As one of the initial founders of the Peek-a-Boo Revue (troupe) in Philadelphia in the late '90s, from the very beginning I kept a day job... not because I didn't believe in what we were building, but because I was terrified of what happened when you had to make burlesque pay the bills. It's hard as part of a troupe having everyone on the same schedule, right. I watched that fear change people's relationship to the work... Selfishly, I didn't want it to change mine. You were already Miss Exotic World when we were finding our footing. We eventually made it to the Burlesque Hall of Fame weekender ourselves, and I remember thinking about what it cost the people who built this scene to hold it together... the 24/7 availability... The part about urgency not ruling your strategy, that's the whole thing, isn't it? That's what the day job buys you. Not a fallback. But a space to breathe...
AMEN, SISTER, AMEN...You are one hell of leader, Mother and extraordinary human being...Keep lighting that flippin torch, you have only just begun to Begin the Beguine!
Wow... This hit me right in the heart.
As one of the initial founders of the Peek-a-Boo Revue (troupe) in Philadelphia in the late '90s, from the very beginning I kept a day job... not because I didn't believe in what we were building, but because I was terrified of what happened when you had to make burlesque pay the bills. It's hard as part of a troupe having everyone on the same schedule, right. I watched that fear change people's relationship to the work... Selfishly, I didn't want it to change mine. You were already Miss Exotic World when we were finding our footing. We eventually made it to the Burlesque Hall of Fame weekender ourselves, and I remember thinking about what it cost the people who built this scene to hold it together... the 24/7 availability... The part about urgency not ruling your strategy, that's the whole thing, isn't it? That's what the day job buys you. Not a fallback. But a space to breathe...
You are and always will be an icon.
Thank you for writing this.
i love all of this. thank you for sharing. "clocking into your life" - amen
AMEN, SISTER, AMEN...You are one hell of leader, Mother and extraordinary human being...Keep lighting that flippin torch, you have only just begun to Begin the Beguine!