{"id":26507,"date":"2025-02-19T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T17:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/?p=26507"},"modified":"2025-02-14T12:19:29","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T20:19:29","slug":"isle-of-tease-returns-to-showcase-diversity-in-burlesque","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2025\/02\/19\/isle-of-tease-returns-to-showcase-diversity-in-burlesque\/","title":{"rendered":"Isle of Tease returns to showcase diversity in burlesque"},"content":{"rendered":"

Isle of Tease has become one of the most anticipated burlesque shows of the year. Event co-producer Cherry Cheeks says that Isle of Tease, which brings together performers from local and afar, means a lot for the island burlesque community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always excited for the local performers\u2026 [They] get to be on a theatre stage and get to connect with the bigger community outside Victoria,\u201d says Cheeks.<\/p>\n

Cheeks says that the idea to produce a large-scale show came from the talents, devotion, and love from three locals who knew that Victoria needed a chance to be on the burlesque map.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
San Francisco\u2019s Frankie Fictitious is headlinng this year\u2019s Isle of Tease (photo provided).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201c[Starting] in 2019, Gala Vega, Champagne Sparkles, and Misty Moss were the producers,\u201d says Cheeks. \u201cVictoria had been having this really cool gradual and fast growth in the burlesque community.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2023, Cheeks was invited to co-produce Isle of Tease. With her passion in creating and decolonizing spaces for POC individuals to thrive and be uplifted, she says they are curating a festival that showcases performers from diverse experiences and identities.<\/p>\n

\u201c[We include] accessible workshops, and a quiet area for people to decompress,\u201d they say. \u201cIntersectionality is something that I am personally very passionate about.\u201d<\/p>\n

The headlining performer this year is San Francisco\u2019s Frankie Fictitious, who will be taking the stage in Victoria following her Australian tour. Other performers include local talent such as Vancouver Island\u2019s daddy of drag Eddi Licious, New York\u2019s Brooklyn-bred bombshell Queerly Femmetastic, and Vancouver\u2019s sapphic angst La Dame Derriere. Cheeks says that the small change from three headliners to one is a decision that benefits all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis year we shifted to have one main headliner and some feature spots that are for some new up-and-coming performers starting to get their name out there,\u201d they say.<\/p>\n

This year there are 42 performers, including 11 locals and MCs; Scarlet Delirium, Missy Ink, Winter Sinclair, and Tomboy Selleck are a few others performing. Aside from the performances, there are opportunities to learn from the performers at workshops. Mx. Pucks A\u2019Plenty, Obscura Fox, Misty Moss, Khushi, and others will be sharing inspiration and knowledge.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a community that steps up to help every year. Last year there was a total of 40 volunteers involved with the fest, and that number is set to be around the same for 2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis year it is really awesome because so many people started reaching out to us offering support, looking to fill positions to help with planning the festival,\u201d says Cheeks. \u201cI am excited and keen for this year to see the turnout with the audience and how many people are excited to continue to support us.\u201d<\/p>\n

While building safe spaces is a priority for Cheeks, there are other driving forces behind the fest.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will see a very unique energy throughout the week,\u201d they say. \u201cIt\u2019s really important to emphasize the importance of diversity and highlighting diverse experiences, whether POC, people with disabilities, [or] queer identifying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Isle of Tease
\n7 pm Friday, February 21 and 7 pm Saturday, February 22
\nVictoria Conference Centre
\nisleoftease.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Isle of Tease has become one of the most anticipated burlesque shows of the year. Event co-producer Cherry Cheeks says that Isle of Tease, which brings together performers from local and afar, means a lot for the island burlesque community.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m always excited for the local performers\u2026 [They] get to be on a theatre stage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,327],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-february-19-2025"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26509,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26507\/revisions\/26509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}