MISSION: Brown Girls Burlesque’s mission is to Entertain, Titillate, Educate and Liberate!!
Founded in 2007, Brown Girls Burlesque is dedicated to being a force for the voices of women of color in the neo-burlesque movement. Based in New York City our cabaret shows will have you dancing in your seats as you enjoy the spectacle and get some deep musicology wisdom. Our theatrical shows challenge the ways in which the mass media represents race, class, gender, and sexuality, reclaiming our bodies, our stories, and our cultures.
BGB shines the spotlight on our own truths and fishnets together a world of women’s experiences in a smart and sexy way.
About Chicava HoneyChild:
Chicava has led BGB’s transformation from a project to a production company since 2008. A scholar of performance art, women of color in burlesque heritage, and sacred sexuality and spirituality, she received her MFA from Goddard College. Chicava also holds degrees in Fashion Design from Parsons and Fashion Marketing from Hampton University. She blends burlesque history, dance, burlesque performance, and costume design into each BGB production and loves shares her knowledge with all of ladies who enroll in The Broad Squad Institute.
As an artist in residence at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater in NYC, Chicava produces a live blues & jazz burlesque revue called The Dirty Honey Shake. She is currently working on Sister Shake, a documentary and companion book on the legacy of Women of Color in burlesque heritage. She developed Sacred Burlesque from her deep immersion in several spiritual disciplines there’s something in burlesque for everywoman. Learn more about Sacred Burlesque . Visit Chicava.com for more of her moving and shaking.
Brown Girls Burlesque in the Press:
Metro NY says BGB is “shaking not only their bodies, but more importantly, the common understanding of beauty ideals.”
‘Brown Girls Burlesque shakes & shimmies for diversity’ – BUST magazine
‘This bevvy of fierce women of color don’t skimp on the pasties, but they don’t skimp on the wink-wink factor that’s all important to burlesque either. A retro go-go girl in a bar get watched; a real burlesque dancer watches back , winking and knowing.Now that’s one thing for white woman to do with their bodies and their audiences, but quite another for women of color to negotiate. And Brown Girls Burlesque negotiates it with stunning, smart, sexy sexy success’ – TRACE
‘Not your mama’s burlesque’ – The Advocate Sex Issue