Calling all burlesquers and enthusiasts alike! Toronto Burlesque Festival is returning to the city this month, offering show-stopping performances, fantasy creatures, femme features, and a celebration of the bold, glittering, and unapologetically glamorous.
The artist-led, non-profit Toronto Burlesque Festival will take place from Nov. 13 to 16 at its partner venue, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Headliners for this year’s festival include Tre Da Marc, Foxy Lexxi Brown, Bettie Bombsell, and the first Canadian inductee into the Burlesque Hall of Fame, Judith Stein.
Whether you are a burlesque aficionado or a first-time guest, this year’s lineup of local and international performers promises to mesmerize attendees with daring artistry, satirical humour, and a touch of glittering rebellion.
“You’re really getting to see some show-stopping numbers that otherwise you wouldn’t see anywhere else in the world…We got something for everybody,” Ivory (Steff Ivory Conover), Toronto Burlesque Festival director and board chair, told Now Toronto on Tuesday.
WHAT TO EXPECT AT THIS YEAR’S TORONTO BURLESQUE FEST
This year’s theme, Things that Go Bump in the Night, is an ode to the foundational moments of burlesque, and offers a nod to the duality of the craft’s lengthy and expansive history.
“The idea of that was a sort of a double-entendre, a play on words, a calling to Old Hollywood Glam, and we really had this idea of the sort of creature from the Black Lagoon, the classic 1930s posters where you had the damsel in distress and the monster. We wanted to do that kind of juxtaposition.”
She adds that the heart of this year’s theme beats through the embodiment of both classic and neo-burlesque, and celebrates the many facets of the craft, with each act containing either a political statement or an element meant to inspire change, provoke reaction, or spark motivation.
“It enables us to display our unique perspectives in ways that challenge the patriarchy, that dismantle systems of oppression, and that open a political discourse on a broad range of topics regarding feminism, intersectionality, and social justice,” Ivory said.
“There is so much to the burlesque revival…it’s meant to be satire, it’s meant to make us question, it’s meant to make us feel, it’s meant to be radical. Sometimes it’s just meant to make us laugh.”
Beyond the festival’s star-studded headliners, attendees can expect to experience a powerful and unique lineup of performers from around the globe, including Indigenous Cree performer and host Sparkle Plenty, and featured artists like Deja Louve, Gay Jesus, and Qween Quan.
Ivory also highlights Toronto’s very own Les Femmes Fatales, a groundbreaking burlesque troupe of women and femmes of colour, known for their powerful and provocative performances rooted in identity, self-love, and the reclamation of people of colour (POC) femme bodies and sexuality on stage.
Additionally, attendees can expect an unforgettable array of performers, including the Little Shop of Horrors cosplay act, a fiery country-inspired tribute to Shania Twain, burlesque on stilts, a giant loofah, and a whip-cracking virtuoso.
Other featured acts, such as a Nine Inch Nails tribute and a traditional light box performance, will take over the Buddies in Bad Times Theatre stage during the festival’s four-day run.
For those requiring accommodations, Ivory says the festival will offer a livestream of all performances, along with American Sign Language interpretation on Thursday, Nov. 13, and Friday, Nov. 14.
“Will there be something for me there? And the answer is, yes, there’s something for everybody. Whether you’re into monsters, into cosplay, into glamour girls, or you’re into, you know, making a political statement about why your body deserves to be seen on stage, as a fat performer, as a queer performer, as a black performer, as a POC performer, or as a trans performer, it encompasses it all.”
THE HISTORY OF TORONTO’S BURLESQUE FESTIVAL
Founded in 2008, the Toronto Burlesque Festival, formerly known as the ‘Northern Exposure,’ began as an annual event showcasing high-calibre performances.
“The organization was only incorporated in 2021 when our team took the reins and reimagined the festival as an artist-led, non-profit organization, and annual event, deeply rooted in messages of diversity, inclusivity, body positivity, and artistic expression through the art of burlesque,” Ivory said.
“We believe in fostering a safe and supportive environment for burlesque creators, students, and appreciators of all genders, sizes, ethnicities, and backgrounds. We’re showcasing world class entertainment on all our stages.”
Ivory says the original founders and team aimed to spotlight Canadian and northern burlesque performers, creators, and choreographers, hosting events at venues like the Cadillac Lounge, Gladstone Hotel, Mod Club, and Centre of Gravity by the festival’s second year.
“They had many executive members over the years, but consistently, it was previously run by the founder and executive director, Sauci Calla Hora and Coco Framboise, who served as artistic director from 2013 to 2019.”
WHY THE TORONTO BURLESQUE FEST MATTERS
While the Toronto Burlesque Festival is set to take place at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Ivory says it will feel more intimate, noting that the venue, known as a historically queer space, is the perfect home for this year’s edition and conversation about what the burlesque community in the city has to offer the world.
“It felt like a homecoming, really, for the festival to be able to partner with Buddies for the first time, because we share a lot of aligned values. We are anti-oppressive and inclusive as a festival, and so is Buddies.”
According to Ivory, standing firm in one’s convictions and embracing authentic identities is more important than ever. She notes that the ability to exist and take up space, both in the world and within the art and burlesque community, feels particularly timely.
“For us, this is a kind of homecoming, and bringing burlesque home to a theatre where it belongs… Burlesque is a vital part of Toronto’s artistic tapestry, and should be celebrated, not censored, and certainly not swept under the rug.”
With over 220 unique burlesque performers in Toronto alone, Ivory says the industry is thriving and deserves far more recognition than what it currently receives.
“I’d love to see us reclaim, not just the word, but the art of burlesque, because it’s here to stay.”
TAKEAWAYS FOR THE COMMUNITY
Ivory’s greatest hope? That burlesque and inclusive, anti-oppressive spaces give people the chance to bask in the beauty of who they truly are — something the craft has generously offered her.
“As a proud queer, disabled woman of colour… for me, the act of reclaiming my sexuality, my desirability, and my autonomy on stage through burlesque, is revolutionary in and of itself. Doing burlesque has healed me, my self-image, and my self-worth in more ways than I can count,” she said.
“And for me, being able to share that with audiences…all I hope and all we hope as an organization is that we can help heal you, too.”
The Toronto Burlesque Festival runs from Nov. 13 to 16 at its new partner venue, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Tickets, weekend passes, and livestream access are on sale now.
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