3/3 • Do you have a personal mission when it comes to performing burlesque? You mentioned there was a brief moment you didn’t know if you wanted to do burlesque, can you elaborate on this point in your journey?



“I had the privilege of trying a lot of different art forms prior to burlesque; dance, musical theatre, singing. I had a lot of opportunities to express myself. Dance has always been my main form of expression, its what I’m most comfortable in. But, ballet felt at times too restrictive in terms of what you could express as an individual. I would engage in South-East Asian cultural dancing as well, but again, while it’s awesome to perform in that culture, it’s still restrictive to a specific set of things. I tried a lot of different dance disciplines, and I stumbled upon burlesque during the pandemic and I was like, this is hot! It was so stimulating and sick. So I was interested in giving it a shot just because, you know, I have the dance experience. I’m someone who is not necessarily flirtatious or seductive. I’m pretty awkward and introverted, so burlesque, it can be whatever you want it to be. Burlesque would require me taking on a persona and stage presence that I hadn’t done before.”

• Topaz Afternoon at City Winery for the Asian Burlesque Festival 21.5.22

2/3 • What was special or significant to you about performing at this festival in particular?

“The sentiment that I’ve gathered about being an Asian woman in New York City right now is that over the past two years, it’s been pretty exhausting to exist. I moved to New York a year ago from San Francisco, and both cities have been impacted by Anti-Asian violence. Being able to perform at a festival where I can share the joy I think I can still have while living in the city was pretty significant. Michelle Go was an Asian woman who was shoved in front of a subway car earlier this year, and I think it was actually right before my showcase. And then actually after the Asian Burlesque festival, I think the day after, was the subway shooter in Sunset Park, which is a community that has a large Asian population. It felt significant to perform at the Asian Burlesque Festival because, not to take away from the tragedies that happened, but to show that I can still exist, show some joy and break away from this near-constant fear and anxiety that a lot of women have been having, especially Asian women. It is an honor. In light of the Anti-Asian hate crimes, it is really special to perform.”

• Topaz Afternoon at City Winery for the Asian Burlesque Festival 21.5.22

1/3 • What has your experience been like since graduating from the New York School of Burlesque to performing at the Asian Burlesque Festival?

“During the showcase, right up until my first performance of the showcase, I wasn’t super sure if I wanted to keep doing burlesque or if it were something that I would like. Then I got on stage and it was really incredible. It was really incredible to be on stage alone and perform. It was the first time I had done that. I really loved it, I think immediately after the show, I just decided to keep doing that. I did one other show after the showcase and it was pretty small. I don’t think anyone I invited showed up, which is fine. There were around 10 people there, then going to the Asian Burlesque Festival, there were 10-15 people I knew who were there. The audience, probably around 400 people in total, and being on a giant stage. There was a huge difference from changing in the bathroom to this multi-room dressing room that had an ironing board. I feel extremely lucky to have the experience of performing on stage.”


• Topaz Afternoon at City Winery for the Asian Burlesque Festival 21.5.22

3/3 • How did you begin burlesque?

“Well, I had a spinal fusion when I was 14 years old, and I used to be a dancer. I thought I was going to grow up and be a dancer, but when that happened I kind of knew my dancing career was over, or so I thought. And then I went into acting and performance, specifically Shakespearean, and (TYA) Theatre for New Audiences as well. Then, when I came across burlesque and discovered a place for myself, I was like, you don’t have to have a “dancer’s body” to be able to do this. You can have a full spinal fusion and figure it out, and define what is sexy and how to move sexily for yourself. That’s how I came into burlesque.”

• Flower Bomb at City Winery for the Asian Burlesque Festival 21.5.22

2/3 • What are some elements in Korean Burlesque that you’ve incorporated into your performance that you feel maybe you haven’t seen, or you are just happy to bring it here?

