Born in Messina, Sicily, but based in Milan for over twenty years, Ella Bottom Rouge brings her Mediterranean roots and sharp queer sensibility to the stage. With an acting background, she’s been…
Tag: Burlesque
Elyse Elaine began performing burlesque professionally in San Francisco 2011 and is now successfully established in Las Vegas since 2016. She’s co-produced Womanopoly with Sgt. Die Wies since 2012, and other credits…
Kitty Obsidian is a proud Australian First Nations performer specialising in sideshow and fetish burlesque. Voted LGBTQIA+ Person of the Year at the Victorian NAIDOC Awards 2022, Kitty is a public speaker…
With over eight years in Burlesque and a lifelong foundation in dance and theater, La Reina is a dynamic creator and weaver of stories. Born and raised in California, but based in…
Donna Poderosa has been spreading her love for performance across the UK and beyond since 2022. A proud alumni of the Soho School of Burlesque and the Black Burlesque School, her credits…
Brooklyn-bred, ‘nerdy connoisseur of Blackness’ Queerly Femmetastic is inspired by Black shake-dancers, strippers, and hoochie-coochie girls across generations. She’s picked up numerous titles and awards since her debut in 2018, including Silver…
Debuting in 2006 after a workshop with Rose Wood, Jacqueline Boxx’s performance background includes trapeze, hooping, cabaret, musical theater, bellydance, clowning and ballet. She has headlined burlesque festivals across the globe, and…
Portia Favro is a professional dancer who jetéd into Burlesque eleven years ago. An award-winning choreographer and performer, Portia led (quite literally in fact) her troupe Pin-Up Posse to victory as Best…
Debuting at the Orlando Burlesque Conservatory in 2022, Emma Jewel was awarded Hollywood Starlet at the 2024 Hollywood Burlesque Festival, and debuted internationally in November 2024 at the Black Burlesque Festival in…
Fou Fou Kaboom is an award-winning London-based burlesque performer, specialising in “high-concept silliness”. Winner of Burlesque Idol 2022, Fou Fou has appeared everywhere from prestigious burlesque festivals and glittering cabarets to bowling…
Combining her background and training as a musical theatre performer, Serafina Hart is a multi-award-winning burlesque artist who, in 2024 alone, debuted in the Burlesque TOP 50 , won the ‘World Audience…
A ‘full-time professional’ since 2017, Misty Lotus is an Indo-Swiss burlesque artist and fire eater, based in Lausanne, Switzerland. She’s headlined at the Strasbourg Burlesque Festival, Zurich Burlesque Festival, Bohemian Burlesque Festival,…
Originally from Newport, Arkansas, Jake Dupree made their burlesque debut in Dita Von Teese’ Von Follies show performing her martini glass act, and went on to headline shows at the Musée Des…
Award-winning burlesque performer, historian and teacher Alyssa Kitt Hanley began her career in Brisbane, Australia in 2007. She is currently undertaking her PhD in theatre and performance at City University New York,…
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…
Nami Flare is a performer, educator and ‘art enthusiast’, earning a BFA in Dance from Ohio State University in 2020. Once lured into the world of burlesque, she swiftly won Mx Ebony…
Dancing from a young age, Margo Mayhem is a Broadway darling turned burlesque dancer with an impressive string of accolades to her name. At the Burlesque Hall of Fame Tournament of Tease…
Dainty Smith, ‘The Church Lady Gone Bad’, is a Toronto based burlesque performer, curator, actress and writer. In 2010 she founded Les Femmes Fatales, ‘Canada’s first burlesque troupe for Black women and…
Agent Wednesday is an Asian-American burlesque performer, illustrator, and costume designer. Currently based in NYC and a regular feature at The Red Pavilion in Brooklyn, she is from Honolulu, HI and graduated…
‘Sapphic Sensation’ Raven Rose is an award winning Afro-Indigenous dancer known for her grace, glamour, and grind. She’s produced variety shows The Raven’s Nest and Max-TEASE since 2016, and is the 2025…
Musical theatre trained and with over a decade in burlesque, Didi Derriere is prolific on the London circuit, with regular performances at The MAINE Mayfair, Black Cat Cabaret, Gin House Burlesque, Phoenix…
