The thing I love most about the world of neo burlesque is when a performer takes a core burlesque skill and transforms it beyond classical expectations. I will never forget the first time I saw London based burlesque performer Aurora Galore take to the stage with her feather fans, swirling and swooshing those feathers around the stage with more complexity, dexterity and ferocity than I’d ever seen in any other performer. If you’ve seen an Aurora Galore fan dance, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Combining dance, fire and a unique creative vision, Aurora brings to the stage a perfomance style unlike any other. Want to know more about Aurora Galore? Read on…
Aurora Galore
Describe your burlesque persona in exactly 5 words: Dynamic, Fun, Dance, Innovative, Electric
Tell us about your best ever burlesque moment. What happened? Who was there? One of my favourite ever shows was headlining Stuttgart Burlesque Festival. I don’t know what was so unique about this one but I just felt so special and just pushed myself to do my absolute best. I performed an extra longer version of my usual set as I was only performing one act. Travelling all the way to another country to perform one set made me want to prove I was worth them putting their faith in me to deliver. The other performers were incredible, the staff were incredible and I just generally had the most wonderful time. Most of my favourite burlesque experiences come from an overwhelming fear that I won’t perform my best and letting people down, so something in me pushes to perform from my soul. I always think I do terribly and then watch the performance back and am shocked at how much confidence and power I actually had!
Name three things that you always carry with you. Mastix glue, my makeup and probably some feather fans.
What inspired your burlesque journey? Being 5ft 1 and having a curvy and tattooed physique meant that I could never venture into the world of commercial dance. The requirements just do not suit what I look like and I also don’t like being told what to do, what to wear or what concept to portray! At the time I started, burlesque was really the only performance avenue that allowed for complete creative freedom. So I guess I was inspired by my inability to become a professional dancer in any other capacity!
Who would play you in a movie of your life? I have no idea! Maybe Jennifer Lawrence. She seems like a lovable dickhead and that’s pretty much my brand!
What’s the most interesting thing about you that the internet doesn’t know about you yet? There’s a few things that I don’t really put online because they don’t really pertain to my work or brand. I am actually quite smart. I have a degree in English Literature and generally am quite knowledgeable about business and life things! I am also a complete conspiracy theory junkie… we did not go to the moon – fight me! Also, I was actually raised from aged 10 as an extreme Christian and went to countries in Europe to preach the Lord to people. As you can imagine, my career choice was not celebrated by my family!
Tell us about your shoot experience with Tigz! I knew Tigz before we shot together. I think I was around 20 years old when we did our first shoot and also think it was one of the first professional shoots I had done. I am not a model but I always knew that promo images were important for my work. I struggled a lot, as did Tigz I think; we didn’t really know what to do with me and my confused self! However, after years of building a friendship and working together, things got easier and a lot more fun. When a photographer understands your character but also your limitations, I think it’s easier to navigate through the session!
What song gets you on the dancefloor? I have a deep love for anything Lady Gaga, terrible pop music and also hardcore dubstep and heavy metal. Anything that makes you smile or grimace – I’m there!
Best achievement or moment that you’re most proud of in your career? I have a couple. One is winning ‘Most Innovative’ Burlesque Performer at Burlesque Hall of Fame, in 2014. It was such a new thing to have an idiot like me there performing to dubstep in a drawn on moustache and I took my place in the audience for the crownings, assuming that I would not win anything. The winners came from the wings so I assumed they told all of the winners in advance to come backstage (turns out everyone was there, they just couldn’t find me). I had my shoes off and was cheering for everyone in the audience. When the host called my name, I was in total shock. I ran shoeless to the stage and jumped around like a 5 year old when everyone else acted elegant and poised! It was such a shock and an honour to be recognised as a creative and fresh performer. I also put together an almost solo show, Glamorous Weirdo! I had one other performer in my show but I personally had created about 45 mins of dance and vocal content and it was the hardest and most physically and mentally draining thing I have ever done in my life. It went so beautifully the time I did it in London. After I was convinced that no one cared, I had nearly 300 people come and support me and my show and it was honestly the most beautiful moment in my whole life. Feeling as though people cared about what I had to say as a creative person and having other performers recognise the heartbreaking work that had gone into creating it was truly magical.
What is your top striptease tip? We must also remember that audiences vary in where they are sat. Most of the time we rehearse our acts to one spot but sometimes the audience is behind us, above us, around us and it is up to us in record timing to on the spot re-choreograph and cater our acts to everyone. Do not show everything to one part of the audience whilst ignoring others and only play to the area that you aimed at in rehearsals! Audiences don’t always choose where they sit so we must always be prepared to work with anything!
If you could be a model for any brand, which brand would it be and why? I’m not really a model per se, but I create makeup looks online all the time. I would love to do my makeup for Juvia’s Place, Mehron makeup or Anastasia Beverly Hills – something ultra creative!
What will your autobiography be called? Glamorous Weirdo
What exciting project are you working on right now? I have my newest show, Circo Fiesta, which is a circus/variety show featuring Mediterranean and Latin performers. It’s in it’s infancy right now but I have amazing plans for it! I just wanted to create a night to celebrate all of the amazing things in Latin culture that are seldom seen online or even at other shows. I also am working really hard on trying to get innovative fire and dance props together within new acts. It takes time and practise, but the hope is to always create things that people have never seen in Burlesque!
Favourite burlesque festival/show to perform at? Stuttgart Burlesque Festival, Stockholm Burlesque Festival and Aurora Galore and the Glamorous Weirdos and Circo Fiesta (because I created them!)
Most inspirational/memorable performer you’ve seen? Perle Noire. I saw her perform for the first time in 2015 and it blew me away. I think you can hear me screaming in the video actually! But I genuinely was blown away but the power that just radiated from her on stage.
Want to get ultra creative in front of my camera like Aurora Galore? Head on over to the contact page and send me an email containing your wildest dreams – I’m game if you are…
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