A small stage, three simple platforms propped up on short 4x4 legs, stood at the foot of the 40-foot-high Morrison Memorial Column in Duncan Plaza outside New Orleans City Hall on Sunday, Dec. 10. An American flag was propped against the monument’s base. At 10:30 p.m., members of the Occupy New Orleans movement gathered around it – but they weren’t waiting for a rousing political speech, one of the Occupy movement’s frequent assemblies, or even a pro-labor folksinger. Instead, on the bill for the night was a seemingly unlikely show, particularly for a cold December night: a striptease performance from the burlesque troupe Reverend Spooky LeStrange and the Billion Dollar Baby Dolls.

New Orleans recognizes that as a symbol of the Occupy Movement, tents are best when pitched.