Pasties with a Purpose
An Interview with Buttercup on Revolutionary Movement
By Jennifer Battisti | Photos By Tyler Boshard
A few days before I had the pleasure of speaking with Buttercup, a local burlesque legend, I visited the Burlesque Hall of Fame (BHoF), a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation and celebration of burlesque. As luck would have it, Buttercup, who is the museum’s Program Coordinator, was my personal tour guide in a time slot all to myself.
There is something spectacular about being in the presence of several thousands of costumes, stage props, photographs, artifacts and the undeniable pulse of archival tease. A wall of pasties donated from a fundraiser to benefit BHoF hung nearby, each with its own name-plated birthplace. As we made our way through the exhibits, I was in awe of the thoughtful conservation of each artifact. Buttercup’s warmth, depth of knowledge, and love for the bold and theatrical history was a thing of beauty all its own. It was the showpiece that made my visit unforgettable.
An audience of glittering gowns twinkled in the background. Buttercup is equally astute as she is charismatic. She shared a wealth of insightful things with me during our time together, but one sentiment felt particularly impactful. When Buttercup receives a compliment after a performance, she responds with, “I know, but I love to hear it.” She says this with deliberate certainty, which is in itself subversive, a true embodiment of the origins of burlesque — to be provocative. Buttercup wants us to know that there is no shame in knowing our value. This feels relevant for creatives, especially women and femmes; we must own our worth. “I want people to know that it’s okay to know that you’re good enough,” she says.
Women are conditioned to people please, minimize and deflect after receiving a compliment. This refusal to shrink under praise challenges convention. Whether using detachable pasties or flouncing her feather fans, Buttercup believes feisty expansiveness is about personal power. Behind us, in true Vegas excess, there was a Giant Martini Glass, which belonged to neo-burlesque beauty, Dita Von Teese.
Buttercup is a woman who is taking up space and not apologizing for it. The eldest of 10 children, she grew up in a turbulent household. “I found solace on stage,” she says, adding that the stage is where she thrives. After she attended the American Academy for Dramatic Arts in New York City, she acted in indie films and performed in what she calls “off, off Broadway shows”, but it was after she moved to Las Vegas on a whim (whimsy is the Vegas way) that she had what she calls “a transformative moment” while watching a burlesque show. She decided two things right then and there: that she was going to learn burlesque and that no one could hold her back from it.
“Burlesque offers me an actual stage,” she says. “To be in control, to be the center of attention, to be valued, and to act out my vision.” She went on to actualize her dreams after this pivotal moment, building a successful career as a producer, performer, program coordinator for BHoF, as well as a costumer and an instructor for the School of Striptease, where she is also the manager.
Behind the bump and grind, being seen is a powerful part of burlesque, essential to the elements of play and tension created in collaboration with the audience. “Our bodies are political,” Buttercup says, adding, “I think it’s a political act for me, or any woman to stand onstage and say look at me, and enjoy it.”
Once, during a performance, a male audience member kept being loud and distracting. “I’m up here,” Buttercup told the man. He continued to be rude. In true showbiz brilliance, Buttercup improvised by covering his eyes with one enormous, elegant feather fan, revealing her tassels to the audience while obstructing his view of her body. Punishing him with plumage. This playful rebellion embodies the parody and satire burlesque is known for. Needless to say, everyone got to see how to fully inhabit the body in the present moment.
When Buttercup became a new mom she was performing in O.P.M. at The Cosmopolitan, one of the biggest shows of her career. It was her first time performing topless, and on top of being topless, she was using a jump rope made from bubblegum. As a mother myself, I was inspired by Buttercup’s resourcefulness. She took backstage breaks to breast-pump, both to store milk to feed her son and also to make sure “they looked even” for the show.
“Being a mother while I continue to perform has shown me I am capable of amazing things!” she exclaimed, and we both laughed in astonishment at this memory. I could feel her devotion to both motherhood and her art, a reality all creative mothers need to know is possible.
Buttercup taught me a new word — ecdysiast, the oldest known word for stripping. It refers to the act of shedding an outer layer. The way that cicadas leave their exoskeletons and how birds upgrade their feathers. What’s left behind is called an exuviae, nature’s striptease. The burlesque performer also sheds. They shed expectations, inhibitions, silence. As their insides outgrow their outsides they undress those beliefs that no longer serve them. They leave shells of their former selves. All those shells add up to another kind of intimacy best shared with an audience — a story.
Burlesque defies gender norms, offers a sanctuary for self-determined eroticism and reclaims the narrative of being empowered. Buttercup used to feel conflicted about post-performance photographs where, in the past, a man might dictate the arrangement of the shot. Buttercup realized that she gets to decide how the picture is portrayed. “I’m a director,” she says. Teaching the rules of consent is a way to resist social norms and honor our body’s boundaries. Doing it in fuchsia ostrich feathers is next level brazen.
If you haven’t had the chance to visit the Burlesque Hall of Fame, I don’t want to reveal too much (wink wink). But I will tell you to shimmy your way down there to take in the fullness of burlesque’s daring and ever-evolving legacy.
Buttercup produces multiple shows, including Tease, and she performs in Sinful, a show at Fat Cat Bar on 3rd Street which celebrates women and femmes while also spotlighting inequities in pay by playing an audience participation game called Things We Do for Money. “It expands the scope of things we’re asked to do for money, caregiving, day jobs, fetish work, sex work,” she says. “All work is valid.”
You can buy tickets for Sinful, learn more about Burlesque for Beginners at the School of Striptease, and check out a titillating offering of acts which includes Buttercup’s classic feather fan dance. Be sure to look out for her new act, a tassel (and assle) twirling act with a cheeseball theme — you read that right — cheeseballs! An act which took Buttercup two years of tossing to perfect. Catching cheeseballs in her mouth while wearing a cheeseball boa is not only fun and inventive, it’s also making a statement. “I’m a hot woman and I’m going to enjoy junk food in front of you” she says. “I’m allowed.”
If you’re suddenly craving something shocking and savory, head on over to Buttercup’s website, where there is more information, entertainment, events, and just enough left up to the imagination: www.buttercupburlesque.com
