What to know
- The Toronto Burlesque Festival returns November 12–15 with REVERIE, a four-day celebration of burlesque, drag and cabaret at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.
- Approximately 50 performers were selected from more than 500 applications for this year’s international lineup.
- Performers are challenging narrow beauty standards, reclaiming sexuality and pushing back against stigma surrounding stripping and sex work.
- Festival organizers and artists say burlesque offers a platform for storytelling, political expression, creative freedom and celebrating bodies and identities often excluded from mainstream performance spaces.
When you think of burlesque, feathers, rhinestones and elaborate costumes might be what first come to mind. But behind the glitz and glamour is an art form offering performers the freedom to tell their stories, reclaim their bodies and challenge expectations about who deserves to take centre stage.
That’s the spirit behind this year’s Toronto Burlesque Festival, which returns November 12 to 15 with REVERIE, a four-day celebration of burlesque, drag and cabaret at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.
Established in 2008, the artist-led, non-profit festival has grown into an international showcase, bringing together performers from Toronto, across Canada and beyond. This year organizers selected approximately 50 artists from more than 500 applications.
For festival director and board chair Ivory, the event is about celebrating the extraordinary artists behind the performances, rather than simply focusing on what audiences see on stage.
“These are comedians, these are dancers, these are storytellers, these are political activists, these are boundary pushers, and they are redefining what beauty, sexuality, autonomy, resistance, resilience, and performance can look like around the world,” she told Queer & Now.
Burlesque performers combatting “the whorearchy”
While burlesque is often associated with striptease, Ivory explained that the art form encompasses much more, combining dance, comedy, satire, glamour and storytelling for a performance like no other.
“It’s a little bit funny, it’s a little bit cheeky, it’s often highly politicized,” she explained, adding that while striptease is a distinct part of burlesque, it’s just that: part of it.
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However, the distinction between burlesque and stripping is not about one being more artistic or legitimate than the other, further perpetuating stigma through what feminist scholars refer to as the “whorearchy.” This system categorically ranks sex work professions between those that are “better” or “more respectable” and those considered “bad” or “inferior.”
Jezebel Express, one of this year’s headliners, tells Queer & Now that performers have long opposed such attempts to separate burlesque from stripping in ways that stigmatize sex work.
“I think there are a lot of performers who really want to push back and be like, ‘What we do is stripping’,” she shared. “It’s fundamentally taking your clothes off in a bar for entertainment purposes, and it’s really important for people to hold that line.”
Changing the narrative around whose stories are celebrated
For Jezebel, who has been performing since 2004, burlesque also creates opportunities to challenge narrow cultural expectations around beauty, sexuality and whose stories deserve to be celebrated.
“I feel like I get to create possibilities for people,” she said.
“People have an idea of who gets to be sexy and what that looks like, who deserves to take up space on stage, whose stories are important? Who deserves glamour?”
She says Western culture has historically maintained a narrow definition of beauty and desirability, but burlesque offers performers the opportunity to challenge those standards by putting their bodies, personalities and perspectives at the centre of the performance.
“When you go on stage in burlesque, and you get to be like, ‘This is who I showed up with. This is the body I have. This is my perspective and my personality.’ People get to realize that it’s possible for a lot of different perspectives and bodies to be highlighted and celebrated, and that they’re all beautiful.”
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That sense of creative freedom is also central to Ivory’s relationship with the art form.
Having started performing in 2006 after graduating from Toronto’s Randolph Academy of the Performing Arts, she says burlesque has allowed her to explore creative opportunities that traditional theatre and dance spaces might not otherwise offer.
“As a proud fat, Queer, disabled woman of colour, the act of reclaiming my sexuality, my desirability, and my autonomy on stage is revolutionary in and of itself,” she explained, adding that performances have become a form of healing, both for herself and the audiences who see themselves reflected in her work.
“It’s my inner child that we’re healing, and it’s everybody else in the room who sees something in themselves in me,” she said.
Burlesque performers, aka show producers, and the freedom to experiment
That connection between performers and audiences is part of what makes the festival special, particularly because of the independent nature of the art form. Jezebel explained that burlesque performers frequently take on nearly every aspect of producing their work, from creating costumes and editing music to booking tours, marketing themselves and promoting their performances.
When audiences watch a performer take the stage, they’re seeing the result of an individual creative vision, one usually developed from beginning to end by the artist themselves.
“You’re getting really unique perspectives that you don’t see in a lot of other art forms,” she said.
The freedom to experiment is also part of the appeal. Jezebel recalled a performer who once created an act about a seagull falling in love with a French fry, describing burlesque as a space where artists can embrace unconventional ideas and let their imaginations run wild.
This year’s festival will bring together an international lineup of performers, including headliners Lou Lou la Duchesse de Rière, Jeez Loueez, Jezebel Express and LeTabby Lexington. The festival will also honour 2026 Legend Lovey Goldmine.
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For Jeez Loueez, who is travelling from New Orleans for the festival, burlesque has opened doors to international friendships, travel and artistic connections she might not otherwise have experienced. Having first started performing in 2009, she says the opportunity to meet artists and experience performances from around the world has become one of her favourite parts of the industry.
The Toronto festival is also a particularly meaningful return for the performer, who first attended in 2015.
“I haven’t been to Toronto festival since,” she told Queer & Now. “So I’m excited to come back and see how I’ve grown.”
With four days of performances, REVERIE promises audiences an opportunity to experience the many dimensions of an art form that continues to evolve.
And while the feathers, rhinestones and glamour are certainly part of the experience, Ivory hopes audiences leave with a greater appreciation for the artistry and individuality behind each performance.
“We’re not here to tell people what burlesque should be,” she said. “If you come to the festival expecting feathers and rhinestones and beautiful people taking their clothes off, you won’t be disappointed. That’s there, but I promise that you will leave having experienced so much more than that.”
“It seduces you with that glitter, with that sparkle, but then it surprises you with the substance that you take home.”
The Toronto Burlesque Festival’s REVERIE runs November 12 to 15 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Opening night on November 12 features a VIP cocktail reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m., followed by Joyful Rebellion from 8 to 10 p.m. For tickets and festival information, visit the Toronto Burlesque Festival’s website.
