We didn’t manage to blog about a single amazing burlesque event, show, or festival during 2016! We would make some excuse, but y’all know 2016 was the worst and we are pretty sure no further explanation is required!
Fundraisers and a Festival
We kicked off the year by raising money for both Planned Parenthood at the sold out “Legislate This!” show as well as for the San Antonio Burlesque Festival at a fabulous burlesque brunch with bingo!
In February we were thrilled to perform in the OUTsider Festival (a multi-arts event that celebrates the creative nonconformity of the LGBTQ+ community) alongside some of our favorite Central Texas queerlesquers and special guest La Chica Boom from Oakland!
Texas Burlesque Festival
In April we performed at the Texas Burlesque Festival for the sixth time and had a wonderful time as usual! We are so lucky to have such a great festival in our hometown. TXBF 2016 brought legends Ellion Ness and Viva La Fever and we were so grateful to see them perform and to learn about their lives during the performer brunch.
Burlesque Hall of Fame
In June we headed out to Las Vegas to attend the Burlesque Hall of Fame for our first time since 2011. What an experience! We caught up with burlesque buddies from all over the country, soaked up some sun at the pool party, had a Kiki, rubbed shoulders with Legends, and did our best to stay hydrated!
The performances are BHOF were inspiring and we especially enjoyed getting to cheer on our friends from Houston, Tifa Tittlywinks and Emma D’Lemma, on Saturday night in the Small Group category. Tiffany Carter, Gaea Lady, Lada Redstar, Don’t Blink Burlesque, and Screaming Chicken Theatrical Society were some of our other favorite performances of the weekend.
We even managed the sneak out of the casino a couple times to check out Vegas’ new tiki bar with our Portland pal Baby Le’Strange and make the pilgrimage to Burlesque Hall of Fame museum.
Trips to Dallas and Corpus Christi
In July we were headliners at the inaugural Texas Queerlesque Festival in Dallas which focuses on building community and celebrating queer burlesque performers. It was a wonderful weekend of performance, education, and community building. FYI: Applications for the 2017 festival are now open!
In September we took a trip to the Texas coast to visit some of our favorite folks: The After Dark Revue of Corpus Christi. The Revue was celebrating their 10th anniversary and we so excited to share that milestone with them with an outstanding show!
Austin Academy of Burlesque & Solo Shows
Throughout the year we continued to teach at the Austin Academy of Burlesque which is always a fun and rewarding experience. We enjoy working with new burlesque performers and getting to experience their development.
We love performing together, but we both branched out and got some solo stage time in 2016. Eaton performed with Austin’s new drag king troupe, Boiz of Austin and also did fundraiser shows for the Austin International Drag Festival. Shelby was a guest of Curvy Gurl Productions and also hit the stage at the Austin Pride Festival with a few local queerlesquers.
2017 and Beyond!
2016 was rough, but it is nice to be able to look back and remember that many positive and fun things also happened. Looking ahead to the rest of 2017, our plans include performing at the OUTsider Festival and the Texas Burlesque Festival again and we already have our plane tickets to Vegas for the Burlesque Hall of Fame!
Even though 2017 looks very bleak politically, we are excited to have the chance to express ourselves creatively and experience community with other like-minded folks due to our involvement in burlesque. We look forward to seeing you all on and off the stage this year!