An intoxicating mix of private yearnings and public spectacle, A WINK AND A SMILE exposes more than the human body by putting gender, power and sexuality under the spotlight, as it follows the lives of ten "ordinary" women who do something extraordinary - learn the art of burlesque dancing and striptease. Through their adventures, we see how a homemaker, a reporter, a doctor, an opera singer, a taxidermist and a college student join the American cultural revival of burlesque, as it moves from fringe fascination to mainstream obsession, engaging a world where performance art and showgirl spectacle, music, theater and sensuality crash into over-the-top glamour - a world where many want to go, but very few dare.