Five mudboot-clad, umbrella-twirling women danced their way onto the stage of the Red Dog Saloon as the opening act for Skagway Burlesque\u2019s colorful, creative show this past weekend.<\/p>\n
Co-producers Taylor Vidic and Cameron Brockett have been friends since their days performing around town while attending Juneau-Douglas High School. Both said they\u2019re inspired by Seneca Harper, also known by his stage name \u201cThe Luminous Pariah.\u201d Harper grew up in Juneau and is a founding member of Mod Carousal, a Seattle-based, gender-bending boylesque group that has performed around Southeast.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were incredibly inspired,\u201d Brockett said. \u201cWe loved the drags and all the performance art around town even before we could (were old enough to) go to the bars.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vidic performs in local concerts and theater; Brockett studied in Seattle at the Academy of Burlesque. Both friends, however, eventually found themselves working at the historic Red Onion Saloon in Skagway during the summer of 2014.<\/p>\n
At the saloon, which first opened as a brothel in 1898, Brockett and Vidic felt encouraged to explore their talents as burlesque dancers. That first year of producing \u201chomegrown\u201d shows, the entire crew of dancers were Red Onion employees. And after a few shows in Skagway, they decided to bring that pizazz to the halls of Juneau in 2016 for a one-night, sold out performance. Brockett and Vidic aim to round out the strip tease that\u2019s at the core of a burlesque performance with other kinds of performance art as well.<\/p>\n
This year, they scheduled two shows, with additional artists, one making their burlesque debut, joining in.<\/p>\n
\u201cJuneau has some of the bravest and boldest, from never having done this before to walking on stage and kicking ass,\u201d Brockett said. \u201cWe have so much faith in each performer\u2026 we\u2019ve performed with all of them in some capacity in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n
The participating artists were Taylor Vidic, Cameron Brockett, Allison Holtkamp, Annie Bartholomew, Anya Absten, Hali Duran, Rachael Byrd, Kathleen Manning, Johanna Evans, and Kelsey Riker. Ericka Lee was hostess and emcee.<\/p>\n
\u201cLately, there\u2019s been such a great energy in Southeast around this kind of performance art and we want to build that momentum and deliver that message to continue to inspire more performances of this kind,\u201d said Dana Herndon principal for Higher Image Management, which promoted the event. \u201cJuneau is a uniquely creative place and we want to celebrate that. Being in a place that accepts and encourages creativity is a powerful thing and we love to promote the culture locally and within our region through similar events.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I had the balls to do that,\u201d one of the audience members commented while Racheal Byrd popped the balloons wrapped around her body to reveal the pasties and undies she wore underneath. Others in the audience were taken aback by Annie Bartholomew\u2019s \u201cpower and amazing voice\u201d during the second act. That act did just as Erika Lee promised, \u201cbringing brimstone and fire to burlesque.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many of the acts were accompanied by the lively \u201cBetter Than Boobs\u201d band. DJ Tim Sislo\u2019s full beard was entirely covered in gold glitter affixed with hairspray and Elmer\u2019s glue. That\u2019s commitment. Dollar bills flew from all directions during the acts, raining down from the balcony in paper airplanes and balled up and tossed at the stage from as far back as the bar. From Ruby Reckless, a deck hand who recently graduated to \u201cMaster-Bater\u201d with her fishing pole and merman prop, to Miss Ooh La La\u2019s mime act, which tantalized the crowd with each finger she removed from her gloved hand, the Skagway Burlesque crew brought their A-game.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople come up and ask me, \u2018isn\u2019t it empowering?\u2019\u201d Brockett said. \u201cWell, hopefully whatever you\u2019re doing in your life is empowering. This, for us, is empowering \u2018cause its so much fun to put on a show. It\u2019s a spectacle, it\u2019s not empowering because of why you think, but because, like any other art, it\u2019s something of yourself that you\u2019re sharing, and that\u2019s why it\u2019s empowering. We\u2019re making magic on stage, be it in a musical, or a play, or, in this case, a strip tease with a story.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2022 Mackenzie Fisher is a freelance writer living in Juneau.<\/b><\/p>\n
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