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I have always been a performer at heart, but being away from my home country really inspired me to try out experiences I would never have considered. My first performance was in May 2014 as part of Geekenders’ production of ‘The Empire Strips Back’, and I was instantly hooked by the possibility of stories that burlesque and cabaret can tell, and the camaraderie that could develop within the wider community. Since becoming more involved with the Vancouver burlesque community as a performer, instructor, and producer, I ultimately wanted to pay forward the gifts that that artform has bestowed upon me, to those that come after – especially to the next generation of Black dancers.

One of the great gifts of my life is having a mom who taught me dance, so I’ve had a love of performing since a very young age. When I first moved to NYC in 2010, I signed up for Jo Weldon’s “Flirting with Burlesque” class at the New York School of Burlesque – that flirtation became my gateway into the wild & wonderful world of burlesque. As someone who had been searching for my art form, that’s when everything clicked… I was enraptured by the blending of high glamour with the performance art edginess that characterized NYC burlesque at the time. I fell in love with the sparkle, of course, but also the subversive potential of glamour and the DIY ethos that fueled the neo-burlesque revival. Burlesque is both high-brow and low-brow, and that interplay is what keeps it exciting for me. 15 years in, I still love this art form so much for the autonomy that we have as artists over all aspects of our craft and in presenting our truest selves on stage.

It’s been about 14/15 years. I’ve been a theatre kids since grade school. I feel like burlesque played the long game with me. I was asked ages ago to join a burlesque troupe and I didn’t know what it was. I was too shy/scared. I moved to Alberta and reconnected with a childhood friend who performed burlesque. Then I did a piece at Nextfest where I stripped while talking about who I was as a person. I met Ellen, that night she she said- want to do burlesque? I said.. sure! And now it’s my life!

I started Burlesque in 2006 when I was attending College for the Performing Arts for (singing, acting and dancing) after my sister took me to a Scandelles show at Lee’s Palace in Toronto. Their radicalized, feminist performances and diverse body representation shook me to my core (in the best way) and from then on I was hooked!

My drag journey began in the summer of 2011. I was a small town kid looking for a way to make stronger connections with the queer community in Calgary after moving to the city a year earlier and I stumbled across my first drag show. There was a stripping contest that night, which I thankfully didn’t have the inhibitions to refuse participation in, and my chest-binding, lip-syncing, dancing ass won the cash prize and the attention of a local drag producer. The next month I found myself competing in an amateur drag competition and performing has had it’s hooks in me ever since.

I started in 2011 after seeing Sweet Soul Burlesque at Shambhala, and then being inspired at Burning Man later that year. I just wanted to have an art form to share with the world. I stuck around because there was a stark lack of representation in Western Canada, and I knew it was important for folks to see people who looked like them on stage. I was determined to be that person for a while.

burlesque scene I joined circa 2005 wanting to create costumes for stage for both soloists and groups.

I’ve been in the drag realm of performance since 2012, but I come from a family that mixes drag, cabaret and a heaping dash of filth to the mix. My mother, Judy Virago, showed me that performing in drag isn’t just dancing, but also can be funny, political, and stupid all at the same time. It’s also not just what you do on stage, but a character you can embody while mingling in the audience or even on the sidewalk when you’ve got no drag on at all.

I started Drag in Halifax in 2016. Just a few months before I started I saw my first drag show and I was inspired by the power, strength and irreverence that the performers had I knew I wanted to do that too. The drag, burlesque and cabaret scene in Halifax has always been super intertwined and I brought that same connection to Fort McMurray when establishing the Drag Scene there.

My role has changed a fair bit from where I started. In the beginning I was more of a roadie who helped out my old roomate’s troop, the Jewel Box. From there I worked the door for Daisy DeVille for a couple of years before she asked me to host my first show in 2011 and it has been off to the races from there. I see myself as burlesque’s biggest cheerleader and I typically do that through hosting and producing shows that highlight the amazing performers in the community.

33 years ago. Bead, feathers, music and the mysterious drama

I joined the Cabaret Community originally in an Indigenous women’s burlesque troupe ‘Haute Natives’ in 2018. In the winter season of Covid, I made my debut as a soloist in the Cabaret Company production ‘Laundry Day’. I attended a ladies fitness class burlesquercise and thought well this is fun and ‘cute’ but I when are we gonna wear pasties. I started to do research into burlesque, its history and deep origins, around women’s empowerment. This was the basis for my start, and then I was diagnosed with breast cancer. While I went through this, I still attended burlesque classes to keep me motivated and to focus on other things besides what I was enduring. I say now that burlesque saved my life. It gave me passion, inspiration and a reason to create art that was meaningful to me.

I started DJing at The Warehouse Nightclub in 1998. I went on to buy the venue in 2000 and ran it until it closed in 2010. I also purchased Dickens in 2008 and will have been running it for 17 years on May 1. Although the main job at both places has always been the operational side of things, I’ve always maintained my DJ nights over the years, and I think it’s fair to say it’s my one true love when it comes to the nightclub business.

I believe it was Banff Pride in 2021? There were definitely masks on stage. CabCo is a great community of artist creating art for and by queer people, but also for anyone who enjoys comedy, burlesque and really cool art!

October 16th, 2021!

Watching the girls live inspired me to start! I joined the industry about ten hears ago.

I never considered myself to be in a cabaret community. I was a burlesque performer ie STRIPPER. Money & travel! Glittery costumes! Fun! And freeing my inner tramp

I started out doing fetish performance in Calgary back in 2004. I’d always wanted to be on stage – to engage, and entice, an audience. Burlesque seemed like a natural progression as it encompassed my love of vintage glamor and eroticism, and I began including strip tease to my repretoire.

I started performing burlesque back in 2013 after seeing my first burlesque show which was the Minneapolis Burlesque Festival. Burlesque saved my life. It gave me an anchor for my restless soul in the sea of doubt and depression. It help me find the joy in loving myself and to push forward in this hard knock life.

Am I in it? I don’t think i know what it is

I joined the cabaret community when I first started drag a little over 15 years ago. There was no drag community when I started drag and to fill a full show we would tag up with burlesque and ever since then I’ve been hooked. So I guess the inspiration to get involved was to create bigger and better shows.

I have been part of this incredible community since 2019, when I went to my first ever burlesque show for my 18th birthday. Being a dancer for as long as I could stand on two feet, as soon as I learned of burlesque and the world of cabaret, I knew nothing would keep me off the stage. I made my solo debut in October of 2019, starting my career as a performer perfectly mixed with my love for Halloween, and I haven’t stopped since! My mother, Kara Ka-pow!, was a true inspiration to me when it came to getting involved, and when she learned I wanted to start performing burlesque, she got me my first pair of pasties and helped get me right on stage. Once I started, the part that kept me in was the amazing people that make up this community. The love, the passion and the support are thick within the burlesque community here. They want to see you on stage, light up when you do, love you for everything you bring and, most of all, they truly want to see you glow.