Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Pamela aka Mother Wyatt T Earf Denson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Pamela aka Mother Wyatt T Earf , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
When I noticed a significant lack of BIPOC burlesque performers within the greater Kansas City area. I started Mother Earf’s Brown Sugar Cabaret in 2016, I could count on one hand how many BIPOC Burlesque performers lived/worked in the Kansas City area.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My husband and I first started to attend burlesque shows in 2012/2013. Within that time frame I began to notice that there were not many people of color and the burlesque industry here in Kansas City. I am not a classically trained performer, I have sung in choirs, and performed in very small community productions. (Church, Community, Highschool, College, etc) I first started singing in Burlesque shows under the name of
Yvonne DeAttaTime. I created this name because Yvonne is my middle name, and my last name is part of a struggle that I had gone through with leukemia, I was just taking it “one day at a time.” At the time that I started performing within the Kansas City burlesque community I had also been diagnosed with CML which is chronic myeloid leukemia. I was diagnosed back in 2012 and was on chemotherapy in pill form up until I received a bone marrow transplant from my son on July 18th 2018. Throughout all of this I tried to continue production of Brown Sugar Cabaret with the help and support of several key performers within the Kansas City burlesque community.
I performed my first burlesque show singing in Annie-Mae Allures Production of Rude Revue and Burly-Q.
I then went on to continue to sing in various burlesque productions throughout the years.
By 2016 I decided I wanted to start producing Burlesque shows that was ALL INCLUSIVE of the BIPOC community.
I started using some of my retirement fund from my job with the IRS to fund my shows. The hard part was and still is gathering local BIPOC performers and finding venues to perform in.
What sets me apart from all the other burlesque productions here in the greater Kansas City area is that I am the only burlesque production that features people of color.
My goal is to one day own or lease a safe space for people of color to perform their craft, and to also produce Kansas City’s first BIPOC Burlesque festival /competition.
Now that I am fully retired this is still in the works and hopefully within the next year I will be able to successfully put on this type of show. Funding is always an issue and making the public aware the burlesque industry we have here in Kansas City.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Have an open mind and do your research. Be adventurous. Become a sponsor and spread the word about us creatives. We exist through social media and word of mouth. We try our best to entertain the masses as well as possible. Also recommend other performers or future performers who society or the public may think can provide a special talent to the entertainment industry.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I just want to bring awareness and representation of the BIPOC community in Burlesque. I want the BIPOC community to know and understand the world of burlesque and the roles that “WE” as People of Color play in it. I want there to be a safe space for performers of color to continue to create and entertain. That’s my goal.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @motherWyattEarf
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrownSugarCabaretKC?mibextid=ZbWKwL
- Other: Also on Facebook as Mother Earf’s Brown Sugar Cabaret
Image Credits
Photos by J Michael Strange