Consent. Accessibility and Representation. Skill Share.
Unapologetic Burlesque is consensual: performers decide what clothing/props to take off, put on, and what stays on the whole time. This allows all performers to express and share their sexuality/body with agency and on their own terms (this is especially important for diverse queer youth who experience disproportionate amounts of shame and silencing around their sexualities/bodies and have limited access to spaces where healthy and self-affirming sexuality can be explored). Unapologetic Burlesque also creates audience hand-outs, performer bios and workshop community contracts where performers can let each other and audiences know about what they like or don’t like (for example – loud cheers, hugs, silence, etc) as well where they can inform one another about potentially emotionally heavy or triggering subject matter, all to create a culture of safety, communication and respect between all involved.
Unapologetic Burlesque pays attention to accessibility and representation: performers, audience members and people who make all of this possible include, but are not limited to folks who identify as; queer, youth, people of colour, Indigenous, fat, chronically ill, disabled or with a varying set of abilities/disabilities, and folks from a wide range of class, work and educational backgrounds. We are continuously engaging in dialogue with community members and individual/group reflection process of who gets to access to stage or learning spaces, who gets left out and why, and what structures can be built in order to increase accessibility and representation. Some examples of work done so far to fulfill this mandate: providing a sliding scale Pay What You Can showcase door fee and engaging in community fundraising initiatives to keep the showcase financially accessible as well as raise funds to provide performer and crew honourarium, building an additional ramp onto the stage for wheelchair and mobility devices, hiring ASL interpreters and including closed captioning in order for deaf/hard of hearing communities to participate, and hiring an outreach and accessibility coordinator to continually engage with accessibility/representation feedback from communities invested in the show.
Unapologetic Burlesque prioritizes a skill share model of learning and education: as Unapologetic Burlesque grows we hope to provide more and more opportunities for everyone, including first time, emerging and seasoned performers, crew and organizers, to meet, share and build skills together. the skill-share model is rooted in valuing and developing the skills we have and learning those we don’t have. This erases the ‘teacher-student’ divide, where folks can access space at no cost to share the skills and knowledge they already have as well as learn new skills from their peers. This model of education builds confidence and leadership, validates the knowledge and experience we bring with us and helps us develop more skills in teaching/sharing.
Unapologetic Burlesque pays attention to accessibility and representation: performers, audience members and people who make all of this possible include, but are not limited to folks who identify as; queer, youth, people of colour, Indigenous, fat, chronically ill, disabled or with a varying set of abilities/disabilities, and folks from a wide range of class, work and educational backgrounds. We are continuously engaging in dialogue with community members and individual/group reflection process of who gets to access to stage or learning spaces, who gets left out and why, and what structures can be built in order to increase accessibility and representation. Some examples of work done so far to fulfill this mandate: providing a sliding scale Pay What You Can showcase door fee and engaging in community fundraising initiatives to keep the showcase financially accessible as well as raise funds to provide performer and crew honourarium, building an additional ramp onto the stage for wheelchair and mobility devices, hiring ASL interpreters and including closed captioning in order for deaf/hard of hearing communities to participate, and hiring an outreach and accessibility coordinator to continually engage with accessibility/representation feedback from communities invested in the show.
Unapologetic Burlesque prioritizes a skill share model of learning and education: as Unapologetic Burlesque grows we hope to provide more and more opportunities for everyone, including first time, emerging and seasoned performers, crew and organizers, to meet, share and build skills together. the skill-share model is rooted in valuing and developing the skills we have and learning those we don’t have. This erases the ‘teacher-student’ divide, where folks can access space at no cost to share the skills and knowledge they already have as well as learn new skills from their peers. This model of education builds confidence and leadership, validates the knowledge and experience we bring with us and helps us develop more skills in teaching/sharing.