For the fine folks of Nightshade Burlesque, every season is spooky season. Even so, they managed to crank up the dial for their November 1 show at The Cicada on the Near Southside. The night held a little something for everyone, from disco-inspired dance numbers to stripteases from the devil herself.
Qween Quan, a drag and burlesque performer from New Orleans, joined the regular cast this month.
“I think of my drag as my inner child’s babysitter,” they said before the show.
Quan said they use the artform to explore concepts that have been on their mind for a very long time.
The ladies of Bronze Garden opened and closed the evening. Founded in May by Cherry Antoinette, the Dallas-based troupe is reportedly North Texas’ first and only all-Black burlesque outfit.
“I didn’t have as much representation when I got into burlesque,” Antoinette said. “The erasure onstage shouldn’t be as broad as it is.”
A burlesque performer with eight years’experience, she acts as a mentor to others looking to learn the craft.
Antoinette, Kokoa Ossani said, “took me under her wing and brought me into the world of burlesque. I don’t think I would’ve made it to where I am without her.”
Ossani was joined by Sakura Browne, who was on medical rest and did not perform this evening. All three women have backgrounds in dance.
For performers, burlesque serves as a space for creative expression with very few limitations.
“You get a lot more say in what you do,” said Nightshade’s Sodi Moore, who studied dance in college but found more artistic freedom in burlesque. On this particular evening, they put on a strangely titillating number as none other than Oscar the Grouch.
Though Sakura Browne was on medical rest and did not perform, she came to spend time with and support her friends in Bronze Garden, an all-Black troupe from Dallas. “I see people who are unapologetically themselves” in burlesque, Browne said. “Why not step out, pop out, and add another layer of color to that rainbow?” PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSKokoa Ossani (left) and Cherry Antoinette closed out the night with a high-energy round of go-go dancing. PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSQween Quan portrayed a sexy devil during their second set at Nightshade Burlesque. “I do things that have been hanging in my brain my whole life,” Quan said before the show of their inspirations. PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSVivienne Vermuth cheered along with the crowd. PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSPHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSPerformers caught up between sets during the Nightshade Burlesque show at The Cicada. PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSMary Lynn Mayhem danced to Artie Shaw’s “Nightmare.” PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSQween Quan joined the other performers onstage at the end of the show. PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSPHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSPHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSSodi Moore, a regular member of Nightshade Burlesque’s cast, pulled off a sexy, vamped-up Oscar the Grouch at the November show. “I like to show essences of a mood or character instead of a specific character,” Moore said of their style of burlesque. PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSCostumed audience members took to the stage for a friendly Halloween competition at November’s Nightshade Burlesque show at The Cicada. PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSThe Cicada hosts Nightshade Burlesque every first Friday of the month. Guests at the November show were met with spooky Halloween energy. PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONS(From left to right) Cherry Antoinette, Kokoa Ossani, and Sakura Browne cut up during intermission at the Nightshade Burlesque show at The Cicada. The trio represents half the members of Bronze Garden, North Texas’ first and only all-Black burlesque troupe. PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONS(From left to right) Violent Lavender, Vivienne Vermuth, and Ophelia Winter enjoyed a set during the November Nightshade Burlesque show at The Cicada. PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONS“It’s queer art, it’s Black art, it’s glamour, and it’s very much neurodivergent,” Quan said of their style of drag and burlesque. PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSQween Quan strutted across the stage at The Cicada during Nightshade Burlesque’s November show. PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSVivienne Vermuth, co-founder of Nightshade Burlesque, looked on as stage kitten Ophelia Winter made a display of gathering dollars flung onto the stage during a set. PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSDrag King Psyril Cybin flaunted a fitting cicada costume to the crowd at The Cicada during a particularly ghoulish post-Halloween show. PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSMary Lynn Mayhem performed a sultry dance to Twin Temple’s “I’m Wicked.” PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSKokoa Ossani (right) and Cherry Antoinette opened the November Nightshade Burlesque show at The Cicada, shaking it to Beyonce’s “Work It Out” in a disco-inspired number. They are two of six members of Bronze Garden, the first and only all-Black burlesque troupe in North Texas. PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSViolent Lavender made some costume adjustments pre-show. PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONSHanging out with Qween Quan (left) backstage before Nightshade’s November show, Sodi Moore said, “You get a lot more say in what you do” dancing burlesque than other forms. PHOTO BY MADISON SIMMONS
