“Draglesque” combines the tease of burlesque with the gender-bend of drag and is still considered new and challenging in many burlesque circles.
So say two draglesque performers who joined author and burlesque instructor Sapphira on her podcast during World Burlesque Day April 26.
Lacy Knickers, a burlesque performer from Portland, Ore., whose draglesque persona is Nick Lacy (center above) says she first discovered herself gender-bending while performing without even realizing it. Once she learned more about draglesque, she pursued it wholeheartedly. Knickers/Lacy calls her style “dapper-esque” and says it connects in a way with “boylesque,” which is younger-looking men performing strip-teases or some form of erotic dance.
Blue Virtue (above right), also known as the Bombay Bombshell, is a New Zealand performer who also joined Sapphira and Knickers/Lacy. They said they know of many performers who provide drag in one persona, and burlesque in another, and who are starting to realize they can “do both in one persona.”
Sapphira, who held the discussion as part of her worldwide annual holiday of World Burlesque Day, compared the greater focus on draglesque to “belly-esque.” That’s the melding of Middle Eastern belly-dancing techniques with burlesque routines.
“It took 14 years,” she said, recalling her own early days of burlesque when her original training in belly-dancing was often frowned upon by her fellow performers.
