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burlesque is for everybody - and every body, says company founder
Burlesque can mean anything from tongue-in-cheek stage parodies to musical variety shows and striptease.
For Kaelyn Yeager, producer and co-founder of Red Deer’s Private Universe Entertainment, burlesque is a pathway to self-acceptance — or as she calls it, “radical self-love.”
“Burlesque is a celebration of the human body and everything it can do and be,” Yeager explains — whether the stage acts incorporate songs and jokes or the coy peeling off of gloves and dropping of fans.
All body types, colours, shapes and genders are part of the performance art form started in the 1860s, with roots in theatrical satire and musical parody.
Yeager recalls being entranced by an ample female performer she saw at her first burlesque show in Calgary. “She had a large body, and I have a large body,” says Yeager, who was struck by this positive representation.
The woman “was hilarious and creative, sexy and beautiful. She owned every bit of who she was.”
An inspired Yeager followed her brother, known as burlesque show host and producer Baron von Boom, into this colourfully brash world. For the past eight years, she’s been performing under the stage name Domino Rogue.
Yeager’s first time in the spotlight felt much like jumping out of an airplane with the supportive audience as her parachute: “It was scary,” she recalls. But Yeager discovered the stage can be a safe space where “you can be exactly who you are and do what you want to do…”
A year after moving to Red Deer, Yeager opened Private Universe Entertainment in 2023 with her partner, Preston Hoff. And their entertainments have been finding audiences in Sylvan Lake and Red Deer.
Seventeen burlesque shows have been staged so far at venues including the Scott Block, D2’s, and Leah’s Bar and Grill. Among them was last year’s Red Deer Pride kick-off show as well as an enchantment-themed performance for the Ross Street Magic Festival.
On March 20, the next ’Tender Things’ spring show will launch at Vin L Den in downtown Red Deer. (Tickets are available from Showpass.com.)
Yeager is interested in cultivating a thriving local scene so has been teaching classes to about 30 local students over the past year.
The age 18-plus participants learn about the diverse history of burlesque as well as classic moves: “the bump, the grind and shimmy,” says Yeager.
Students are encouraged to embrace their own bodies, create their own personas and solos. Acts can incorporate singing, dancing, comedy, or drama. While striptease is central to the art, performers remain partially clothed. The level of undress is determined by the performer, says Yeager.
“They can perform with hoola hoops, they can use silk fans or feathers… anything goes. One of the funniest shows involved a chicken costume!”
Burlesque isn’t about showgirls or the “male gaze,” she adds. “It’s about empowerment and the reclamation of our own bodies.”
More information about Private Universe Entertainment can be found on Facebook, Instagram or by emailing .
