Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mia Moore. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Mia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

Like all good things, burlesque happened at the exact right time. Before the art of the tease, I was a born performer; from living room dances for family, baton twirling awards at band camp, theatre, musical theatre, singing with bands and more.

When I started, I was a jewelry designer (still am!) and had a day job at an arts nonprofit. I took part in a burlesque-inspired musical in 2010, which led into burlesque-style acts (sans stripping) and opportunities to sing with live bands while burly babes danced. The next step was the musical Cabaret – at the end of the show’s run, the club dancers all wanted to keep performing together, so we started a troupe and the rest is history! Our first show was the same night as my performance in Urinetown, resulting in me HAULING BUNS to the next venue to try to look less like my corporate character and more like a burlesquer. With mixed success.

I’ve been producing shows on my own under Mia Moore Presents for 7 years in Lafayette, Louisiana and also perform in other shows in town and in New Orleans. I’ve also been lucky enough to travel all the way up to Alaska and several other states to perform in shows and festivals and aim to perform internationally next year.

As of now, I know it took pieces falling into place at the right time to be where I am now. Burlesque changed me in wonderful ways, transforming my confidence, building so many skills, and leaning into building community.

I wouldn’t change it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a burlesque performer, producer, femcee, and teacher, meaning you can see me in MY shows, other people’s shows, take classes, and even book performances for events.

While the burlesque audience is merely spectating, they become very involved with the show; hoots, hollers, and applause add to the energy of the performance, feeding off each other from excitement! I take audience connection very seriously in my work. I want to make each person feel special, like we have a personal joke that only the two of us know. So when I look at you and smile, we both know what that means.

The things I am most proud of is that connectivity, community, and definitely authenticity. I strive to be myself on stage, an honest performance, which leads to that connection. From the feedback I receive, folks feel better about themselves after seeing myself and my friends perform. Representation is extremely important to me on stages I produce.

Fans know they can expect high quality, stunning performances at my shows, in addition to special touches that show I care about them, such as a Community CHEST full of care items from pregnancy tests to Narcan to deodorant and bandages. On hot days, I’m happy to provide the audience with fans to keep comfy.

(A lot of this answer can be found in the previous question, such as how I got started)

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Something I had to unlearn, as do most burlesque performers, is to stay small.

Women are especially conditioned to take up as little space as possible, to not bring attention to ourselves, and to be ashamed of our bodies, especially if they don’t fit the societal norm of beauty.

Burlesque has taught me to push against that in every way. The audience loves you and is on your side, for exactly who you are and what you look like.

There’s a Martha Graham quote about how there is only one of you in the universe and to not make your art means that nothing just like it will ever exist. It is our responsibility to truly create with our whole chest; and the universe (and the audience) will be there for us. Is that too woo-woo? Haha.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of burlesque shows and classes is seeing and hearing people have the absolute best time.

I put a lot of work into my productions and when audiences get it and eat up every ounce of the powerful performances, my heart soars. So often, out-of-town performers will comment about how wonderful our audiences were and what a great experience the night was.

I’m very happy and proud to have provided a safe place for them to be vulnerable on stage, while the audience goes wild.

Similarly, in classes, I focus on history and the internal workings of burlesque, in addition to the delights of moving in ways that make us feel powerful and beautiful. Those lessons have really been effective and marvelous recently, helping students out of their shells and show off who they really are inside. I count myself so fortunate they let me do this and that this is my life!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://MiaMooreBurlesque.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/redhotmiamoore
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/MiaMoore
• Other: Bluesky: redhotmiamoore

Image Credits

(Many diff photographers, please let me know which you use)