DISABILITEASE PRODUCTIONS - Key Persons
Alexis Lucio (she/her, they/them) is a queer latinx from Southern California currently residing on Southern Pomo and Kashaya land. She spends her workweek as the senior accessibility lead at a software development company, where she is responsible for the process development and implementation of best web accessibility (a11y) practices. In their spare time, they embrace the stage through Latin dance and drag performances. Last year, Alexis brought the a11y world to Oaklash, the Bay Area's annual drag festival, by hosting a workshop and managing the captioning team for all digital performances. They are thrilled to continue sharing this work through the DisabiliTease Academy for 2022!
Athena Howe is a Columbus, Ohio-based dancer who has been performing professionally since 2008. She has performed at hundreds, if not thousands of events, both nationally and internationally. Now, she teaches, performs, and hosts events in her home city while staying dedicated to her personal practice and learning. She fell in love with the decadent costuming and the glamor of belly dance, but over the last decade has grown to love the music and the culture. She loves being able to take a break from the stress of everyday life and wiggle- alone or with her troupe mates The Hip Art Collective. She performs with several bands in the central Ohio area and loves the unexpected surprises that come with live music.
As a teacher, she loves teaching all levels of dance and adores being able to help create movements that both challenge you as a dancer and lets you leave with some new content to add up your dance. Her goal isn't to make you another Athena, but to help you find your inner dancer. As a student, be ready to work hard, laugh at a goofy joke, and be reminded of how great you are. She's intensely body-positive, age-positive, and works to build an inclusive class for any student who joins.
As a researcher, Athena is always deep into some nuance of belly dance and its history. Her research has been published in the book "The Gilded Serpent" and she is currently researching trap influences in mahagarant (pop music from Menath countries) with a focus on Egyptian music post-revolution. She also is advising on her research on LGBTQIA+ contributions to music, arts, and culture in the region, with a focus on Egypt. She is known for her ability to discuss complicated issues with a human focus.
As a student, Athena is dedicated to the work it takes to be a good visitor in this art form. She loves failure and being wrong. Her recent foray into playing middle eastern music is a testament to that since she is more wrong than right some days!
Described by some to be "bold like hot sauce" or "basically the gay female Elvis," Athena is a grateful dancer who is dedicated to the work it takes to be a belly dancer.
Velvet has been a professional artist for over seven years and has shared their work locally and nationally, on pages and stages of all kinds. Accustomed to centering Black and equity seeking voices as a cornerstone of their work, taking a BIPOC-only burlesque class in 2018 inspired Velvet to explore the art and power of telling stories with their body; stories which are often silenced, demonized and dismissed. Since then, Blaq Velvet has slithered, sashayed, and shimmied across stages embodying the joy, beauty and resistance of living in a Black queer neurodivergent body (and popping a petty ass pastie or two along the way).
This energetic eghadāni monelīn is hungry for the waves of change. She regularly holds space for important conversations around equity and decolonization within burlesque and the performing arts to foster safer spaces for performers of color and performers from marginalized and underrepresented identities. Always on the go, Cherry is the producer of House of Cheek Productions, co-producer and Diversity Coordinator of the Isle of Tease Burlesque Festival, Youtube sensation at Cheeky Burlesque, and a frequent community builder within Lekwungen Territory (Victoria, BC). There is no slowing down for this Tāłtān Temptation!
Court Symons, also known as Supreme Court in the performance community, is the owner/operator of CM Enterprises, Inc. Based in Minnesota, this tax preparation company specializing in artist taxes works with clients nationwide.
Court has worked with tax law firms learning the ins and outs of artists' taxes while pursuing a law degree.
Outside of their work in taxes, Court works locally in stage management and tech in both design and operation.
