This years’ Vancouver International Burlesque Festival featured digital versions of their usual events. I attended Teach, Inspire, Transcend (T.I.T.) Talks, and the main event, the Anti-Showcase, curious to find out how an art form as intimate as burlesque would work in a digital form.
Each Anti-Showcase performer approached the challenge differently. The pieces that translated well to the screen embraced the digital format, using creative videography and editing to draw us in. Brittney Appleby and Alexa Borealis shot their piece in 16mm film, developing and editing it by hand. The classic boudoir video had a gritty, vintage look, featuring voyeuristic close-ups of the Betty-Page-style peeler unhooking her bra and stroking her stockinged thighs.
Boylesquer Wrong Note Rusty writhed around his bed with a backlight framing his body, teasing the audience with his outline in the darkness. He looked straight into the camera, making it seem like we were right there with him. Host Sparkle Plenty quipped “Every seat in a digital show is a front row seat.”
Other performers employed various techniques to make their work jump out of the screen and titillate us at home. The Lady Josephine played multiple characters in different settings, using clever editing to make her dress magically put itself on her body. Portia Favro combined a dreamy filter and slo-mo shots to create a fantasy world on screen, and the Glorious Ladies of Vancouver Wrestling shot their piece like a music video, alternating between dancing, showboating, and kicking creeps to the curb in their high-cut, tiger striped bodysuits.
Foxy Lexxi Brown brought down the house with her closing act. Sitting in a white dress on a red chair, she danced to Danielle Brooks’ Black Woman. She bared her soul as well as her skin in this sensuous, intimate and powerful piece. At the end I turned to my partner and said “Damn.” All he could do was nod in return.
The after party was open to anyone who wanted to attend, but most of the partiers were involved with the festival. Still I didn’t feel like an intruder as everyone was friendly and welcoming. Some people came to the party in full stage costume and make up, while others wore sweatpants – it didn’t matter, everyone was accepted as they were.
There were some technical difficulties, like there always are in zoom events. I preferred rooms like Sexy Card Games, where everyone could have their mics on at once and chat, unlike the Dance Party room. It felt great to see people, hear voices and laugh. We all need those human connections, even if it’s just for a few minutes in each room, saying “hi” and getting energy from other people (and their pets). T.I.T. Talks pulled back the curtain on the burlesque scene, but also made me think. Speakers shared their knowledge on various subjects, from brand design to fatphobia. Each talk was pre-recorded, and speakers appeared live afterwards for short Q+A sessions.
Former VIBF board member Monday Blues hosted from her couch, looking comfy in her lupus awareness sweater. She, and some other performers, read their lines from a script off-screen. At first I was surprised by this – I had assumed that everyone would show up in full burlesque makeup and costume, with their talks memorized. The very first talk made me question that assumption.
Androsia Wilde and Roxy Reverie of Diasporic Dynasty opened the show with their talk Ushering in a New Era of BIPOC Burlesque Performance. They explained that part of their mission was to create a space for BIPOC and Trans performers to “move beyond individualistic goals and ideas of productivity, and avoid being held to white standards and perfectionism.”
This statement made me realize that by requiring perfection, even in my head, I was putting down performers who may not have the privilege that I do. I was a competition dancer in high school, and have a university degree in dance and theatre. Many things required to meet my own middle-class white standards, such as professional lights and mics, rental spaces, and time, are not available to everyone.
From that first talk on I was consistently provoked to rethink ideas that have been ingrained in my psyche for my entire life. Mx. Pucks A’Plenty’s authentic, intimate talk Down with the Thiccness addressed the deep rooted shame that they used to feel about their own body, reminding us that “keeping people hating their body is an industry for profit”. Even burlesque, which claims to be for everybody, favours thin white bodies. It was Mx. Pucks who shared my favourite quote of the evening, “It’s offensive to people that I love being fat. That I love being Black. That I’m queer. As a sadist, that brings me much joy.”
Minda Mae, founder of the Disibilitease Festival, educated us on accessibility and accommodation, including audio-visual recommendations such as using closed captioning and ASL interpreters, both of which the VIBF employed in this event. Local costumière-extraordinaire Faye Havoc asked us to look at the art form from a new perspective, explaining how they, an asexual person, became a burlesquer. They are drawn to the decadence, drama, glamour and humour of the genre, reminding us that sensuality and sexuality are not the same thing. If you don’t believe that an ace person can create and perform burlesque, go watch their duet with Donna Boss Rogers that won Most Comedic at the Burlesque Hall of Fame in 2019.
Faye Havoc & Donna Boss Rogers – WINNER, Most Comedic – 29th from Burlesque Hall of Fame on Vimeo.
Although neither event compares to the energy and dynamism of the live festival, they still stimulated both my body and mind. And every time the video or music skipped on my computer I had to wonder – is the video itself teasing us?
Find out more about the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival and their future programming on their website!
Note: VIBF released a statement acknowledging the presentation of material that was damaging to the Asian community. Please read their statement over here.
– Kristen Lawson