Like all entrepreneurs, self-employed artists must get creative with finances. Tax returns feature unconventional deductions like props, costumes and union dues that can be higher than one’s yearly wages (much to the accountant’s confusion). I asked Gauthier-Frankel whether burlesque artists face similar complications:
‘Burlesque is such a niche market, and though it’s trendy right now, it simply won’t yield the kind of money that you might expect doing professional unionized acting work or theatre.’
Then there are the existential challenges. Professional artists in general inevitably face the commodification of art question: what happens to art when it doubles as livelihood? For burlesque performers, this tricky question is magnified by the fact that one’s own body becomes the product, which in turn raises the question of what it means to ‘sell yourself’.
‘The mainstream media is creating a homogenization of what burlesque means and what it looks like. I strongly feel that neo-burlesque is a feminist art form, and that it involves empowerment and political statement…Other dancers feel that it is simply about glamour, and a look. I find it detrimental to be so narrow…because what ends up happening is…discrimination against dancers who are extremely unconventional in look, be it due to size, race, gender-identification, etc. If you…only show one type (thin, Caucasian) of woman (e.g. Dita Von Teese, who is a lovely performer and definitely hardworking), then there is going to be a big problem [for those who don’t fit the mould].’ - Holly Gauthier-Frankel
Aside from the box office, the list of viable money-earning options for burlesque performers is impressively creative: making and selling costumes and accessories (like pasties and thongs) burlesque schools, private lessons, consulting and producing shows. Or you could produce a whole festival!
This is what entrepreneurial burlesque performer Scarlett James did when she established The Grand Burlesque Show, a yearly burlesque festival in Montreal. It was launched in 2009 at the Just for Laughs Museum and has been running strong since with the next instalment due in March 2013.
The tone of our conversation is more business-oriented from the get-go. I can only gain access to the elusive Ms. James through her handler and I still don’t know the charming blonde’s real name—and neither will you! James prefers to keep an air of mystery around her brand. The alias is based on two classic characters: Scarlett O’Hara and James Bond. James says the coupling reflects her personality: ‘As much as I’m an artist, I’m also a businessperson.’
James discovered Burlesque when she went to see a show with friends: ‘I saw a business opportunity. Montreal didn’t have anything like cabaret shows like in the old days.’ James is a self-described go-getter and even has her own issues with the term starving artist. ‘Some artists want to be starving’ she asserts, explaining that she spends a lot of time waiting on performers to send her their invoices: ‘I want to pay you! I am just waiting to pay you!’ she exclaims with exasperation.
I follow up on this line of questioning with whether James believes there is a taboo around making money in the arts.
‘I’ve been called a sell-out. So, okay. I make money and I’m a sell-out? Is Guy Laliberté a sell-out too?...I think sometimes laziness and jealousy play a part [in people’s reactions] and some people just really don’t know how [to go into business]. I jumped right in, head first.’
The dive was worth it for James who regularly performs at private and corporate events now that her unique brand has earned her a reputation.
Audiences at the next instalment of the festival can expect a Moulin Rouge atmosphere and homages to the Folies Bergère, as well as acts inspired by the late great Josephine Baker. I ask how she feels about artists of the past, like Baker, who were commoditised: made to sell the ‘otherness’ of their bodies and stir controversy. James jumps in as though I had insulted the memory of these performers,
‘These artists were pioneers. They created something new (as if nudity was new, right?). Controversy was not the trigger [to their performances], it was the consequence. Back then, it was a very different era. There were only a handful of stars and they were huge!”
And huge is exactly what James wants her product to be within five years: international tours, a permanent theatre base in Montreal and sizeable corporate sponsorships. For the time being, she is satisfied that Scarlett James and her book True Art of Seduction ‘have become synonymous with Burlesque in Montreal.’ What would the perfect corporate sponsor be for her brand? ‘Swarovski would be great. Or a luxury car. Scarlett James is a luxury product after all.’ {w}
by MDC
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For more on Holly Gauthier-Frankel: http://hollygauthierfrankel.com/
You can catch The Grand Burlesque Show from March 21-23 2013 at Club Soda:
http://www.grandburlesqueshow.com
http://www.scarlettjamesburlesque.com/
