Ariana Amour is a “transgender provocateur, ecdysiast, chanteuse, raconteur, and all around good time gal” who “utilizes burlesque as a medium to shine a light on the beauty of femininity across the spectrum and the validity of trans women’s bodies onstage and in any space.” A passionate content creator and astrologer offstage, Ariana was given the Dollie Award for ‘Outstanding Contributions To Burlesque In New Orleans’ at Teaser Fest 2024.
Here’s her 21.
1. How would you define yourself in three words?
Elegant, enigmatic, esoteric.
2. Who would play you in a movie about your life?
I would want a beautiful, unknown, brown, aspiring trans actress to be given the opportunity to play me.
3. What is your biggest strength?
My capacity to hold space, understanding, and love for a moment, both onstage and offstage.
4. What is your biggest weakness?
Professionally? Time management! I have very bad time blindness, so if I don’t overcompensate by allocating hours to do small tasks and being hellaciously early, I will fall behind and be late. In my personal life? I’m a Capricorn; I would never reveal that.
Ariana Amour by Darrell Miller Photography
5. When are you most happy and inspired?
Surrounded by friends backstage, acting like utter fools.
6. What is your favourite on-screen burlesque moment from film or TV?
The scene in Breakfast At Tiffany’s (one of my favorites as an Audrey Hepburn stan) when a performer is onstage dancing to Henry Mancini’s Hub Caps and Tail Lights, and Holly says in her prim manner, with wide doe eyes as the dancer exposes her breasts to the crowd, ‘Gracious…do you think she’s handsomely paid?’ Classique.
7. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?
For performance? Slow down and be still. But more specifically, incorporate moments in your act when photographers are able to get a good photo of you (shoutout to Roxie LeRouge for that). For general life that also extends to performance? Listen to your body. We only have one – it’s our instrument. Take care of it, love it for what it is and what it is capable of in that moment.
Ariana Amour by Madison Hurley Photography
8. If you could switch lives with one person for a day, who would it be?
A white man in the 1%, because that experience is so opposite to me and I just want to know why?! It’s crazy to me that people have so much and still disregard their fellow man in such egregious ways. Absolutely switch me back after a day though; I don’t want that kind of corruption on my soul.
9. What’s the biggest myth or misconception about burlesque?
That burlesque is a monolith and can be reduced to one specific thing or depiction of what it is, and success in burlesque can only be measured by one specific metric.
10. If you could only perform to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
This is a very hard question because I change my music at the drop of a hat, but I’ll go with Glorybox by Portishead – an old faithful of burlesque stages worldwide – only because I have multiple act variants to that song where I either strip, sing, do sideshow, or just roll around on the floor for eight minutes.
Ariana Amour by Madison Hurley Photography
11. What surprisingly useful things do you have in your show case?
Aside from costumes that I intentionally packed, what is in my show case is a surprise to me, on a show-by-show basis.
12. Do you have a backstage ritual?
A cigarette, a shot of tequila, a can of Coca-Cola, and a lemon lime electrolyte beverage. If I can, I try to be the earliest person to the show so I can be at ease and feel relaxed before a show (and selfishly claim a spot in the dressing room), otherwise I am fifteen minutes behind (see question 4).
13. What advice would you give to new performers starting out today?
Do not be afraid to pivot. Throughout your time in this artform, you may learn new skills, be exposed to different performance styles, rethink your goals/priorities in the scene, etc. You’re not going to be the same performer (or person frankly) you were when you started, and your goals, aspirations, and overall persona may not be the same. That is a good thing! If something doesn’t feel good for or aligned with YOU, don’t be afraid to change it. Not only will you be happier living life, you will absolutely feel better and more authentic onstage.
Ariana Amour by iamhangedman
14. What is your proudest achievement?
Honestly, being voted #21 in the Burlesque TOP 50 really is at the top thus far. That and winning The Dollie Award at Teaser Fest remind me why I am not only a performer but an active and loving participant in this community and industry.
15. What is your biggest regret?
Any time I’ve let someone else make a decision for me that went against what I truly wanted to do in my heart.
16. What is the biggest challenge facing today’s burlesque scene?
Our egos.
17. If you could go back and tell yourself one thing when you started out in burlesque, what would it be?
Get your head out of your ass. Make mistakes. It’s not that serious. I have a perfectionist streak and get anxious about not being my absolute best, and hateful towards myself when I’m not. So in addition to that, be kind to yourself. I also have a tendency to take myself too seriously, and thankfully, over time, I’ve learned to laugh more and just be happy that I am doing this as my job and that, despite my own misgivings, people love what I do.
Ariana Amour by Weird Rabbit Photo
18. What is a cause or issue that’s very important to you?
Obviously issues involving the LGBT community, especially trans people and our ability to safely exist in public life, but we all need to get on board with learning more about intersectionality and the way these hierarchical systems of colonialism, white supremacy, capitalism, etc. affect all of us in tandem, and how those systems turn us against each other. The first step to fighting against all of that is to stand together, despite our differences.
19. What are you currently reading, watching, and listening to?
I just received a copy of Feuding Fan Dancers from Top 50 #1 performer, Qween Quan, so I just started that. I have recently fallen back on the RuPaul’s Drag Race bandwagon for All Stars 10 (#teambosco). Listening to all the pop girlies – Sabrina, Chappell, Charlie, Ariana, and I’ve been really loving Laufey lately. Also a shoutout to my friends SAILEM and Pat Smith, who have been releasing some bomb new music lately.
20. If you could share a dressing room with one performer for the rest of your career, who would it be?
This is rude to ask a neurodivergent extrovert by the way – what do you mean I have to choose ONE person?! We’ll have to spin a wheel, because I can’t pick.
21. What would you like your life and career to look like in 10 years time?
To continue to stand on business and be doing what I truly love at that given time.
Follow Ariana Amour on Instagram.