It's Super Bowl Sunday, so it makes
sense to write a little bit today about the Super Bowl of Burlesque, The
Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender aka "BHoF", held in Las Vegas in late
May/early June every year. It's a fundraiser and P.R. opportunity for
the actual Burlesque Hall of Fame & Museum, which is a lovely little
museum space which is open year round in, you guessed it, Las Vegas.
Imagine the best burlesque show you've seen, and stretch it over four nights.
The first night is all about innovative acts and hypnotic performers and is the perfect survey of where burlesque is RIGHT NOW.
The second night honors the history of the art and the many women (and a few men) who have been keeping it alive for decades.
The third night features over THIRTY acts and, no matter how you feel about competition in the arts, the titles awarded this night, including Queen of Burlesque, mean a hell of a lot to the people pursuing them.
The fourth night is a bunch of performers who have won those titles in previous years just blowing the doors off because they have nothing left to prove.
My first year attending was 2012 and I thought I knew a few things. I didn't know A DAMN THING. The high level the performers who are accepted to grace that stage are consistently working at bent my mind. And since performers come from EVERYWHERE ON EARTH, you get to see stuff you'd never catch unless you traveled most every week all around the planet to see a show or two.
If burlesque has a Mecca, it's Las Vegas in the early summer. The call to prayer aka advance ticket sales usually start in March for members of the museum. I know where I'll be June 4-7, 2020.
NOTE: Due to Covid-19, Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend was rescheduled to August 27-30, 2020.
Imagine the best burlesque show you've seen, and stretch it over four nights.
The first night is all about innovative acts and hypnotic performers and is the perfect survey of where burlesque is RIGHT NOW.
The second night honors the history of the art and the many women (and a few men) who have been keeping it alive for decades.
The third night features over THIRTY acts and, no matter how you feel about competition in the arts, the titles awarded this night, including Queen of Burlesque, mean a hell of a lot to the people pursuing them.
The fourth night is a bunch of performers who have won those titles in previous years just blowing the doors off because they have nothing left to prove.
My first year attending was 2012 and I thought I knew a few things. I didn't know A DAMN THING. The high level the performers who are accepted to grace that stage are consistently working at bent my mind. And since performers come from EVERYWHERE ON EARTH, you get to see stuff you'd never catch unless you traveled most every week all around the planet to see a show or two.
If burlesque has a Mecca, it's Las Vegas in the early summer. The call to prayer aka advance ticket sales usually start in March for members of the museum. I know where I'll be June 4-7, 2020.
NOTE: Due to Covid-19, Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend was rescheduled to August 27-30, 2020.
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