From a family of dancers, Bettie Bombshell stumbled upon Burlesque Bar in Melbourne, Australia in 2013 and attended a call-out for budding burlesque performers to join their ‘Debut Darlings’ Thursday night show.…
Aquarius Moon is an award-winning, Somali-Nigerian American performance artist, commercial model, and inclusive choreographer. Originally from Rockville, Maryland, her dynamic performances have taken her on a two-year burlesque tour across the US…
This Thursday, a resplendent cavalcade of talent arrives to deliver three thrilling nights of classic striptease, nerdlesque, boylesque, and draglesque at the iconic Triple Door in Seattle, USA. Welcome to Fatlesque –…
Neo-Burlesque veteran Peekaboo Pointe is an interdisciplinary performer, artist and choreographer, with a MFA in Performance and Interactive Media Art from Brooklyn College. In addition to being a proud stripper and burlesque…
Pearls Daily is an award winning, NYC based showgirl, actress and producer with numerous theatre, film, television and modelling credits to her name. The reigning Queen of the Striptease 2024 (Teaser Festival…
Mia Victoria Preisser, also known as Mia ‘The MVP’, is a dynamic NYC-based burlesque performer, artist, and cancer survivor with over ten years of experience in the entertainment industry. A fierce champion…
Cherry OnTop has been a burlesque performer for over twenty years and a renowned instructor for twelve, namely as the owner and director of the Vancouver Burlesque Co. In 2003 she co-founded…
Drawing her name from her Portuguese heritage, Força’s enigmatic stage presence has ignited some of the most prestigious burlesque stages in the world, most recently at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend…
Spanish siren Ruby Monroe has certainly made her enigmatic presence felt on the international burlesque circuit, winning the Miss Viva Las Vegas title in 2022 and following it with a stratospheric Top…
Dinah Might began her career in the early 90s as a Feature Entertainer in gentlemen’s clubs in Canada, and has performed across four continents in every genre of striptease. She has appeared…
Classically trained at the Conservatoire de Versailles for 10 years, Clea de Velours started performing burlesque at 20 years old. A regular London fixture at The Windmill, The Maine and Brasserie Zedel,…
Since 2013, award winning performer and instructor Maxi Millions has brought her fierce brand of “rock and roll bump ‘n’ grind” to stages all over North America. Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Maxi is…
One of the precious few Italians to make the Burlesque TOP 50, Ginevra Joyce creates ‘glamorous and explosive’ acts, winning ‘Most Classic’ at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend 2023. Crowned Miss…
Cadbury Parfait is an award-winning performer serving classic burlesque with a generous side order of tongue-in-cheek British humour. After several years performing and teaching at Shimmy Shake School of Burlesque in Berlin,…
Tara Boom, a renowned performer from Sandy Point, Melbourne, is known for her unconventional circus acts, including hula hooping with a popcorn machine on her head and performing hand puppet abortions. Her acts are charged with physical comedy, and she leverages them to challenge societal norms with a subversive and anarchic spin from her Australian circus and cabaret background. Despite struggles with depression and global pandemic-related challenges, Tara uses her performances to connect deeply with audiences, address taboos, and express her authentic self.
Spookey, ‘The Tiny Titan of Burlesque’, began his career in 2011 with traveling burlesque shows in the metropolitan area of the US. An acrobatic stripping specialist, Spookey’s credits include the prestigious Le…
Today, lithe and vivacious dancers across the globe watch and wait for the legendary Parisian institution Crazy Horse Paris to announce auditions on Instagram. Before social media existed, Anna O’Keefe, a plucky teenager from New Zealand, walked in and asked for one. She would go on to become Roxy Tornado, arguably the most iconic, documented dancer in its 72 year history.
