Jon Manning: Into the Heart of the Burlesque Jungle to Find the Glitter Tribe

By Travis Johnson

How did you become interested in burlesque, both as an art form and a subculture?

My wife invited me to a burlesque show of a few of her dancer friends were in and I was hooked. That was in 2009. I knew vaguely about a history of burlesque in the US but didn’t really realise that there was a new wave of burlesque in every state. The combination of sexy without being raunchy or overly sexualised and funny and DIY and the fact that most burlesque performers don’t make enough money to even cover their gas money – I thought that was a cool story to bring to light. I never imagined I would meet so many interesting people who would open their hearts and lives to me.

How did you choose the subjects in the doco? Were they already known to you, did you put out a call?

My wife and creative partner, Julie Livingston – also a producer on the film – and I went to many, many shows in several states to do our research. We watched all the films done about burlesque from the legends to others such as Exposed, filmed in the underground burlesque clubs of NYC. And we realised that some of the most interesting performers were living in Portland, Oregon. They were doing shows as a troupe in Portland as well as performing individually internationally. That was when we asked one of the main performers in the film, Zora Von Pavonine, if she would come on as one of our producers as well as be one of our key performers in the film. After she came on she helped give us credibility in the Burly Q world so it was easier to get others involved once she was in.

What do you think is the essential appeal of burlesque? What sets it apart from other cabaret and fringe forms?

It’s a rare combination of many things. The essential appeal is this combination of it not being a strip club so it’s not the overly, in-your-face sexuality of a strip club. Everything is choreographed, usually there are costumes – some quite elaborate. Often it’s funny, usually it’s performed to pop music, the audience is usually having a ton of fun. All of this with some real sensual teasing and a few moments of each performance ends with the performer having stripped down to pasties and a g-string. I also believe that part of the excitement and appreciation for the art of burlesque is the fact that almost no one (99%) is doing it for the money. At any one show they might sell enough tickets for covering their gas money but essentially they all do it for the love of this rare combination of sexy performance art. These 99% all have day jobs so I think the audience appreciates the love of the craft and the sacrifice it takes to do it and usually the audience loves it in return. At least that’s my experience.

What kind of budgetary and time constraints were you working under, and how did they affect your approach?

Well, we are commercial and feature filmmakers so we had to produce this feature documentary as we could afford it and in-between other paying jobs. This is why it took us seven years to shoot the film and another year to edit. So the extended time frame of production allowed us to be very premeditated about where and when and who we shot to make sure we thought it had a very good chance to end up in the doc. It’s also fair to say right here – we never expected that we would make money from the production and release of this film. Even with opening in 26 US cities and a VOD premiere on Netflix, the film will not be making it’s money back – definitely a labor of love on our part. And we definitely feel like it has been a great way to spend our time creatively.

What did you learn in the shooting process that surprised you?

Well, along with the audience… we learned what it is to be a burlesque performer in 2017 America. We met a ton of great people from every walk of life. Including people of colour, LGBTQ – this is what we saw in the shows and this is exactly what we wanted to reflect in our movie. We learned that everyone has a story and most of those stories are more interesting than you might ever expect.

What one thing do you want viewers to take away with them?

First, we want people to be exposed to other people who are not necessarily like themselves. This peek into a sub-culture should open people’s eyes and hearts and just maybe give them more empathy in their daily lives. Or, if they are just less lonely for 76 minutes, we have been successful.

What’s up next for you?

Both Julie and I are developing many other film and TV series projects and we’ll just have to wait to see which bubble to the surface first. Also next? Keeping our day jobs of making commercials and features for other people.