Known as The Mocha Mae West for her quick wit & sultry moves, Dahlia Kash is no wallflower! They're the producer of Melange: A Queer & POC Variety Show in Portland, OR, Mischief: A Melanated Variety Show in Olympia, WA, as well as The Rock Show, an all POC Variety show, also in Olympia. San Francisco Bay area born & raised, and Pacific Northwest based, this Queer Fat Femme is gonna rock your world!
Diana Divine is a cabaret performer, producer, burlesque instructor, and freelance graphic designer. Their professional priorities lie in community-building arts projects, often based in social activism. Diana was a disability support worker before turning to full-time work as an artist due to declining mobility.
Since 2016, Diana has produced multiple seasons of the award-winning disability cabaret Singin' in the Pain, nationally touring burlesque troupe The JustAss League, and regular queer variety show Lucky Dip Tease. Diana also works as a freelance graphic designer for local artists and businesses, including a residency at Hot Sauce Burlesque. They also teach comedy and character burlesque with the school, where they are lovingly referred to by the students as "Uncle Di".
Diana is now turning to even bigger things, developing Embrace: Disability Arts Festival as a part of their 2022 Carclew Sharehouse residency. The arts have been a valuable vehicle for self-expression, and Diana aims to create more space for others like them.
Job Titles:
- Producer of Transcendence Cabaret
Eun Bee Yes (full name Eun Bee Yes Smith Sacaetty Stahr Devereaux St James, pronouns: he/him/his or zie/zir/zirs) is a non-binary/genderqueer show producer, artist, blogger, fanfic writer, single parent, and radical activist. In Eun's muggle life, they are the executive director of SlutWalk Twin Cities, the international grassroots protest against rape culture. SlutWalk Twin Cities is now 10 years strong and has an annual SlutWalk along with two fundraisers, one of them the Diversity Ball which centers artists of colour, queer artists of colour, and those who live with physical and invisible disabilities.
Eun Bee Yes is proud to be honoured by the Ladies of the Lake, a fully professed House of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, as Saint Walk of No Shame.
Eun Bee Yes is the show producer of Transcendence Cabaret, a monthly online show which features transgender artists of colour, including non-binary and gender non-conforming artists in the main cast as well as guest performers. This is one of a handful of shows in the United States that feature primarily BIPOC artists.
Frankie Fingerling is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Amiskwaciy waskahikan ("ah-miss-kwa-chee wah-skay-gun"), colonially known as Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. No matter the medium, their art helps them process their own lived experiences and trauma as a non-binary Chinese person navigating life in a predominantly white, conservative province. They are inspired by their late grandfather who was an oil paint artist in Hong Kong and the Philippines, as well as QTBIPOC art from around the world. By trade, Frankie is a researcher and curriculum developer, which informs their current artistic practice as a burlesque performer and producer, and lifelong journey of learning and growth. Panels: The Virtual Reality: A Panel Discussion About Virtual Burlesque Shows (Recorded live in January, 2022) Red Flag, Green Flag: Safety Considerations for the Burlesque Industry (Recorded live on June 25, 2022) Red Flag, Green Flag: Liability Concerns for the Burlesque Industry (Live on March 5, 2023)
Jacqueline has headlined and been featured in burlesque festivals across the world, including Vienna, Adelaide, Montreal, Minneapolis, and New York City. She has performed twice at The Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender in Las Vegas, becoming the first performer to ever compete in a wheelchair for a title at the Tournament of Tease. Jacqueline has also taught burlesque workshops and lectured on panels about mindful movement and adaptive performance across the country. Her decades of experience include training in ballet, swing dance, bellydance, aerial arts, clowning, musical theater, and more. She is a proud member of the collaborative burlesque instruction group Essential Tease.
Kitty Campari is a successful UK-based burlesque and circus performer who is celebrated in the industry for her sassy smile, sparkles, and super cute, cheeky, showgirl fun!
Her wealth of knowledge and performance experience has led her to coach aspiring performers to follow their dreams of becoming a professional too. Kitty performs with her giant martini glass at events across the country and can also be found dangling from the roof of a big top with the traveling circus.
