Burlesque For Belonging
Creative Development Through Burlesque Arts
Building on over eight years of delivering Burlesque With Paris across Yorkshire, Burlesque for Belonging is a participatory contemporary performance arts programme bringing women together to explore and develop their creativity through burlesque.
Rooted in storytelling, character creation, movement, musicality, stagecraft and costume design, the programme offers a structured artistic development journey. Participants establish individual creative goals before progressing through exploration, development and refinement of their performance practice.
Through guided workshops, creative experimentation and practitioner feedback, participants develop skills, make increasingly independent artistic choices and build their own artistic voice. Creative journals provide space to record ideas, reflect on feedback and recognise how their practice develops from their individual starting point.
The programme brings together movement and musical interpretation, character and storytelling, stagecraft, costume construction and visual design. Participants explore how these different artistic disciplines interact before applying their learning through Martini Glass performance workshops, combining movement, character, costume and stagecraft in original performance work.
Designed for beginners, sessions are delivered in a supportive “Brave Space” where participants can experiment and develop at their own pace. Creative resources are provided to reduce financial barriers to participation.
Delivered within local communities across Yorkshire, Burlesque for Belonging expands access to high-quality participatory arts while creating opportunities for women to develop artistic skills, creative ownership and a stronger connection to the arts.
See Burlesque for Belonging in Action
This film captures the creative approach at the heart of Burlesque With Paris, demonstrating how participants explore burlesque as a contemporary performance art form through movement, storytelling, character creation and stagecraft.
It shows workshops delivered within a supportive “Brave Space”, where beginners are encouraged to experiment, develop performance skills and make their own creative choices. Through guided artistic exploration and practitioner feedback, participants develop movement, character and stagecraft, refine their performance choices and build their own artistic voice.
The film demonstrates the participatory approach that Burlesque for Belonging will develop further through a structured progression programme, adding individual creative goals, costume design and construction, creative journalling and specialist Martini Glass performance workshops.
Reaching Our Communities
Our recruitment approach is designed to reach women within their local communities across Hull, Selby, Doncaster and Featherstone. Working with Selby Community Centre, Featherstone Community Centre, D'Angelos Dance Academy and Dunsville Community Centre, we combine printed flyers, targeted social media advertising and trusted community networks to raise awareness and encourage participation.
Our promotional materials present burlesque as a contemporary performance art form, highlighting opportunities to develop skills in movement, storytelling, character creation, stagecraft and costume design. They emphasise that no previous performance experience is required, creative resources are provided, and beginners are supported to develop from their own starting point.
By promoting the project through community partners and familiar local venues, we aim to reach women who may experience barriers to arts participation, including women less engaged in existing arts provision. This creates accessible routes into a structured creative programme where participants can develop artistic skills, make creative choices and engage more deeply with participatory arts.