How do you interview one of the most prolific burlesque performers, producers and bookers in London – arguably the world – who performs up to five different acts a night in multiple…
Joy Rider is an award winning burlesque performer who just won Best Debut at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend. Based in Montreal, Canada she is also the co-founder of AMPLIFY BIPOC…
Everybody is talking about Cleopantha – the exciting British rising star who combines a high energy dance style with burlesque striptease and hip-hop. In 2020 she debuted at 29 on the Burlesque…
Described as ‘Pinup in Motion’, Mika Romantic is the epitome of classic burlesque entertainment. She was named one of the Sexiest Acts to Follow by GQ Magazine and won a title in…
Lola Coquette is a multi-award winning burlesque performer, producer and instructor based in Portland. A passionate activist for BIPOC and Latinx rights, Lola is a founding member of The Bees’ Knees Burlesque Revue…
Canadian burlesque sensation Zyra Lee Vanity started performing burlesque in 2013 via the Toronto School of Burlesque, and quickly became a multi-award winning entertainer. Voted number 31 in the Burlesque Top 50…
Jessabelle Thunder has been dancing joyously across burlesque stages since 2009. With a wink of her eye and a thrust of her hips, she’ll have you hooked. In 2018, Jessabelle was awarded…
Originally from Montreal, Canada, Foxy Lexxi attended a live burlesque show seven years ago and it was love at first strip. After studying under The Lady Josephine and BonBon Bombay, she went…
When I was asked by the editor of this illustrious publication to write a piece about the state of burlesque, I hesitated. My twelve years in the industry have witnessed huge changes…
Matt Finish, Best Boylesque winner in 2015, guides us through the group and boylesque categories at the 2019 Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender. Please check out our Burlesque Hall of Fame coverage…
Lou Lou la Duchesse de Rière has been crowned ‘Queen of Burlesque’ at the New Orleans Burlesque Festival, in a classic burlesque contest where competitors perform accompanied by a live band. Routines…
What things her gaze conceals, yet gives acknowledgement to. What horrors, yet what joys. “Josephine Baker” I whisper to myself before shows, willfully propelling myself forward, no matter the obstacles. Others say Josephine…
Yesterday evening, Michelle L’amour – Miss Exotic World 2005 and celebrated superstar of contemporary burlesque – unveiled a surprise video statement, revealing a painful disease she has lived with since childhood – Alopecia.
The F-word has been front and center throughout the world and at the forefront of discussion within the burlesque community of late. With ‘Nasty Women’ and ‘Bad Feminists’ globally speaking out…
As any burlesque aficionado knows, feathers play a huge part in our history. Most performers’ repertoire includes, or has included, feather fans. The minute Sally Rand stepped out at the 1933 Chicago…
Like the fabled, festive Coca Cola truck, five star smash La Soiree has rolled into London again this Christmas with a twinkling Spiegeltent full of sass, smut, surprise, and sensational skill. We spoke to…
Miss Indigo Blue – Miss Exotic World, Reigning Queen of Burlesque 2011 and headmistress of the pioneering Academy of Burlesque – shines a light on some burlesque treasure from Brazil… Although we’re…
Classic burlesque striptease, when done well, captivates and excites me as much as it did over ten years ago when I arrived on the scene. And yet a number of people approach…
Tansy and Leon were the smash hit of The Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend last year with their awesome duet, and they smashed it again at the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend…
Coco Lectric was radiant and joyous at the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend 2016. Her dazzling smile, sparkling eyes, sense of humour and captivating musicality made for a showstopping performance. Every performer…
Next, it’s the curator of the dazzling Burlesque Showcase herself, the vivacious Audrey Deluxe, at the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender 2016. Every performer in the Burlesque Showcase is personally invited by…
Sadie Sinner and Coco Deville report on a disturbing burlesque act involving blackface which came to light on social media today. Not the first. We hope it’s the last. Ed. Sadie Sinner…
I realise we’ve already had quite a tempestuous weekend in the burlesque universe, but I arrived home today to yet another attack on a burlesque and cabaret critic because the performer and…
We’re pleased to announce that application results for The Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender 2016 will be coming out soon. With hundreds of applications from performers around the world, there will be…
Introducing a guest post from Mary Cyn. Feel free to share your view on this topic in the comments section below. Years ago, my former boss went to a burlesque show. He…
Happy New Year, all! Last year’s ‘most popular burlesque articles’ post was so popular I’ve created one for 2015 for you to enjoy while you recover from last night’s festivities/gigs/denial. 1. LUCKY PIERRE’S…
By now, most of us have seen a certain article that recently resurfaced–one titled “The Shittiest Burlesque I’ve Ever Seen”. I want to believe that the former article gets shared, not to…
In the second of three interviews, sensational British burlesque newcomer Cece Sinclair is interviewed by Ivy Wilde… Performing for just over 18 months, Cece Sinclair is taking the UK by storm. Moving…
Texas is one of the largest states in the US and its burlesque scene is growing to match it every day. With a growing reputation for innovation and an enthusiastic fan base,…
The burlesque scene is not a universally inclusive, comforting safe haven where you can spend your days high-fiving other ‘empowered’ women and singing Kumbaya around a warm, cosy campfire toasting rhinestone covered marshmallows.
