crew here

Tour recording

Enhanced topical psoralen-ultraviolet A therapy via targeting to hair follicles

Affiliations.

• 1 Saratov State University, Saratov, 410012, Russia.
• 2 Saratov State Medical University, Saratov, 410012, Russia.
• 3 Ghent University, Ghent, 9000, Belgium.
• 4 Queen Mary University of London, London, E1 4NS, U.K.
• 5 Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow, 143026, Russia.
• PMID: 31821544
• DOI: 10.1111/bjd.18800

Publication types

• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
• Administration, Topical
• Furocoumarins*
• Hair Follicle*
• PUVA Therapy
• Furocoumarins

Grants and funding

• project No 17-73-20172/Russian Science Foundation/International
• grant No 14.Z50.31.0004/Government of the Russian Federation/International

Saratov, Russia

Tours, Attractions and Things To Do in Saratov

Full-flowing Volga gave birth to many cities. One of these cities is Saratov, a former center of the largest Russian province, a city of merchants, gold miners and first Russian manufacturers. Saratov is still has the charm of those times. Old farmsteads, bank buildings, retail and apartment houses – all that is a part of Saratov’s history, which are proudly demonstrated to numerous tourists now.

People go to Saratov not to find adventures. This region is deprived of high dangerous mountain hills, swift rivers, sea coasts, promising an exciting extreme leisure. Instead one can find here mixed forests, groves, woods, deserts and steppes. The mixed flora and fauna of Asia and Europe has created here unseen picturesque scenes. There are 124 monuments of nature here.

The natural diversity of Saratov region creates favorable conditions for active recreation both in summer and in winter. In winter, ski routes are ready for fans of skiing sport whereas during warm seasons fishing, hunting, active water recreation, namely rowing and canoeing, sailing, yachting, boat, motor boat and water scooter trips are available for toursists.

Saratov is located on the right bank of Volga, and surrounded on three sides with not high mountains. The city’s name originated from Tatar word “sara tau” – “yellow mountain”. The main trade routes from the Black Sea, Caucasus, Persia, Khorezm, and the Urals and, of course, from Russia ran across Saratov Povolj’e (Volga Region).

According to one of the versions, the city was established in 1584-1589 years approximately, on the place of a Tatar village, where Saratovka river fell into. Another version says that the city was found in 1590, and it was built as a guard point on the Volga way. The exact location of the first settlement was not established.

The town was burned down in 1613 year, and in 1674 was moved to the right bank of Volga River, that is to say, to its present position. Gradually Saratov became famous as a merchant city. That time people were engaged in pottery, selling of fish, salt and bread. The manufacturing production was well-developed. And Saratov became a capital of the Volga Region. It was the 3rd largest city after Moscow and Petersburg among the cities of Russia.

In 1722 Peter I visited this city on his way to Persia as well. In 1781 a famous rebel Emel’yan Pugachev which took the decision to occupy the city, entered Saratov. Those historical facts were described in the novel “The Captain's Daughter” by A.S. Pushkin. From a shabby town into which Saratov turned after Pugachev’s invasion, it became soon a rich merchant city and remained to be the largest cities of the Volga Region till 20-ies of XX century. In USSR Saratov was a closed city. There were several big enterprises of defense industry, particularly, the Saratov aviation plant.

Saratov is a motherland of many famous Russian figures. Nikolay Chernyshevskoy – Russian publicist, writer and literary critic, was born in Saratov. Such actors as Sergey Phillipov, Oleg Tabakov and Evgeniy Mironov were born here.

Many old farmsteads and hundreds of architecture monuments are preserved in Saratov Region. The cultural tourist complex “The Old City of Uvek”, which is situated on the place of an ancient settlement and whose prosperity period fell to the 12th century is not far from Saratov.

Attractions

Miscellaneous.

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nar. 16.08.1958 (65 let) Bay City, Michigan, USA

Golden Globes

Králova láska (2011), dnes neumírej (2002), austin powers: špion, který mě vojel (1999), evita (1996), s vyznamenáním (1994), velké vítězství (1992), kdo je ta holka (1987), golden raspberry awards (razzies).

• 2009 - (Nejhorší herečka desetiletí (2000 - 2009))

Trosečníci (2002)

Příští správná věc (2000).

• 1999 - (Nejhorší herečka století)

Čtyři pokoje (1995)

Tělo jako důkaz (1993), s madonnou v posteli (1991), vražda na broadwayi (1989).

• 1989 - (Nejhorší herečka desetiletí (1980 - 1989))
• 1989 - (Nejhorší nová hvězda desetiletí (1980 - 1989))

Šanghajské překvapení (1986)

The saturn awards, dick tracy (1990), související novinky.

Biografie Madonny byla zrušena

Životopisný snímek o slavné 64leté zpěvačce Madonně od studia Universal Pictures byl zrušen. Zástupci studia ani tvůrci se k záležitosti nevyjádřili a momentálně to tedy vypadá, že se s projektem… ( více )

Julia Garner bude Madonna

S premiérou Elvise od Baze Luhrmanna (Moulin Rouge) na obzoru a masivním úspěchem životopisného muzikálu Bohemian Rhapsody lze říct, že popularita tohoto žánru snad nikdy nebyla vyšší. Což nyní… ( více )

Madonninu biografii natočí… Madonna

Častou výtkou biografických snímků je, že si jejich tvůrci brali až příliš velkou kreativní volnost, co se týče osobních záležitostí daných osob. To ovšem nehrozí v následujícím hudebním filmu o… ( více )

Sin City jako televizní seriál?

Televize je na vzestupu a v mnoha ohledech šlape na paty filmovému průmyslu. Uvědomilo si to už několik velkých hollywoodských společností. Další z nich je The Weinstein Company. Bratři Bob a Harvey… ( více )

Remake Federica Felliniho!

Kdopak že si to troufnul sáhnout na jednu z největších legend světové kinematografie? Tím pohanem je Rob Marshall (režisér veleúspěšného Chicaga) a abychom byli spravedliví, tak se jedná o remake z… ( více )

Skladatelka

Scenáristka, producentka.

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