When not performing, Kitty loves nothing more than coaching her Successful Showgirl clients on how to become the fabulous performers that they were born to be! Kitty shares everything she knows from performance to psychology, business to mindset. As a qualified doctor, life coach, dance/circus instructor, and dance studio owner of almost 20 years, she knows her stuff.
Job Titles:
- Owner and CEO of Cleveland, Ohio
Lakota Shekhar is the Owner and CEO of Cleveland, Ohio's 2021 Best burlesque troupe, Blackwater Cabaret. Lakota is also the co-producer and co-owner of the DisabiliTease Festival and DisabiliTease Academy.
She has been a two-time feature in Amazing burlesque, and a three-time Ohio Pinup OH! Girl. She is the reigning 2021 GLCC Golden Hustler with teammates Sasha A. Bombfox and Madam Ofeelya Redd. She performed in the 2021 Burlesque Hall of Fame in Love letters to Legends, paying tribute to her burly mom, Gabriella Maze.
This babe is Ohio's only wheelchair performer, putting the Tease in DisabiliTease. Lakota Shekhar is Burlesque's Best Kept Secret!
Liz Baskin' is the Chartreuse mousse! The original hi-viz, industrial delight started off behind the scenes as a designer and seamstress sewing for many of Winnipeg's well-known bellydancers and burlesque performers. Post workplace injury, they spent several years navigating disability which spurred a new passion; Occupational health and safety. While reinventing and recovering, Liz eventually made her way onto the stage and debuted her first act "Black Dresses" at the Winnipeg International Burlesque Festival in 2018. Liz provides safety consultations, safety program development, and safety services, ensuring workers of all industries are safe at work.
Based in NYC, Margo Mayhem is an international burlesque performer, this year having won two international titles: Monarch of Imperial Burlesque Festival (Montreal) and Queen of Bohemian Burlesque Festival (Prague). Currently #29 on the Burlesque top 50 list, she was crowned Miss Viva Las Vegas ‘21, Most Comedic at the Oregon Burlesque fest ‘22, and Best Debut at the Burlesque Hall of Fame in '23. In her other life, she's an actress boasting of five Broadway shows, five national tours, and countless regional jobs. Let her show you why she's known as the Sexiest Muppet in Burlesque. Class: Face It: Storytelling From the Neck Up with Margo Mayhem (Recorded live on March 11, 2023)
Minda Mae puts the "babe" in Disabilibabe. Hailing from Minneapolis, this boundless beauty is the first wheelchair-using burlesque performer in Minnesota.
A fierce advocate for persons with disabilities, she works tirelessly to spread awareness and champions for change at every opportunity. She is the founder of the DisabiliTease Festival, a multi-day festival that showcases performers with disabilities in the areas of burlesque, cirque, cabaret, and drag from around the world. She is also the founder of the DisabiliTease Academy, the first school specifically geared towards performers with disabilities and their allies.
Nicola Swan is an emerging burlesque performer with experience in law, nonprofits, publishing, and the film industry. She loves teaching and learning equally!
Winona J. Fox is a Canadian-Colombian burlesque powerhouse and emerging entrepreneur who delivers authentic and irreverent power in all of her work. Winona started her burlesque journey as a volunteer stage kitten in 2017 and debuted her first act in late 2019. During the 2020 lockdown, she continued to develop her burlesque career online by producing independent burlesque videos and online shows with TeleThong Productions and Amplify. During this time, she also developed her workshop Online Burlesque For Beginners, a workshop dedicated to teaching burlesque performers how to create compelling online acts with limited resources and energy. In late 2021, Winona returned to the stage as a full-time stage kitten for The Wiggle Room while also pursuing a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration; these experiences have provided her with important insight into how to navigate the burlesque industry safely, productively, and profitably, both on and off the stage. She's Montreal's Reigning Queen of Mean; watch out for Winona J. Fox!