The Seattle Burlesque scene is populated with a number of beautiful and talented women, but burlesque is not limited by gender. Burlesque performers that are male or simply wish to represent masculine or alternatively-gendered performances on stage comprise a category of burlesque performance known as “boylesque.”
Boylesque is more than just male striptease. It is a conscious construction (and sometimes deconstruction) of gender performance. Some boylesque performers are women who perform masculinity as men, never allowing their biological sex to break through in their performance. Others are men who perform traditional female-style burlesque as men, constantly allowing their masculinity to interplay with notions of femininity.
Boylesque has been officially recognized as a burlesque genre since 2006, when New York performer Tigger became the first recipient of a Best Boylesque award at the Miss Exotic World pageant, the annual pageant for the national burlesque community.
The Academy of Burlesque, known for its popular Burlesque 101 class, also offers an introductory course in Boylesque, which begins March 17. The course is co-taught by Seattle’s premier boylesque performers Waxie Moon and Ernie Von Schmaltz, and includes six group lessons as well as five private lessons with either instructor.
The structure of Boylesque 101 is identical to that of Miss Indigo Blue’s famed Burlesque 101 course, but the curriculum has been adjusted by Indigo Blue and Waxie Moon to emphasize the variety of representations that comprise the boylesque genre, including “masculine/male/boi/boy/fag/butch/tough/stud”
representations, according to the course description.
The weekly group classes are held Wednesday nights from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. beginning on March 17 through April 22 at the Oddfellows Hall in Capitol Hill. Any student wishing to enroll in the class must also be available for weekly half-hour private sessions with Ernie Von Schmaltz or Waxie Moon on Wednesdays between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., Thursdays between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. or Fridays between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Tuition for the course is $525, with a $100 non-refundable deposit to secure a spot in the class. The remainder is due before the start of class. Visit www.academyofburlesque.com or register through brownpapertickets.com.
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