We recently connected with Rainny Daze and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rainny, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My number one mission with performance is to widen the scope of what is considered burlesque! I want to incorporate my out-of-the-box comedy in my routines. I think that the burlesque world needs more silly routines and narratives. As a young adult, I saw burlesque as something that only “the beautiful people” participated in and that I could never do because I was weird and not traditionally attractive. I knew that trying to be a part of the glitz and glamour part of things was never going to feel authentic because that’s not what I’m after. I think I was born to be a little weird and off-putting. I’ve grown to be okay with that. Little did I know, there where troupes and shows looking to book people like me. In 2019, I started getting booked in burlesque shows based on my absurd narratives and flair for comedy. Today in 2023, I am a part of a burlesque troupe called Frisky Business Burlesque. The members and producers of FBB not only embrace my art, but the encourage it. It feels like I finally found a place where I feel like I belong.

Rainny, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started performing on stage when I was 12. The middle school had just added theatre as an elective. Before that, I was painting in art class but I didn’t have any talent for it and got frustrated easily. Once I started theatre, I loved it immediately. Everything about it enchanted me! At first, I only took tech roles because acting and being vulnerable in front of an audience frightened me. I didn’t know how to handle my emotions properly and being vulnerable in front of anyone was scary. Then one day, I was mesmerized by our production of “Little Shop of Horrors”. I had gotten a brief taste of stage time while stage managing and it was pure magic. I signed up to audition for our Charlie Brown Christmas special that December. The audition was pretty anxiety inducing, but fun. I remember feeling so confident and light. I was thinking “Yeah, you really got something here”. Whatever I had landed me the part of a background character named “Beverly”. I didn’t even care that I wasn’t in the main cast. I was just delighted to be in the cast at all. I had found my talent and the rest was history!

This interest in all things theatre eventually led me to a BFA in Theatre Arts & Theatre Production from Texas State. I moved to Austin in 2017 and began going to drag shows and meeting the performers. The alternative drag scene of Austin really caught my eye, but I didn’t think an AFAB person could do drag. That’s until I saw a documentary about a “bio queen”. The person on the screen was thriving and living their best life. I realized that I wanted that for myself. I joined the Boyz of Austin in 2019 and under the mentoring of a local drag king, “Alexander the Great”, I became a drag entertainer. It wasn’t until after the pandemic, that I dared to try choregraphing a burlesque routine. My drag had elements of striptease in it, but I never went full pasties. Now, I am part of a burlesque troupe (Frisky Business Burlesque) and I am living my best life. My relationship with both my body and my art has transformed into something that I’ve never believed would be possible for me.

I am proud of my ability to create comedic sexiness. My acts are usually light-hearted, but also intensely passionate, I think it’s important to combine the two because charm and absurdity are both things that I do well! The main thing I want people to know about my work is that I always try my best to put my heart and soul into my performances.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect about being a creative to me is baring my soul to the world and having people perceive me through my art. My goal is to make people feel something with my performances. I also want audiences to feel inspired to be their most authentic selves. As humans, I feel like we all deserve that. Another rewarding thing about being a creative is the community. I love spending time talking to and comparing notes with other performers. It’s interesting and mesmerizing to see how the other artists within my community choose to self-express. I consider myself lucky to be in the troupes that I’m in. Each one is like a family to me. A family where we share similar passions and goals. What is more beautiful than that?

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Well, I mostly grew up in a small Texas town where I was the weird black girl. I was often bullied for my alternative interests (anime, manga, horror, theatre arts, ect.) and my appearance. As you could imagine, growing up in that kinda environment didn’t foster a whole lot of self-confidence. I spent my teenage years thinking that I would grow up to be alone and unloved. It wasn’t until I went to college in another town, that I realized most of what I was experiencing was internalized racism. Most of my early twenties were spent being surprised that people actually wanted to be around me (and that some even had crushes on me). The whole deal sounds a bit silly to me now, but I think that’s just the reality of growing up as a black kid in the south.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: greatdazeofglory
• Youtube: @NinjaWarriorNisha

Image Credits
v.s.o photography Lady Aether Productions acej0nestaylorphotography Sequin Spotlight Imagery Errich Peterson