March 11, 2014
Artist, News and Artists, Podcast Series
Creatives’ Corner Spotlight with Chicava HoneyChild of Brown Girls Burlesque
This is the written version of our Podcast Series where we asked a handful of artists to:
- Describe your craft/art,
- Tell us about a project you are most proud of,
- Tell us about a project that challenged you the most and what you learned,
- Describe your creative process/ritual, and finally,
- What’s next for you?
Read what Chicava HoneyChild of Brown Girls Burlesque shared:
TAP: Describe your craft/art,
CH: I’m a burlesque performer, producer, teacher and researcher of Women of Color in burlesque heritage. I create burlesque pieces that range from story based with critical commentary to the pretty or gritty bump n’ grind that is what people commonly think of when they hear the term.
TAP: Tell us about a project you are most proud of,
CH: 2013 was a great year of growth for me as a producer. My BGB ALL-STARS show toured Philly, DC, 
and NYC, and I assembled a cast of some of my favorite brown burlesque performers. The Dirty Honey Shake show is a blues and jazz burlesque show. It had a great start and now needs some re-jigging to realize its potential. Our year-end Michael Jackson was very special to me because it just took on a life of its own and became a very big show complete with a 12-person Thriller dance mob, and an amazing cast of performers from around town guesting in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6fMKzRb3Gw
TAP: Tell us about a project that challenged you the most and what you learned,
CH: Gosh, every show is a roller coaster ride!
TAP: Describe your creative process/ritual, and finally,
CH: It depends on what I’m making. I love the process of idea birthing. Sometimes a number starts because I want to use a particular song, or costume or prop. Other times it’s about the message. My piece, “The Bit About the Money,” is about financial conspiracy, the illuminati, and how personal and defeating or uplifting our relationship to currency can be. You can take a deep look at my process on my blog I Gave My Body, or learn more in my Goddard graduation interview below.
http://vimeo.com/71765755
TAP: What’s next for you?
CH: Staying at a blessed calibration as I plan and budget the 2014 BGB Year! It’s amazing to be going into it with operating funds. Also, I’ll continue working on my book and documentary project! For Black History month, I had Black Ecdysiast Heritage Month–posting a picture of a Black Showgirl from the Jet Ebony archives each day of the month! It’s going to be a gangbuster of a year!
Chicava HoneyChild is the Creative Producer of Brown Girls Burlesque and lead teacher at BGB’s Broad Squad Institute. She received her MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Goddard College—her areas of interest being performance art, women of color in burlesque heritage, and sacred sexuality and spirituality. Recently published on Ebony.com, Chicava is steadily becoming the foremost authority on women of color in burlesque heritage offering lectures on the subject at Carleton College, Sarah Lawrence College, Chicago’s Vaudezilla Burlesque Studio, and Vancouver’s Grunt Gallery. She is currently working on a documentary on the legacy of Women of Color in burlesque. Chicava’s teaching work emphasizes nurturing a healthy integration of sensual and sexual expression, with self-worth and esteem. Connect on twitter @chicavahoney, @bgburlesque Facebook – chicava honeychild, brown girls burlesque Instagram – chicava and Vimeo.
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