Today we’d like to introduce you to Queenie Von Curves
Hi Queenie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been a lifelong performer, growing up as a dancer and earning a BFA in Theater Performance. Since moving to the Twin Cities in 2006 from the East Coast, I have worked professionally as a costume designer in many regional theaters, company dancer with Ballet of the Dolls, event management with The Ritz Theater, director of Dr. Sketchy’s Mpls, plus model, body impression painter, producer and teacher for dance and burlesque events, and an ongoing burlesque career of 15 years and counting! I took over the producer role for Bare Book Club (formally Naked Girls Reading) Mpls in 2013.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
An ongoing challenge being a performer is that ones body is constantly observed, critiqued and compared. I was told I didn’t have the right body to be a dancer, especially in the ballet world, I was pigeon-holed into roles because of my size in theatre, and repeatedly told I was too fat, too weird, too much. Discovering burlesque was truly a moment of reckoning for me, a performance art in which my body could be celebrated and I was completely in charge. Burlesque and Bare Book Club have been therapeutic for me and healing my relationship with my body and myself.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
It’s exactly what it sounds like: Bare Book Club, but it’s so much more. It’s empowering, poignant, funny, enticing, and smart; reviving the art of live literary salons and normalizing the idea of nudity as something that can be celebrated and not necessarily sexual. Our readings are insightful, creative, thought provoking and sometimes hilarious. There is no larger, woven-in, multi-layered, overly complex message- nothing pretentious, nothing seedy. Once you experience it, you’ll stop asking so many questions and just let the concept take you. The beauty is in is simplicity, join us!
Our events always surround a particular theme, with readers selecting their own readings, in an intimate setting at 2001 A Space, a gallery space in NE Minneapolis.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me as a producer and performer is to cultivate safe spaces for all folks, especially marginalized groups, where they can enjoy art. To allow my performers a space to explore their own creativity and be lifted up.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @queenie_von_curves @barebookclubmpls @dr.sketchysmpls
