Burlesque, drag bring self-expression to Mission Valley
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POLSON — Last weekend, the Diamonds and Heels Burlesque and Drag Show made waves at the KwaTaqNuk, bringing in world renown performers from all over the country to entertain and spread messages of inclusivity, community, and acceptance.
Co-sponsored by SAFE Harbor, Spirit of Many Colors, and Violet Passion LLC, the pride event primarily organized by Kayla Ridgley of Violet Passion, aimed to bring the burlesque and drag scene to the Flathead Reservation. “My goal is to help bring that out front here, because Missoula has a pretty good drag scene and Kalispell is nice and budding,” Ridgley explained.
Ridgely took the lead in production of the event, doing the front work in finding funding, sponsors, performers, and getting the production going. Also a full time worker with the Tribe, Ridgely said it was a difficult balance, but she still managed to make about $4,000 of her $6,000 goal to make it happen.
“It ended up being a lot bigger than I anticipated … I kind of overdid it,” Ridgely laughed. With a total of 13 performers, including three indigenous headliners, Lou Lou la Duchesse, Mx. Pucks A’Plenty and Whisper De Corvo, two of whom are in the top 20 of burlesque performers in the world, made for a full house and a lot of moving parts.
“It’s just such a blast,” Ridgely said. “A lot of the queer community is involved in drag or burlesque somehow, because it’s a great form of self-expression. It’s been my saving grace, so to be able to offer that to others and know you’re okay as you are, you’re valid, it’s very important and very much needed.”
Burlesque, she explained, is the stripping of something, either emotions or clothes. Performers don’t have to take anything off. It’s just about the art of the tease and the story they’re trying to convey.
A performer for the last seven years, Ridgely said that as far as she’s aware, she is the only indigenous burlesque performer in the state of Montana. “Whenever I perform, I have indigenous people come up and say, ‘I wish I could do that,’ and you can,” she said.
One of her biggest messages, she explained, is healing through the art of burlesque. Many people in the LGBT+ community feel swept under the rug, or told they don’t exist, she said, and that’s something she can relate to from a Native experience as a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe. “Sometimes you hear ‘Oh, Natives still exist?’ And it still kind of hurts because we survived and we made it, we’re still around. So, I think of that whenever I hear ‘There’s no such thing as trans, or queer,’ and I can kind of identify with that hurt,” Ridgely explained.
Through her LLC, Ridgely is working to expand that message and reach those who need it within the community. Teaching burlesque and learning more about drag history to help guide those who come her way, Ridgely is also working toward teaching basic self-defense and empowerment.
“For me and for a lot of people I’ve talked to, that’s what these art forms have done for them in some way, is either heal their relationship to themselves, their relationship to their body, their relationships with other people, it just kind of transformed them,” Ridgely stated. It also is important to her to pay homage to those who came before and led the fight for acceptance.
“When one of my relatives found out I was doing this, he started crying because he remembers when he had to sneak into venues to try to perform and they had to leave in groups otherwise they would get beat up and (receive) death threats,” Ridgely explained. “Even in this event, sometimes I get messages of hate and I just block and delete, (and) just move on. But we’ve come such a long way. I feel mostly safe performing and a lot more support and love from my community and my elders ... We’re not hiding. We’re here and we just want to support others and help others and know that you’re not alone.”
To learn more about burlesque and drag and how to get involved, people can reach out to Ridgely through her Violet Passion Burlesque pages on Facebook and Instagram, or email her at: violetpassionburlesque@gmail.com.
