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Burlesque might bring to mind the life of a showgirl like Dita Von Teese or the stocking-adorned duo Christina Aguilera and Cher formed for a movie. The cabaret troupe Sign of the Beast Burlesque’s members also showcase makeup, big hair and undeniable glamour, but their references include KISS, Alice Cooper and the “Metal Queen” music video by Lee Aaron.
Metalesque Fest, one of SOTB’s biggest shows, celebrates 10 years of shredding chords and shedding clothes to heavy metal music. SOTB—founded in 2010 by members such as Kate Cloud, Dee Dee Pepper (who takes to the stage this year), and Vera Mysteria, who now hosts Lloyd Center’s mall walkers Food Court 5000—first gave cabaret arts like pole and aerial dance, burlesque and drag a metal makeover in 2015. The two-day festival hits Nova PDX this year on Sept. 19 and 20. Along with burlesque from more than two dozen performers, Metalesque also includes audience participation opportunities like a makers market and an air guitar contest with a prize of tickets to next year’s fest and sponsor swag.
“We draw a mixed crowd, but the group that always delights us are metal fans who are unfamiliar with burlesque and drag,” Cloud says via email. “They come for the music and discover an art form that surprises and excites them.”
SOTB started Metalesque because its members couldn’t find other burlesque shows catering to their members’ love of metal music. Both metal and burlesque are theatrical, emphasizing spectacle. The two subcultures hold elements of rebellion and expression that, when blended, pack a double whammy.
“Metal music and burlesque shows have a lot in common—wild hair, incredible costumes and visuals, badass stage presence and, most importantly, a connection with the audience,” Cloud says.
Ruby Mimosa and Sneaky Boo, Seattle-based performers from Oahu and Argentina, respectively, are Metalesque’s 10th annual headliners. Mimosa has performed in live versions of Jinkx Monsoon and Ben DeLaCreme’s annual, critically acclaimed holiday drag theater production The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show, as well as the film version from 2020. Boo is an award-winning, proudly trans Latina performer who puts on quite the smokeshow with a marijuana number featuring a giant smoking prop joint and ashtray. Both artists will teach courses on their specialties—Mimosa will host a “Tassel & Assel Twirling” class, while Boo will lead a costume workshop—at Mount Tabor’s Portland Dance Studio.
Night one consists of titillating performances by headbanging hedonists: Gila Monster of Bellingham, Wash., will demonstrate strength and spins on the pole. 2025 Burlesque Hall of Fame’s “Most Innovative” performer, Margot Manifesto of South Bend, Ind., will bring her absurdist humor and burlesque creativity. Local belly dancing drag artist Mismonsta will shimmy and shake with irreverence. Night two includes Salt Lake City’s heavy metal cabaret star Bombshell Elle and Pacific Northwest circus aerialist Effie Moonkey, while Dede Knockers will perform a “nerdlesque” Napoleon Dynamite tribute.
Metalesque is a niche alternative within an already fringe art form. It can be classified as neo-burlesque, an updated revival of classic American burlesque. While American burlesque centered on stripteasing out of chorus-style costumes to loungy jazz, neo-burlesque often includes a storytelling element with a diverse range of performance styles and artist backgrounds.
The first neo-burlesque club, the Blue Angel Cabaret, opened in New York in 1994, but neo-burlesque’s revival began with the Burlesque Hall of Fame museum, which opened in 1990 and closed in July citing pandemic-related financial constraints. The organization that ran the museum still produces the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend, a four-day convention in Las Vegas that includes the Miss Exotic World competition.
Cloud teased that after a decade, literally anything’s possible for Metalesque’s big birthday.
“We’ve seen some truly weird and wild performances that could only happen with metal,” she says. “Witches fire dancing with lit-up brooms, an Ozzy Osbourne tribute complete with a giant decapitated bat, aerial acts performed with chains suspended from the ceiling, and a classic tease with a dancer bathing in a giant goblet of blood.”
SEE IT: Metalesque Fest at Nova PDX, 722 E Burnside St., 503-206-7630, signofthebeastburlesque.com. 9 pm Friday and Saturday, Sept. 19 and 20. General admission $36.62 per night or $65.91+ weekend pass, VIP upgrades $122.03–$305.14. 21+.
