Thu 8/4-Sat 8/6
A dozen years ago, Bella Sin, a brown-eyed, red-haired Mexican, decided to venture into the world of burlesque. Today, the performer continues to break barriers in the scene as the visionary behind the Ohio Burlesque Festival, which returns for its sixth year at the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern.
The three-day affair features burlesque, vaudeville, sideshow and variety acts with the motto “Amplifying Every Voice.” The title is a nod to this year’s Ohio Burlesque Festival’s designated charity, the LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland.
More than 60 performers will be entertaining audiences beginning with new acts on Thursday, veterans on Friday and topnotch talent on Saturday. CoolCleveland talked to Ohio Burlesque Festival founder Bella Sin about the internationally renowned event.
What are the origins of the Ohio Burlesque Festival?
The festival started as an idea in 2010. We had about 25 performers the first year, 2011. It was only one day and it was held at the Beachland. We wanted to have the opportunity to grow slowly. Then we expanded it to two days in 2013. We always held it the first week in August. We’ve had luck with that weekend with not much stuff happening in Cleveland.
What makes the Ohio Burlesque Festival so unique?
We started something a little bigger than we expected. We decided to make a festival to be inclusive not exclusive to a community. We decided to engage not only our local community but the international community. The performers want to come to Cleveland. They want to come to Ohio. They want to come here. We’re the only festival internationally that’s for a charity every year.
Can you elaborate on how the festival is inclusive?
The way we make it inclusive is when we do our casting, we look at having a variety of entertainers as far as size, color, background, sexual orientation. We make sure everybody has an inclusive chance to be a part of something that is a variety. Other shows are a little whitewashed with white performers mainly and only a certain amount of certain sized women. Some don’t include men. At our festival, you see varieties that you wouldn’t see anywhere else: comedic, rockabilly burlesque, old-school burlesque, belly dancing. You see a little bit of everything, and I think that’s why our festival is inclusive because we choose to have everybody to showcase what I think Cleveland and Ohio is really about.
The art of burlesque dancing is very unique; however, a segment of the public still equates it to striptease. Can you explain its history?
Burlesque is popular because it has roots in the United States based on its history. It became a real Americana style in the 1930s into the 1950s. It wasn’t really until the 1970s that you started seeing the evolution of burlesque towards what we know now as modern gentlemen’s clubs. The difference between the gentlemen’s club and a burlesque show is quite large. Gentlemen’s clubs are places of sex work, as far as [performers] aren’t going there because they want to put themselves on the stage. They’re doing it to feed their families and pay their rent. We respect the sex worker. We respect women’s rights to do whatever they want with their body. In a burlesque show, you’ll be coming into a theatrical show. You’ll notice a difference when you enter the show, you can see it’s clean. We always let people know they’re coming to see a high-energy, heavily-costumed show. Everybody coming to the show to entertain you is topnotch.
Finally, for those who have never attended a burlesque performance, why would they enjoy the Ohio Burlesque Festival?
They’ll definitely enjoy the dynamic, the comedy. We don’t just have burlesque. This is not just a burlesque festival. We have aerialists, comedians, everything it takes to make a variety show. It’s a true variety show. It’s entertainment that you’re not going to see anywhere else anytime soon. Also, you’re seeing firsthand international talent. One of the biggest reasons why people want to come out is they want to have a good time and be entertained.
[Written by John Benson]
Cleveland, OH 44110