Helsinki queerlesque festival brings burlesque, drag and circus together

Helsinki International Queerlesque Festival drew a near-capacity crowd to Savoy Theatre over the weekend, with performances blending burlesque, drag, circus and dance, Yle reports. The event was held for the sixth time and also marked organiser Phuong Dao’s 10 years performing as Betty Fvck.

The audience cheered and applauded throughout the festival. Dao, a central figure in the capital region’s queerlesque scene, said Helsinki’s queer art and drag scenes had always been progressive, something she was proud of.

Betty Fvck’s freedom on stage

Dao, who has Vietnamese roots, has brought international performers to Finland in recent years and has performed around the world, including in India. She described freedom as Betty Fvck’s trademark: the character can express gender and ideas, tell stories and be visible without fear.

Dao said her Asian background sometimes features in her performances. She also works as an economics researcher outside the stage, where she creates the illusion of another character. For her, creativity is central to making that illusion convincing.

One of Betty Fvck’s performances was built around Lana Del Rey’s song “Art Deco”. The festival also included audience interaction, with members of the crowd invited on stage during two parts of the event.

Retrofuturist visions and circus influences

Among the festival’s most striking acts was one by Michiel Tange van Leeuwen, a Berlin-based performer with a background in acrobatic contemporary circus and an interest in alien drag. He said he was drawn to creating new aesthetics, especially those involving space creatures and robots from the future.

Van Leeuwen said he liked the idea of flying saucers, though he was unsure whether they really existed. The universe was vast, he said, and it would be strange if there were no other beings besides humans.

His costumes draw on Cubism, 1920s Russian avant-garde art and the Bauhaus movement, which flourished between the world wars. He described retrofuturism as deeply rooted in his artistic expression, saying he was fascinated by how people in the past imagined the future.

Van Leeuwen said queerlesque had absorbed influences from other art forms. What was once burlesque had become cabaret, he said, with the scene now drawing on circus, urban sports and dance.

Estonian artist brings a Las Vegas showgirl style

Estonian drag and burlesque artist Delfi Oraakel is part of the House of KuKo collective, which has gained visibility across Estonia. Oraakel, who identifies as non-binary, said burlesque had previously been associated with a single group of people, while queerlesque allowed everyone to enjoy it through their individual identity.