Emergence: Something from Nothing
By Mr Strange
I have a philosophy that underpins my work in burlesque, and I believe it can apply to all art. It's that creativity is the most important thing you can have. I started performing burlesque over a decade ago, and that's given me a lot of time to observe what gets rewarded and circulated within our culture. I've been involved in artistic practice and communities in general for even longer than that, and that's influenced how I view burlesque, not only as a performance medium but as part of the wider art world and conversations on how art should be created.
Burlesque has its roots in political satire. It's a proudly low-brow and subversive form of entertainment, something that exists to empower and to challenge powerful systems – to 'comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable'. Its contemporary cultural image, however, is most often associated with glamour, which can exist in tension with its historical roots in social critique. How intentional or ironic this is varies from performer to performer, shaped by individual philosophy. Burlesque is often presented as a throwback, emphasizing the 'golden age' of the 1920s-1950s. I'm drawn to even earlier and broader conceptions, going back to before striptease became its defining feature. To the time when burlesque functioned more explicitly as a form of very contemporary social commentary, like South Park or The Onion. I actually put these things in the same category, even though I don't believe that burlesque needs to be funny.
That might seem to make the definition of burlesque feel fuzzy. But I think it's inherently fluid, because it's something that's evolved into extremely different forms over hundreds of years and across continents. The literary form of burlesque from the early modern period looked nothing like the striptease burlesque of the 1950s. That's a good thing, as each era reshapes it for its own audience and in its own cultural context. If I were to define what burlesque means in my own practice, it's a performance art that uses stripping and/or eroticism as a tool to convey narrative. Narrative is extremely important to me. It's the very reason the act exists in the first place. Spectacle is impressive, but I'm more interested in the deep and lasting impact of emotional resonance.
As a form of grassroots entertainment, I still want to create a fantasy, but it's not about presenting something unattainable. It's about exploring possibilities, and allowing the audience to project their inner world, their experiences, and sense of great potential onto my work. I think art is at its most effective when it functions as a mirror to reflect the viewer and society back to themselves. I think about that when I'm going through my creative process, and I remind myself that even where glamour and production value are often the most visibly rewarded, limited resources are not necessarily a hindrance.
Jorgen Vig Knudstorp said, 'Many creative people are finding that creativity doesn't grow in abundance, it grows from scarcity – the more Lego bricks you have doesn' t mean you're going to be more creative; you can be very creative with very few Lego bricks'. You can see this in the origins of the blues, in how a YouTube ghost video can chill you more than any Hollywood movie, and in how Nita and Zita made their own costumes by hand with anything they could find, from tin cans to cigarette foil. This very lack of resources is what makes these things so iconic and influential. We can't forget that. I don't think burlesque could have been developed outside of this environment – this would undermine its entire reason for being as grassroots social critique. It thrives in negative space filled with nothing but our own creativity and passions.
So now I want to tie this back to my photography. I have no photography training, I don't even have a camera. These images were shot in a cramped condo on my phone with a tripod and cheap backdrop; just me, alone, with silk fans to create a sense of movement and atmosphere. In this way the images function as a direct extension of my philosophy around burlesque – a representation of how you can create something beautiful and resonant from almost nothing. You don't need an abundance of resources and training. You need resourcefulness, imagination, and intention. In that sense, my work is grounded in the idea that everyone has a voice, and burlesque, at its best, creates space for that voice.
Mr. Strange (he/him) is a Winnipeg-based performer and teacher whose work spans burlesque, flow art, and the avant-garde, with an emphasis on powerful emotional landscapes. Through narrative and atmosphere, his performances create moments that are deeply resonant and visually striking. He has performed at events and festivals in both Canada and the United States, including the Disabilitease Festival in Minneapolis in 2025 and a performance at the Saskatoon International Burlesque Festival in 2026. Follow Mr Strange on Instagram: @MrStrangeLive
