The DisabiliTease Festival is a multi-day festival that showcases performers with disabilities in the areas of burlesque, cirque, cabaret, and drag. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the DisabiliTease Festival highlights performers not only from the Twin Cities, but across the United States and around the globe.
Launched in 2019, with the first virtual show in 2020, the festival offers validation and recognition to performers who are often overlooked, underestimated, or deemed too difficult to book due to necessary accommodations. In addition to virtual shows, in-person events will be live-streamed to continue to connect with performers and audiences worldwide. This provides an inclusive experience for performers and audience members who may otherwise encounter barriers to such events.
This festival challenges and overturns the notion that having a disability decreases or interferes with a person’s desirability, allure, or competence as a performer. We strive to provide a safe space for artistic expression, performance, and training opportunities.
The DisabiliTease Festival highlights marginalized and underrepresented populations, providing not only a performance platform but also community connection around the world. Our goal is to include a wide variety of performers at the intersection of disability with a variety of genders, ages, sizes, abilities, races and ethnicities, locations, beliefs, and sexual orientations, whenever possible.
Visibility
The burlesque, drag, cabaret, and cirque communities are diverse in their participants, but there is an overall lack of representation and visibility of performers with disabilities worldwide.
Visibility is just one step toward inclusion, by intentionally curating our shows for people with disabilities, we are opening a door to the possibility for artists to find their creativity and place in the greater arts community.
Our hope is that by challenging these preconceptions – through delivering a valuable experience to the audience and a significant body of work for performers – venues and producers may also recognize the importance of inclusive policies and more readily embrace accessibility accommodations.
Why hybrid?
COVID-19 caused the world to pivot to virtual platforms. While many performers have been able to go back to traditional in-person performances – many people were, and are still, restricted by physical location.
- A virtual show format removes barriers that would otherwise prevent people from not only performing, but also adds additional accessibility with funding for filming, resources, and community support.
- While the continued risk of COVID-19 prevails, especially for those whose disabilities include a compromised immune system, our festival allows them to continue to enjoy the art of burlesque/drag/cirque from the safety of their homes.
- Additionally, it allows them to see individuals similar to them in an art form in which they often are invisible.
- Not only are they able to connect with fellow performers, but also the same barriers are removed for audience members with virtual shows.
- DTF includes worldwide participation. Removing these physical barriers with an online platform connects us to a larger community of disabled artists, issues, and the uniqueness of this art at the intersection of disability.
- Our 2024 in-person Friday show will allow performers to gather and celebrate each other’s art with the local Twin Cities community. This show will also be live-streamed to continue to connect with performers and audiences worldwide. The Saturday show is virtual and will feature pre-recorded acts with a live emcee. Precautions will be taken to ensure a COVID-safe and accessible weekend.
For more information, visit our Media Kit.
What our performers have to say
“I think this is important because it brings awareness and shows people are so much more than their labels and performance can come in many forms and I’m so here for it.”
“It is my first time publicly recognizing that I have suffered and survived … I hope to heal”
“I have always dreamed of doing burlesque but after becoming largely bed-based didn’t think this would be an option for me, but thanks to DisabiliTease it is!”
“My experience during last year’s DisabiliTease can be summed up in one word; family. […] In those short few days, I found not only friendships and comradery that I didn’t know I needed, but true family as well.”
“I have always dreamed of doing burlesque, but after becoming largely bed-based, I didn’t think this would be an option for me, but thanks to DisabiliTease, it is!”
“DisabiliTease gives me a chance to perform in a way that I usually can’t due to accessibility and lack of support. Being disabled and a performer, we need outlets like the DisabiliTease Festival to show the world what we can do!”
“As a Black, Trans Non-binary, OCD human, it is an amazing opportunity to be able to present my artistic expression while also acknowledging my disability. Thank you!”