Burlesque is back and Burgundy Brixx wouldn’t have it any other way.
Brixx, the star of Purrlesque — the WinterPRIDE burlesque party certain to transform the GLC into a sultry and seductive scene on Friday (Feb. 10) — is the most celebrated burlesque performer, producer and pioneer Vancouver has to offer.
“I’ve been asked to do one of my signature pieces,” said Brixx of her upcoming Whistler performance for gay pride week. “Over-the-top glamour, very sparkly, exaggerated femininity for sure, but with a lot of saucy humour.”
Her dazzling performance style is in hot demand. She was recently featured as a solo performer at the 2011 New Orleans Burlesque Festival, the 2010 Las Vega Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend and the 2009 New York Burlesque Festival, to name just a few of her recent major appearances.
“Once I found it (burlesque), everything just made sense,” she said. “It all really fell into place for me because I’d been a costume designer, I’d been a singer, actor, dancer, choreographer, a director and also everything I always did had a saucy flare to it.”
Brixx had been a professional performing artist for more than 10 years in New York, working as a singer and dancer for theatres, casinos and cruise lines before she discovered the city’s burlesque community in 2005. With her theatrical background, it didn’t take long before she was performing several nights a week and co-producing NYC’s Kitty Nights Burlesque.
“The dictionary definition of the word basically means to exaggerate, so whatever we’re doing, it’s an exaggeration,” said Brixx. “It’s closer to drag in a lot of ways than it is to other theatrical art forms.”
As soon as she moved to Vancouver in 2008, the opportunity to produce a show at the Biltmore Cabaret fell into her lap. A monthly production shifted into weekly shows after just a couple of months. Vancouver’s weekly Kitty Nights Burlesque is now entering its fifth year.
“That definitely was a huge change in the community in Vancouver, because prior to that there were shows maybe once every two months or so,” said Brixx. “There was not a monthly show ever, and there was not a weekly show — I mean, it was unheard of.”
The ongoing success of Kitty Nights sparked a strong public interest in burlesque that offered Brixx another opportunity. With two other performers, she opened the Vancouver Burlesque Centre where she also works as a dance instructor. The studio is geared towards the sensuality of women and expression, she said.
But sensuality should not be mistaken for sexuality, she added.
“Burlesque is sensual and it’s about the teasing aspect of the strip, whereas the contemporary stripper is about the sexuality rather than the sensuality,” Brixx said. “It’s a very different thing.”
Burlesque originated in England in the 1800s as an early feminist art form. Women wrote, directed and produced satirical plays while playing all the men’s roles, which was unheard of at the time. The element of striptease was added in the 1920s and the art form eventually evolved into what’s seen today in modern day strip clubs. But a true burlesque artist keeping to the tradition does not reveal her all.
“A stripper’s job is to entertain in a sexual way,” said Brixx. “We share our souls, and we’re doing it with the early form of burlesque, which includes satire, exaggeration and blue humour — there is comedy involved in our art form always.”
For the Purrlesque extravaganza, she will be joined by host Samantha Mack and burlesque artist Madame Mae with music provided by Vancouver DJ Kasey Riot.
“We’ve performed together quite a bit — she’s fantastic. I’m excited,” Brixx said about Mae. “And I’m excited that Samantha Mack is hosting — I adore her. She’s genuinely sexy and genuinely funny and really smart. She’s hilarious.”
Purrlesque takes place at the Garibaldi Lift Company on Friday from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Advance tickets are available online at www.gaywhistler.com. WinterPRIDE festivities continue around Whistler through Sunday (Feb. 12). Visit the website for a full schedule and more info.
