Sweet LillyBee

The spice that makes naughty outta nice!
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FAQ
 



Q: How did you get into this?
A: It all started when I was little. I loved to play dress up and make up plays for my parents. One lazy afternoon when I was five, I held a private strip tease party for all my friends while my parents napped. I loved my pink swimsuit with the ruffle running across it; it was so innocent. Well, of course we were caught and I had my hide tanned for it!
 
 I went on all throughout my school career to perform onstage with band, choir, swing dance ensemble, speech competitions and so forth. In addition, I've always been an artist. I've been painting and writing poetry as long as I've been taking my clothes off! I'm always looking for places to share my art, in all the ways it emerges.
 
I've always enjoyed infusing my life, my person and my environment with lush visual beauty and high drama. Every gathering I've hosted has become a grand extravaganza! Halloween has always been my favorite holiday! I still love to dress up and will do so for no particular reason, except the sheer pleasure of it!
 
As a young adult I ventured onto a spiritual path which led me into ritual drama. This fed my soul on very deep levels and fed my need for expressive movement. I've worked with Tree and the Well Institute for Deep Cultural Studies, the MayDay Parade (In The Heart of the Beast Mask and Puppet Theatre), Barebones Halloween Extravaganza, Bedlam Theatre, Revolutionary Women's Cabaret and many others.  Somwhere in the midst of it all I discovered fire dancing and THAT was truly the fuel for my passion for the stage in this chapter of my life!  It seemed only natural to move toward burlesque!
 
All of these elements are combined to create the acts I perform today.  Life is art- really!
Q: Are your tattoos real?
A:Yes they are real. Yes they hurt, but not as much as having babies did! Some of the tattoos I did myself! They are all my own designs and they all mark an important moment in my life.
Q: Isn't burlesque just strip-tease?
A:Heck no!
Burlesque is so much more than that! There is so much information you can find on burlesque and what it is and how it came to be- both here in America and in Europe. The word "burlesque" means "to mock" or "make a joke of". It began, really as a way to ease the tension for folks who couldn't afford "real" theatre. It was the working persons response to a class system that oppressed them. Not to mention that women weren't allowed to be actors and men played the part of women in "real" theatre. So these folks took matters into their own hands and created a theatre for the people and by the people- WITH women playing themselves and having a hoot making fun of the upper classes and nobility all the while! It was revolutionary! As it evolved, so did the empowerment of folks to show their bodies and generally behave in a "lewd and bawdy" manner (remember they were poking fun at the real behavior of the upper classes and simutaneously making relevant criticisms of the systems of society at that time). The masses LOVED the variety shows, the cabaret, the burlesque! They loved the comedy and the legs! People of all ages came to see these shows! It served to lift the spirits in times of great despair! It also served to empower women to take ownership of their lives and their art!
 
Of course, times change and so did burlesque. As the nuclear era came to pass, everything else was watered down. In America, we wanted everything to be perfect, seamless, clean and sterilized. We began the process of homogenizing our existence. Television became the drug of a nation and the crazy creativity of the old burlesque days went under the bridge. But as always happens when we submerge our primal urges the shadow of burlesque emerged. Ladies who had always had work suddenly did not. They were faced with few choices- try for "real" theatre or become a stripper (perhaps some joined the circus or became housewives). And so the stripper was born. Over the years the owners of clubs have created more and more strict rules and eventually stripped away everything that is beautiful and artistic about the art of tease and turned it into something more akin to the art of seducing a man's wallet.
 
Now of course, we are blessed with a grand resurgence of burlesque akin to it's hey day! People have grown tired with the pasteurized version of the tease, the numbing effects of the cathode ray (T.V.). People are hungry for REAL entertainment! People want to have some innocent fun, share some laughs and wake up feeling good about themselves! That's burlesque... the short story anyway!
Q: Isn't fire dangerous indoors?
A:Fire is dangerous everywhere, all the time.
As a professional fire performer with a serious insurance policy I am always aware of the hazards of performing with the element of fire. I always take certain precautions and pay attention to what I am doing. To perform indoors requires not only insurance and safe training, but approval from all the necessary authorities and proper extinguishing devices. That said- fire can be performed with a relative modicum of safety.
 
 Fire IS NOT pryotechnics. We've all heard of the accident in Chicago and at the Fine Line here in Minneapolis- this was caused by pyrotechnics, NOT fire performance.
 
This is not something you want to try at home. Nor is it something you would want a non-professional to perform in your venue or at your event. ALWAYS hire a professional. Ask to see their insurance and ask for references.