My passion for burlesque has taken me to many places. Travelling as an artist is a unique experience, and it has enabled me to share my dance, my art, and my skills throughout the world. I know that this is a privileged position to be in.

I am a burlesque performer, dancer, and producer.

Burlesque is an art form. It encompasses dance, theatre, storytelling, comedy, expression in all its forms. And striptease.

Striptease, of course, is one of the angles folks love to focus on. While I don’t blame them, I do try to explain that our art, storytelling, and confidence is what we want them to focus on most. Striptease acts do create drama and sexual tension in the room, which to me is a positive thing, as there’s nothing wrong with feeling sexy and watching a performer being sexy on stage. For enthusiastic fans at shows, how to express that confidence is what creates the most conversation afterwards, about what we do as artists.

People who love it, love it because it makes them feel powerful to see a performer expressing fully who they are on stage, no matter what size or shape body. But that is a two-way thing. Because, as a performer, you feel that you have the power, knowing that you are the centre of attention and giving back that same power and attention to the audience. To know that you are providing such excitement; and to know that you are making people think about how free we are as performers to express ourselves sexually – and for our audience to feel positively sexual, within themselves as a result – is empowering.

SHAKIN’ YOUR SHIMMY

Performing in Ireland is always an adventure, usually a funny one. There’s a varied attitude here towards what I do. At shows and events there are those up the front, smiling up at me, whooping and hollering with excitement, living their best lives; and those hiding a little further back, trying to figure out just what the hell is going on. That’s ok.

The mutual adventure of burlesque has as much to do with the confidence of the audience as it does with me, and what I feel. Sometimes there’s someone so far down the back they’re almost hiding in the walls: they are the people I want to connect with the most, because what I do is about including everyone in the experience, even those that are in the shadows.

Seeing bodies being sexual, being powerful, and fully expressing themselves through dance, drama, glamorous costumes, and taking up space on stage, is a political statement. Taking up space on stage creates the biggest drama, particularly for women and those who identify as women in Ireland.

Using our voice in a unique way, and being unafraid to reveal ourselves truly and honestly, has the potential to change people’s perspectives on life, love, romance and sex. We are stripping off the layers saying, look at me. In many ways, it is our vulnerability that brings most strength. That, and the implied knowledge that there is nothing wrong in being sexy for someone else. But it is most important to be sexy for yourself.

Audiences are very grateful to have such a transformative experience, as we take them to a place of otherness, a space to be free of the shackles of the everyday. It’s as much an opportunity for freedom of expression, and a space to express yourself, for the audiences, as it is for me on stage, sharing that experience.

And that’s the point. It’s a shared experience.

I, as an artist, open the doors, and allow others to take in the experience of my strength and my essence on stage; and also – which is important – to bring that with them, into their lives, into their relationships, into their hearts. While that might sound cliched or corny to some, it’s exactly what happens, as I know from speaking to the audiences after a show.

People ask me how I have the confidence to get up on stage and do what I do. I tell them that you should take whatever you’re good at, and put the confidence you feel in relation to that into everything else you do, even if that’s shakin’ your shimmy on stage to a kick-ass tune. The super-positivity I receive from audiences, from all across the gender spectrum, is so wonderful because it’s so honest, it’s so raw.

CREATIVITY THROUGH SEXUALITY

I’ve had women, after a show, tell me my body is perfect. That’s not something that you’d always say about yourself, because we have so many hang-ups about our own bodies. But it is lovely and important to hear. Does it make me feel good? Of course it does. To be told I have a real body, a normal body, a beautiful body, a perfect body is to be be told that I am accepted. As I am.

That’s such an important thing not only for me to be told, but for my audience to express.

I am enough. I am glorious. I am fierce. I am a goddess. What performer does not want to feel like that?

And yet the inescapable and inspiring truth is that we are all human. Sometimes I meet folks who don’t know how to react to my performances, because Ireland is still finding its way through the myriad of society’s past expectations. Some are a little intimidated, others think it’s so glamorous, so it’s a balance for me as an artist to connect to my audience, and guide them to a place where they too can be their best selves.

Ireland is slowly but surely becoming a country where being a burlesque performer is not so wild or so out there. More and more, we are being celebrated – and respected – as artists and teachers who can spread ideas of creativity through sexuality and positivity.

Being sexual, and being positive sexually, is fundamental to the well-being and mental health of our society. I am proud to be in a position where I can create happiness, open conversations, and create spaces for one and all to be free, be gorgeous, and be yourself, just as you are. So throw some glitter on it and dance! You might just love it far more than you ever imagined...

• Bella A Go Go is producer of Dark Pearl Burlesque at The Liquor Rooms, a bi-monthly burlesque and cabaret show. The next show is August 4. See her also at Steampunk A Go Go, at Drop Dead Twice, on Sept 7; and Halloween A Go Go, at Drop Dead Twice, Oct 25. Contact Bella at [email protected]