burlesque

From No Dakota Access Pipeline (NoDAPL) to the Black Lives Matter movement the overarching message is the same. Who protects the people from the police?

The routine begins with prayer. I pray for the people who have lost loved ones because police officers have abused their power. I pray for the police officers who feel like they are entitled to kill people in the name of oppression.

I shoot the audience with my eyes closed until I realize what I am doing. I believe that the people who are committing these horrific human rights violations are "asleep" or unaware of their actions. I put down the gun once I "wake" up.

When I "wake up" I realize that my penis is really my gun. I believe that the abuse of authoritative power is directly related to sexual repression. When people are sexually repressed their anger and rage is often directed at helpless victims instead of the oppressors.

I hold up an oil covered Canadian flag up at the end of my routine that says "Water is life" as a symbol of the oppression that Indigenous people have endured and continue to endure for protecting their land and clean drinking water. These injustices are still occurring against Indigenous people in Canada in 2019.

I feel like there are numerous similarities between Indigenous rights being violated and Black Lives Matter. On the most fundamental level these groups are having their most basic human rights violated; the right to EXIST. Authority figures are refusing to acknowledge their rights to exist as human beings and instead enable the cycle of oppression/genocide that these groups of individuals have been facing for hundreds of years. Who are the Authority figures serving and protecting? Who protects the people from the police?

As a human being on planet earth I feel like it is my responsibility to take a stand for injustices I see in the world. The targeted killings of Black people must stop. Forcibly removing Indigenous people from their land is a violation of the United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous people (UNDRIP).

Risking clean drinking water for the sake of corporate greed is a threat to HUMANITY. As a human being on planet earth my human vessel is composed of 55-70% water. We dry out as we get older but the one thing that we all NEED to survive is WATER! Water IS life ! Without it humanity would cease to exist. Stand up Speak out. The time is now.

I dance Peace. I dance for Love. I dance for Change.

Xo The Velvet Unicorn

Cinderella meets The Velvet Unicorn.  Cinderella awakens to the Colonial beauty standards that she has been brainwashed into believing.

The routine begins with "pretty" Cinderella. Happily mopping and looking at her reflection in the mirror at how "pretty" she is. She falls asleep and awakens to the reality that she is in. Like a perfect looking doll that dances on a jewelry box, Cinderella realizes that her reality is not what it has appeared to be.

Her perfect beautiful dress, her make-up, her blonde hair are all part of the Colonial system that dictates what beauty is. She feels trapped and knows that the only way for her to escape this reality is to dismantle these aspects of herself. She strips off the layers of oppression in an effort to dismantle the Colonial system.

She rips off her wig and smashes the glass slipper. The glass slipper that has been holding her hostage waiting for "Prince Charming" to come and "save" her.

She gladly does the mopping and mops all the make-up off her face !

I dance for Peace. I dance for Love. I dance for Change.

xo The Velvet Unicorn

This was the first routine that I ever created and it debuted in April 2016. The physical vessel that I currently occupy is finite but my soul is infinite. Beneath the layers of who you think I am is my authentic self. My physical body could never define my value or worth in this world. I strip off the layers of my conditioned programming to reveal my authentic self.

When my Mother was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer she was devastated when she started loosing her hair. She searched endlessly to try and find a wig that resembled how she used to look. She was terrified of people seeing her without her wig. Her struggle inspired me to connect deeper with myself and wigs. I started experimenting with different looks and embraced the diverse identities that I could embody by just changing my hair.

Although my Mother is no longer physically remaining she is forever spiritually surrounding. I created this routine in honour of her and anyone who has ever had to face a battle with cancer.

I dance for Peace. I dance for Love. I dance for Change.

Xo The Velvet Unicorn

Would you sell yourself for the sake of survival ? The concept of mail order brides may not appear to be an act of feminism but I do on the most fundamental through the lens of SURVIVAL !

I created this piece to honour my Grandmother, Que Ho Chiu, who sold herself into marriage to escape the horrors of the Japanese invasion of Nanking.

At the beginning of the routine I am dressed as a man in the darkness. This is symbolic of the journey that my Grandmother made to escape from China. She would dress as a man to avoid being raped or killed by the Japanese soldiers. I mimic the conflicts that she probably had with Authority figures along her journey.