Burlesque for Belonging: Confidence, Creativity, and Community Across Yorkshire
Burlesque for Belonging: Confidence, Creativity, and Community Across Yorkshire
Burlesque is more than feathers and fan dances—it’s a bold, expressive art form that can spark joy, heal wounds, and build powerful communities. That belief is at the heart of our newest project: Burlesque for Belonging, a free, inclusive participatory arts programme running across Yorkshire and Humberside in 2025.
This initiative is designed to bring people together through movement, costume, creativity, and connection—no matter their age, background, body type, or experience. Whether you're LGBTQ+, dealing with mental health challenges, or simply searching for your voice, Burlesque for Belonging is for you.
What Is Burlesque for Belonging?
Burlesque for Belonging is a creative outreach project rooted in body positivity, performance, and empowerment. Over the course of a year, we’ll deliver free, inclusive workshops and events across Yorkshire communities—focusing especially on individuals who face barriers to traditional arts access.
Our workshops use burlesque as a tool for boosting confidence, mental well-being, and self-expression. Participants will explore storytelling through movement, build their own stage personas, and connect with others in safe, supportive, and joyful spaces.
We believe everyone deserves the chance to feel seen, celebrated, and confident in their body. And through this project, we’re creating opportunities for exactly that.
Why Burlesque?
Burlesque has a long and rich history of subversion, satire, and self-celebration. It’s not just a performance style—it’s a way of reclaiming space, telling your story, and challenging the status quo.
Unlike traditional dance forms, burlesque is accessible to all body types, all ages, and all levels of ability. It embraces queerness, neurodivergence, and the wonderfully weird. It’s about joyfully showing up as yourself—sparkles optional.
In a time of rising loneliness, anxiety, and inequality, burlesque gives people tools to reconnect with their bodies, reclaim their confidence, and find belonging through creative community.
What We’re Delivering in 2025
We’re proud to be rolling out an ambitious, region-wide programme supported by experienced facilitators and guest artists. Here’s what to expect:
✅ 33 Free Community Workshops
Open to up to 16 participants each, these full-length sessions will focus on performance, movement, body confidence, costume exploration, and storytelling.
✅ 12 Intimate Workshops
Smaller, trauma-informed sessions for up to 8 people at a time, offering more personalised guidance and safe space for vulnerable participants.
✅ The Burlesque Lounge Showcase
Our celebratory, end-of-year event where participants and guest artists will take the stage in a supportive, cabaret-style evening of performance, pride, and community.
✅ Mentorship from Experienced Artists
We’ll work with mentors across queer performance, body positivity, and mental well-being, offering lived experience, artistic guidance, and representation.
✅ Follow-Up Low-Cost Classes
To keep things going beyond the initial programme, we’ll trial £5 drop-in sessions to maintain momentum and increase long-term accessibility.
✅ Sustainable Costuming and Props
To reduce waste and support creativity, we’ll use reusable, low-cost props developed by our team at Burlesque With Paris, ensuring everyone can participate without added costs.
Who It’s For
This project is open to everyone, but we’re especially focused on:
LGBTQ+ individuals seeking safe creative spaces
People experiencing mental health challenges
Those facing financial, social, or geographic exclusion
Adults from all body types and backgrounds
Anyone ready to explore creativity in a radically inclusive space
You don’t need performance experience. You don’t need a dance background. You just need an open heart and a willingness to try something new.
Why Now?
Since 2017, Burlesque With Paris has been building community through performance in Goole, Hull, Featherstone, Selby, and Doncaster. Our classes span age 21 to 75, and many participants have shared powerful stories about how burlesque helped them:
Reclaim their bodies after trauma
Reduce anxiety and isolation
Build friendships and confidence
Discover joy they hadn’t felt in years
But we’ve also seen a consistent pattern: financial barriers exclude those who need this work most. Even with raffles and pay-what-you-can models, many people are still left out. That’s why Burlesque for Belonging is so important.
With the cost-of-living crisis, post-pandemic loneliness, and growing need for mental health support, now is the time for radically inclusive, joyful, creative connection. And burlesque, surprisingly to some, is the perfect tool for that.
Building Confidence, One Shimmy at a Time
We know burlesque works because we’ve seen it in action. It’s more than glitter and glamour—it’s a space where people come alive. It’s where someone with stage fright takes their first confident steps. Where someone who’s been told they’re “too much” finally feels celebrated.
In Burlesque for Belonging, we’re offering more than dance. We’re offering permission—to laugh, to move, to express, to take up space. And in doing so, we’re building something deeply needed: connection, confidence, and community.
How to Get Involved
Want to join us? Whether you're curious about classes, interested in collaboration, or part of a community group looking to host workshops, we’d love to hear from you.
👉 Email: hello@burlesquewithparis.com
👉 Follow us on Instagram: @burlesquewithparis
👉 Sign up for updates and workshop announcements on our website.
Help us spread the word, bring a friend, or just show up and sparkle in your own way. Everyone is welcome.
Final Thoughts
Burlesque for Belonging isn’t just a project—it’s a movement. A movement toward inclusivity, joy, and creative expression that celebrates every body, every background, and every story.
We’re proud to launch this initiative across Yorkshire and Humberside, and we hope you’ll be part of it. Because when people feel safe enough to be seen, express themselves, and connect with others, belonging happens.
And burlesque is just the beginning.