Me, Burlesque, Tiger Lily & Sexual Energy!
Before I even really knew about Burlesque Dancing, I was yearning for expression of a kind that I could not quite pinpoint. I studied drama and have had my moments on the stage. I also embraced stand-up comedy for 2 years or so, which gave me a platform to express. But I craved something more – a space to express my sexiness, quirkiness, wildness and femininity in its many layers. In 2015, while working at The Bedroom in Parkhurst, Miss-Oh (a burlesque performer and teacher) came to buy an outfit for a Burlesque show she was to perform on that weekend. My colleague and friend excitedly summoned me to the front to meet Miss-Oh and insisted that Burlesque is something that I should definitely try. I didn’t feel much excitement at the time but I half-halfheartedly agreed to be notified when Miss-Oh was holding her next workshop. A few months later it happened – Miss-Oh and La Foxy Bonnet were hosting a workshop. At the time I had really short hair, felt uncomfortable in my body and was generally feeling soooo not sexy. The workshop was awesome to say the least. It got me in touch with my body and helped me to embrace myself as I was. A few months later I found myself performing on stage, winning the Tournament of Tease (TOT) November Heat and coming 3rd in the 2015 TOT Finals.
My Burlesque name – Tiger Lily came to me in quite a special, meant to be kinda way. Around 2013 a friend of mine and I were joking around, deciding what to name out genitals. I went for Tiger and my friend suggested to add something softer to the Tiger – Tiger Lily! We laughed and moved on with our lives. When it came to choosing a Burlesque name in 2015, I thought back to this conversation with my friend and swiftly made the decision to call myself ‘Tiger Lily’. In 2016 when I was doing regular Burlesque performances, my aunt from Cape Town happened to visit us in Johannesburg. We were sitting together going through our family tree one day, when my aunt casually mentioned that my Great Great grandmother’s nickname was Tiger Lily as she had a bit of a ‘naughty reputation’ – whatever that means I still don’t know! Shivers ran through my body as this moment, deeply solidifying my connection to Burlesque and my mission to express myself as a woman. At the end of 2016, I won the final TOT. From there on Burlesque Fit workshops were born to give all women of different ages, shapes and colour a space to express themselves and reconnect to their body as it is. The workshops have recently been opened up to men, couples and a variety of other spaces too!
When people see my Burlesque performance/photo shoot pictures, some assume that I am ‘selling sex’, metaphorically speaking. They assume that I am trying to get ‘sexual’ attention. This to me is a very shallow view of why I do what I do. What I do is very sexual and sexy, yes, but if you look beneath the surface, what I do is a gesture to express now what women in past generations were not allowed to. I express my sexual energy in a way that definitely will be objectified whether I like it or not, but my intention is for audience members to be inspired to connect to and find healthy ways of expressing their sexuality. If you look a bit deeper, the stories in my performances are layered and challenge systems of oppression (past and current). How I and many other Burlesque performers (not all) express through Burlesque, is by simultaneously flaunting our body, our sexiness and our power while challenging the stereotypes and boxes that women (and even men) have been put into. If you understand that sexual energy at its core is creative life force energy, you will feel the deeper meaning of sexuality beyond the mere act of sex.
Check out more info about Burlesque & Burlesque Fit workshops HERE.