The 2025 hybrid DisabiliTease Festival took place July 18-19, 2025
Although this is the festival’s 5th year, it was our second time having an in-person show and workshops at the Capri Theater in Minneapolis, MN!
Thank you to those who joined the DisabiliTease Festival on July 18-19 for a celebration of disabled bodies through burlesque, drag, cirque, and cabaret performances. The event offered in-person and virtual attendance options. We are dedicated to providing a safe and inclusive environment for disabled performers from around the world.
Our hybrid Friday, July 18 show allowed performers to gather and celebrate each other’s art with the local Twin Cities community in person. It was live-streamed to continue to connect with performers and audiences worldwide.
Our virtual Saturday, July 19 show featured pre-recorded acts with a live emcee.
On Saturday, July 19, the DisabiliTease Academy hosted three in-person live-streamed workshops at the Capri Theater.
Precautions were taken, and we had a COVID-safe and accessible weekend. Learn more about our hybrid format.
If you have any questions, you can email us at info@DisabiliTeaseFestival.com.
2025 Show Videos
Rent or purchase the 2025 DisabiliTease Festival shows
Each show is available to rent for 24 hours for $15 or purchase for $20.
Friday night’s show was emceed by Silky the Body. Alyssa Kitt headlined with feature Opiumm Hayze.
The cast includes Anastasia, Boobs Radley, D’Monica Leone, Dizzy Tunt, Emerald Eve, Jaqueline Boxx, Kisa von Teasa, Lakota Shekhar, Lyra, Mary Annette, Sasha A Bombfox, Nadi and the Prancing Ponies (Jackson Rogue, Nadi A’marena, Prance Dashing, Xavier)
Saturday’s show was emceed by Mx. Quest. Alyssa Kitt headlined with feature Bea Lissima
The cast includes Deja Louve, Dravyn, Iris Envy, Kingdom, Lady Sapphire Noir, MissShapen, Mr. Strange, Sassy Wheels, and Sydney & Montgomery Quest.
Workshops
We teamed up with the DisabiliTease Academy, which launched during the 2021 DisabiliTease Festival weekend, to bring three workshops to our 2025 hybrid festival.
As the only school of its kind, the DisabiliTease Academy brings accessible virtual classes to performers, producers, and their allies in the burlesque, drag, cirque, cabaret, and movement arts communities. Their mission is to provide an accessible experience for both instructors and students who may otherwise encounter barriers in traditional movement and performance arts schools through live Zoom sessions, pre-recorded classes, and downloadable resource guides.
The growing list of courses includes topics such as self-care as a performer, costuming, logistics and career management, accessibility, inclusivity, adaptable movement, and more.
Be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date on their latest course offerings.
Commanding an audience’s attention doesn’t have to mean constantly moving about a stage! Whether you want to keep the drama going even during the quietest parts of your act or you need to plan for spectacular stationary sizzle due to mobility restrictions, it’s all about mastering that Energy Flow. Learn the five elements Jacqueline uses to make the absolute most of center stage by practicing and performing a brief, fully accessible piece of choreography that includes adapting these elements to your own performance style. Students should dress comfortably for movement.
Objective:
- Develop brush techniques to achieve proper application
- Establish bone structure to successfully highlight and contour
- Understand areas of application for depth and precision (highlight and contour)
- Hacks to correct errors or shorten the application process
Supplies:
Please bring your makeup kits and individual mirrors. Kits should include face primer, foundation, concealer, lashes or mascara, blush, eyeshadow, makeup brushes, eyeliner, and setting powder
Want to master the slow burn, ensnare with a searing gaze and turn your audience into putty? It’s time to crank on the brakes and get ready to slink, sleuth and slither on stage. This workshop is a chance to slow things down and get sensual. In this two-hour workshop, the provocative stripteuse Miss Alyssa Kitt will teach you how to tantalise, tease and develop your confidence to take your damn time on and off the stage. Harnessing somatic breath and meditative tactility, this luxuriously unique workshop fuses disability dance with burlesque, sensual moving meditation, and intuitive movement that will help you build your sexy from the inside out. You will learn to listen and find your own sensuality, to draw out your own unique movements and project sexual intention and channel teasing tension into your own dance style. This workshop builds upon Alyssa’s academic background in disability and dance methods and alternate movement practices, celebrating “crip” theory and diverse bodies.
Supplies:
What to bring – your fine self, a notebook, comfortable clothes, a small prop or costume item (gloves, or an elastic piece of material), water, and a little stripper blanket (you heard me right – byo fuckrug). No heels or kneepads necessary. Perfect for beginners and professionals alike. Suitable for all bodies and movement abilities – wheelchairs, canes/ mobility devices and comforting props are all encouraged!
Thank you to our judges, volunteers, and staff!
Judges:
Crew and on-site volunteers:
Alex Valdez
Lili VonSchtupp
Matt Finish
Sepia Jewel
Tas Al-Ghul
Viktor Devonne
Willow Wonderlust
Friday:
ChastTitty Barre
Granny Pam T
Haughty Hazelnut
Oliver Yew
Redacted
Regina Elizabeth
Rosie the Wrangler
Sean Berry
Sun Chile
TreeDeDaze
Saturday:
Haughty Hazelnut
Off-site volunteers:
Bettie Mercury
Foxy la Fleur
Pinkie Fingers
Sativa Strange
Sinasaurus Vex
Wheely Sweet
ASL interpreters:
Epiphany Davis
Kate Block
Nancy B
Nathan Tucker
Live captioners:
Julianne Mitchell
Marco Polo
Teresa Meyer-Clemens
Videographer:
Todd Wardrope
Photographer:
Dahlia Daydream
Thank you to our venue, Capri Theater, and their amazing staff.
Thank you to our 2025 DisabiliTease Festival supporters!
Donors, sponsors, and advertisers:
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Thank you to our fiscal sponsor, Life-size Meme Productions.
