On Why I Started Producing My Own Events

I would like to you tell you a little bit about myself, my hopes, and my motivations.

I’ve been choreographing large scale musicals and winning awards for it since I was 17. I majored in theater and dance in college. I have worked in tech shops, costume shops, I was an assistant stage manager in New York. I have run sound boards for my friends’ bootstrapped theater collectives in crummy black box theaters. I have gone out and supported more live performance than I could possible recount.

And then I stumbled into burlesque in 2012. I did the work to learn the craft. I was patient. I showed up on time. I went to every show I could see. I had two damn babies in the last 7 years and didn’t give up on performing despite the insanity of doing a 11pm show when my kids wake me up at 6am. I love Burlesque. I love the community. I love the audiences. It is one of the greatest joys in my life.

And in the past 7 years I have dragged so many shy and interested people into the scene. I’ve sent them to great classes. I’ve invited them over to costume together. I’ve gone out and seen their shows. I don’t need to name them, because they know who they are and that’s enough for me.

And during all of this I have held a full time job at a company I love. I literally started at the bottom and worked my ass off to now have the joy of producing events full time. It’s my actual day job. And it’s fills me with fire and joy.

And in this past 7 years of working and supporting and watching I’ve thought many times about doing my own show. But I waited because I wanted to be ready. And I wanted to add something positive to the community that lifted us all up. There are so many lovely shows in the Bay Area and pretty much all of them are struggling for audience.

My hope is to find ways to tap into other communities so we take the burden off our community to just pass our dollars in circles. I want more people to see burlesque and get excited about it and check out other shows. I’m doing this not for me (I will almost certainly lose my own money on this) but because I want burlesque to survive and thrive and grow.

I think there’s room for all of us. I adore and admire everyone producing shows and I see the struggle and the effort they’ve put into it. There’s a lot of ways to go about making a show and none of them are easy or perfect.

I love burlesque and if you’re still reading this essay I love you. Here’s to a future where we lift each other up and bring as many people into our beautiful world as possible.

With fire and love

Clara

#props #specialeffects #specialperformances