Toronto Burlesque Troupes: How One Began

Burlesque has enjoyed a nostalgic revival in many cities, and Toronto has a lively scene of troupes, producers and festivals. Accounts from performers offer a window into how a company sees its craft and its place among its peers.

One Toronto troupe, as described in an interview, was founded by a performer who wanted more stage time and greater creative freedom than she felt the local scene was giving her.

Why a troupe forms

Performers who start their own companies often cite a wish for creative control. In the founder's account, she contacted performers she admired and invited them to meet, and the result was a new company that she described as a rewarding experience. Troupes of this kind let members decide on repertoire, costume and staging for themselves, rather than fitting a booker's idea of what burlesque looks like, an idea that can shift from one producer to the next.

A mix of styles

Each member of a troupe usually has a distinct approach. One performer might build a large repertoire of acts that run from classic to strange. Another might be known for comic, inventive numbers, while a third favours a refined, old-fashioned manner and also sings and dances. The founder in this account described her own persona as leaning toward the vamp, with a playful, coquettish streak and a taste for rock music, and said that sensuality is central to her work.

Burlesque and stripping are different jobs

To many in the audience, the two forms look identical. Performers in the troupe described them as different crafts. Burlesque is prized for its theatrical distance, built on costume, humour and tease, while club dancing is a separate occupation with its own business model and its own workplace issues.

The founder stressed respect for club dancers and rejected the idea that burlesque is a superior art. Her point was simply that the performers enjoy the tease and have little interest in moving into a different line of work.

Plans and ambitions

At the time of the interview, the troupe described plans for a busy calendar, including a retrospective show built around its earliest numbers and an application to a city festival. Such plans belong to the moment of the interview and say nothing about the group's present activity, which is not covered here.

The wider point is that burlesque companies tend to grow out of friendships and shared goals, and that the line between burlesque and other forms of adult entertainment is something performers themselves define and defend. Scenes in large cities usually include many overlapping troupes, solo performers, producers and annual festivals, and the arrangements among them change from season to season.