Read on to find out more about a fabulous burlesque exhibition in Milwaukee, US, which is open until July 5th, 2015 and includes items contributed by The Burlesque Hall of Fame… “More on…
Martina Naccari – aka Tina Topago – who has worked with Italian burlesque agency Voodoo De Luxe since 2013, shares her tips for becoming a sought after stage kitten… I wasn’t born…
21st Century Burlesque Magazine editor Holli-Mae Johnson and editor-in-chief of This Is Cabaret Franco Milazzo sat down with the delightful Rosie Kohl in her cosy sitting room just before Christmas and discussed…
Following Dangrrr Doll’s piece earlier this week on The Cost of Burlesque, Jo Weldon presents The Value of Burlesque… Learning that you must GIVE value as well as HAVE value will help…
It all started when I received yet another message from a newer performer wanting to get out there in the scene, wanting to do festivals, wanting to headline. Then I wait for…
I have been doing burlesque for almost eight years now. That, by no means, makes me some sort of expert. I feel like I am always learning something with every corner I…
10 Ways to Produce a Burlesque Show Safe from Misogyny, by Dottie Lux. Share your view in the comments section below… Warning: this list speaks to burlesque performers as women. I acknowledge…
What to Expect at a Typical Burlesque Show, By Dr. Lucky. I’ve been deeply ensconced in burlesque for a while, and I’m constantly reminded that not everyone is privy to my insular…
Words and opinions by Punani Difranco. I recently came across a video — posted on a good friend’s wall — of a comedian doing a piece of ‘feminist burlesque’*. She didn’t take…
Ivy Wilde examines the effect of social media on the profile of burlesque and asks if Facebook and Burlesque are always compatible and used appropriately… Social media has been a huge contributing…
Ah, the F word. There’s a lot of mystery around the amount performers charge for their services. It is often a taboo subject; I have had people whisper to me how much…
Disclaimer: This article was not requested or commissioned by the burlesque performer concerned and care has been taken to highlight this issue in a way that does not go against her wishes…
Required burlesque reading, courtesy of Dr. Lucky. Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. “I didn’t know you still perform,” a young performer said to me at…
Nasty Canasta invites you to undertake an End of Year Burlesque Self-Assessment… 2013 Year-End Performance Review: Self-Evaluation (With thanks to the several naff business-form-online sites that provided inspiration and/or wording.) This Self…
Burlesque dancers all fall into ruts. We get booked consistently, put on a good local show, but we don’t get challenged. And then we see that out of town burlesque dancer, or go to…
I’ve been creating burlesque costumes by customising off-the-rack pieces for approximately four years. The hot-fix rhinestone applicator was one of the first tools of the trade I discovered via the burlesque community.…
Many performers find that during their burlesque career, they are specifically asked to perform a fan dance. With the proliferation of fan dances on the circuit, it’s common to feel a pressure…
“These are my friends and this is my life.” – Tigger! on stage during Friday night curtain call. Batten the brassieres and hold onto your hatches! ©Trixie Little Through some magical combination…
Read on to find out what is in store at this week’s Scandanavian shimmy-fest! “Being of northern descent, I know I’ll love the culture of Finland. And I’ve heard nothing but beautiful…
I recently received the following question from a performer based in the Midlands, UK: “How do you make the jump from middle of the bill to top of the bill, it seems…
Germany loves burlesque, but excitement is at fever pitch right now, thanks to two marvellous shows! Black Flamingo at the Wintergarten Variete Theatre in Berlin has enjoyed a fabulous run so far,…
Trixie Little takes you behind the curtain at the first New Orleans Burlesque Festival… Day 4: Sunday 11:30am Woke up at noon to thunderstorms rattling the windows of our 25th floor hotel…