Lillith Grey
How the Texas Queerlesque Festival is redefining the Texas LGBTQIA performance scene
Brandi Amara Skyy | Contributing Writer
Brandi@DallasVoice.com
When I heard back in 2016 that Lillith Grey — who has produced such inclusive and longstanding shows in our North Texas queer community as Tuesday Tease and Glitterbomb Denton— was putting together not just another burlesque or drag festival but a queerlesque festival, I knew I had to be involved.
First, because I absolutely adore everything that Lillith produces, but more importantly, because I knew that this kind of festival was exactly what our queer community in Dallas needed — for the performers and audiences who watch traditional drag and burlesque shows.
According to the festival’s website — www.TexasQueerlesque.com, they define Queerlesque as “the space where burlesque and cabaret-style performing arts meet the wild, vibrant, culturally rich Queer community.”
Lillith-Grey and Milo-Cox
But to those of us who occupy, live in and perform in these spaces between, queerlesque means family. It means a space where we feel akin to each other’s spirits and belonging to, with, and among.
When I asked Draconis — who was a headliner in the festival’s inaugural year and who has returned to perform every year since — what the festival means to them, they said, “TXQF is synonymous to being vegan and getting to go to a vegan restaurant. You look at the menu and you’re not concerned about ANYTHING because you know everything is safe for you.
“When I go to a burlesque show, I know there are friends and allies, but it’s not a guaranteed safe space majority. TXQF is just that, and everyone who works to make it happen is empathetic, understanding queers who bust their asses to make it a safe place for us.”
But The Texas Queerlesque Festival isn’t just for the performers or the people who live and breathe this community, it’s for the entire spectrum of the LGBTQIA community to learn, network and be entertained.
Because this intersection where drag meets burlesque births not one, but TWO spectacular shows that are just as much thought-provoking as they are entertaining. And as someone who has been on both sides of the TXQF stage, as a performer and an audience member, who you are when you enter the room and who you leave as are always two different people.
That’s because the talent, the production value and the thought behind everything — from the flow of the show, to each individual performance concept — is curated to create the ultimate all-inclusive one-family, we-are-one experience.
It is curated to be representational of US ALL in all our beautifully diverse spectrum of queer.
When I asked the festival creators Lillith Grey and Milo Cox about why they started The Texas Queerlesque Festival, they said, “Because we saw so much polarity in access to queer performance art spaces across Texas … and we created the festival in response to the injustice and marginalization we witness in those same spaces.”
Lillith added, “The third reason is because we want to be a springboard for queer performers … and of course, at our core, we really want to entertain, inspire and uplift our audiences.”
And on all those accounts, the Texas Queerlesque Festival delivers. The shows, the entertainers and their pieces are so good and so life- and queer-affirming that you can’t NOT be impacted, changed.
But perhaps the best part of the entire weekend is not just what happens on the stage; it’s what happens off. Because in addition to the shows, there’s networking parties, producer panels, pool parties and the infamous Unicorn School.
Unicorn School is hosted and sponsored by Sue Ellen’s, and it features 12 unique classes — like Fat, Fine, & Fierce taught by Ophelia Zayna Hart, and Choreography 101: Connecting the Dots by Bobby Barnaby — broken up over three days, with classes on Friday, Saturday, and two classes on Sunday (Oh, and did I mention BRUNCH is included on Sunday — and will feature keynote speakers?!)
TXQF is a well thought-out full body and mind experience. It’s an entire weekend dedicated to helping performers — and those aspiring to be performers — bring out their best (and queerest!) performance selves.
What makes this experience unlike any others is that it’s ALL open to the public. From the shows to the all-day workshops, the pool parties — any and everyone is welcomed. And with five different price points and ticket levels, it’s extremely accessible to everyone’s budget.
When I was involved the first year, the Texas Queerlesque Festival only had two days of classes, and there wasn’t a brunch or keynote speakers. That means the festival is evolving, and it’s only going to get bigger and bolder. And perhaps that’s the real beauty of the festival that Lillith and Milo created is just that — it expands and grows as we in the community, do.
“#CantStopWontStop is our festival motto . When they try to erase us, we get louder, prouder and sparklier!” declared Lillith.
I, for one, am down for their all-inclusive rallying cry.
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Friday and Saturday night shows are being sponsored by and held at Viva’s Lounge,
1350 Manufacturing St., Ste. 120 Doors open at 8 p.m. Visit TexasQueerlesqueFestival.com to purchase tickets.
Stay tuned later this week for a DVtv On The Scene segment, by Brandi Amara Skyy and Israel Luna, from the festival.
To read Brandi’s entire interview with Lillith Grey and Milo Cox, visit DallasVoice.com.
