The center of Seattle's burlesque universe isn't in the scruffy downtown bars, where the tickets are cheap and the dancing is raunchy, nor in El Gaucho's fancy Pampas Room, where you can pay $225 for dinner and a show—it's in the unassuming intersection of 10th and Pine, tucked away in a corner of Odd Fellows Hall.

There, the Academy of Burlesque will school anyone willing to slap on pasties and learn the art of the tease. In the evenings, the academy doubles as the West Hall Theater. This weekend, the Atomic Bombshells will perform J'Adore!, their annual Valentine's Day spectacular, with classic choreography in a dozen kitschy acts revealing a healthy dose of skin, imaginative costuming, and very imaginative decostuming. Honey D. Luxe will bring back her bizarre, reversible balloon dress that ambushed unsuspecting audiences last year. The costume is a big heart-shaped contraption, seemingly held up by balloons, that covers everything but her beaming face and legs as she runs around the stage chased by pin-wielding cherubs in their skivvies. Artistic director Kitten La Rue says special guest Ben DeLaCreme might bring back his chocolate-box corset with edible bits—which gave last year's frilliness a Pho Bang edge—but was too coy to confirm.

What a tease.

J'Adore!, Fri Feb 12, West Hall Theater.