At fifty-one, I have been getting naked on stages for about two thirds of my life, and I’m certain I will continue for a long time to come. Burlesque for me is an ultimate freedom; it’s my body and I do what I want with it.
But right now – like so many of you – my brain and nervous system are in overdrive thinking about the atrocities that the U.S. government is continuing to perpetrate, even against the broader population (i.e. white folks too). A voice in my head judges me: why do you still care about burlesque, now of all times? Getting up on stage and getting nearly naked; it seems trivial when people are getting murdered in the streets. Thankfully, I recognize that voice in my head isn’t mine, but has seeped into my mind from people who are still under the illusion that if we collectively just behave right, no harm will come to us.
When I sat down last month to write a think piece for 21st Century Burlesque, I was excited and nervous. I have so much to say, nineteen years of wisdom I want to share. But I just sat there, spacing out. Finally, I closed my journal, opened my phone and got back to reading on the ground reports of the goings on in Minneapolis. I’ll circle back to this, I told myself.
And that’s the immediate challenge for us that needs to be confronted and countered right now. The looping paralysis of internalised, colonial, capitalist, white supremacist toxicity that is trying to brainwash us. It wants us to voluntarily relinquish our individual and collective powers by convincing us we don’t have any – that our passions are pointless and trivial, our words and ideas futile. So I’m writing this to remind us that, in Burlesque, we have a blueprint to help take this fascist experiment down.
In November of 2025 at BurlyCon’s keynote, I said these words which I want to share here:
“In 2025, burlesque is political, but let me not mince words, burlesque has always been political. It’s just that now it’s impossible not to notice. Our bodies are being regulated – trans bodies, female bodies, Black and brown bodies, disabled bodies, immigrant bodies, the list goes on. And if you are still saying it’s not, that is a wilful choice to close one’s eyes and pretend we are living in a country where real freedom exists.
We don’t have the luxury of believing burlesque is simply a form of entertainment. When we take the stage, we are not only challenging the status quo, but also this government’s current slide into facism. We are speaking our truths, and speaking truth is always important, but right now it is vital for our collective survival.”
There is a reason that arts and culture are always targets of empires, whether to co-opt or destroy. They give hope and a voice to the marginalized, inspire people to take action, and give people something to fight for.
Why did we get into Burlesque in the first place? There are as many reasons as there are performers, but it often boils down to how alive it makes us feel. And that surge of aliveness is an underutilized power we possess. Imagine if we could collectively harness that power? What could we accomplish?
We have created an international network of festivals, shows and schools, with an innate flare for producing and collaborating. These skills are transferable, and I see burlesquers in Minneapolis utilizing it in the face of terror and suppression.
Burlesquers – whether performers, producers, costumers, hosts, front of house crew or stage crew – are all innovative thinkers and born problem solvers. And I’m certain there are already individual burlesquers who are also community organizers and have been for years, but imagine if more of us joined in the struggle and supported where we could. Imagine hosts using their skills negotiating all the different energies in the audience to facilitate grassroots meetings where people’s voices are heard. Imagine sewing circles to make clothes for folks in need. Imagine volunteering to teach a movement class or art class for the kids of community organizers when they have their meetings so they don’t have to hire babysitters.
And then there’s that seemingly magic power some of us possess: getting sponsors for shows. Imagine using that skill to secure monetary donations and using them to buy and distribute essential supplies like food and toiletries to folks in need. And of course we are already very familiar with the show as fundraiser model, so how can we expand on that? I am certain there are already many of us doing these things -and more, but imagine if all of us, or even most of us, committed to using even just one of our many skills to directly support the communities we live and work in. I know we can find even more ways to use our sparkly skills to save the world.
It’s easy to declare in general terms that burlesque is and should be political, that performance is resistance, that creating art in times of struggle is imperative and time honored. But what does that actually look like in practice – performance amidst the death rattle of white supremacy?
Now, perhaps more than ever, we all need to proactively seek out our collective communities, both on and off stage. We already know how to work together to put on a show, but it’s vital to use these transferable skills to build community infrastructure. To weaponise our collective empathy, knowledge and creativity on the front lines and counter the hatred, prejudice and total absence of moral imagination being stoked and exploited by emboldened administrations across the world. They want us small, silent, cowed and exhausted. They want us to put down our pens, dismantle our sets, and succumb to infighting and doomscroll inertia. But the deep seated roots of Neo Burlesque have always been subversion, surprise, naked honesty and punching up. Time to put those gloves on and enter the ring. Defeat is not an option.
By Miss AuroraBoobRealis, a commission to mark Black History Month, 2026. Follow her on Instagram.