“That’s a really good question. I feel like as a performer, especially because I have an acting background, I like to feed off of the audience. My performances in Korea are really tailored to that audience who is more shy, reserved and not as vocal. So a lot of my personality as Flower Bomb has begun with this coy, demure persona that then reveals that they’re more assertive, domming, a surprise, a dangerous fantasy. I like to be that duality. My favorite quote from Shakespeare is “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it.” So I like to bring that to all of my performances. Even though the audience in NY is different and I feed off of them differently, I can play up more the dangerous, seductive side, I do still give them a dose of that delicate flower.”

• Is that Shakespearean quote an inspiration for your name, Flower Bomb?

“Oh! A lot of the things I love involve snakes and flowers, and so I just collect a lot of imagery, quotes and anything like that. So of course, my name had to be Flower Bomb.”

• Flower Bomb at City Winery for the Asian Burlesque Festival 21.5.22

1/3 • You originally perform in Seoul, Korea. How is it traveling to NYC for the Asian Burlesque Festival this year?

“It’s great. I live in Korea, and I’ve lived there for– I’m on my 9th year. It’s been almost a decade, I love it there. But something I would really like is for the burlesque scene is be bigger there, and so that is something that is constantly growing. It’s nice to come here where the burlesque scene is already established. There are superstars and legends here, and it’s just insane. I get giddy, excited, inspired, nervous, all of it!”

• Flower Bomb at City Winery for the Asian Burlesque Festival 21.5.22

Fortune Cookie at City Winery for the Asian Burlesque Festival 21.5.22

Fortune Cookie at City Winery for the Asian Burlesque Festival 21.5.22

2/2 • “Practice, practice, practice! Don’t be afraid to be yourself on stage. Sometimes its really hard where you think you need to be somebody else. You have to be yourself. The audience will really see through it.”

• Is there anything you do aside from burlesque that you feel enhances your performance?

“My rhinestoning has gotten a lot better!”

• Phoenix A’Blaze at City Winery for the Asian Burlesque Festival 21.5.22

1/2 • How did you begin burlesque?

“I was in a terrible relationship and I felt terrible about myself, and so I took some classes and made a lot of great friends. From there I was able to tap into my creativity. I’ve been in love with it, and I’ve been doing it for over 10 years now.”

• What element in burlesque is your favorite if you can choose one?

“The audience. Being able to engage with the audience. My style is very versatile. I can be sexy, I can be comedic, and being able to engage with the audience is the best feeling in the world.”

• Throughout your journey, as you have been performing burlesque for 10 years, what are some tips or advice you can give to new performers?

• Phoenix A’Blaze at City Winery for the Asian Burlesque Festival 21.5.22

Calamity Chang at City Winery for the Asian Burlesque Festival 21.5.22

Calamity Chang at City Winery for the Asian Burlesque Festival 21.5.22

2/2 • Is there anything else other than burlesque that you feel enhances your performance? Do you have any hobbies that you feel contribute to who you are as a performer?
“I come from various art forms including Butoh, which is a Japanese avant-garde dance. It’s very dark and death-inspired. I’m also a Death Doula. So the equivalence I can draw there between sex positivity and death positivity, there are parallel movements that shift our cultural conversations around taboos. So that’s kind of my new trajectory now.”


• Do you have any insight you’d like to share for new performers? 
“New performers? Just be authentic. There is a lot of pressure to create acts that will get booked and stuff, but I think the most impactful acts are the ones where you’re just being true to who you are. To channel the original Neo-Burlesque performer Tigger, where it’s like “Fuck ‘em in the heart.” I still hold that very dear.”

• Minx Arcana at City Winery for the Asian Burlesque Festival 21.5.22

1/2 • How did you get into burlesque?

“I’ve been dancing for most of my life, but I am also a Gender Studies major. When I found burlesque, I was like, this is it! This is the art form. It’s everything I wanted to dance; its political, it’s funny, its so open to however creatively you want to express yourself.”

• What element in burlesque is your favorite?
“I like all of it. I do classic acts as well as really dark and edgy acts. But I love that freedom to, like, go with your mood and message. For this show, we really need a more political message during these times I feel like. So for this particular show, I was able to channel the way I’ve been feeling over the past two years.”

• Your act tonight started off very sensual and sort of surprised us. What was the inspiration behind that?
“It is very much drawing on life experiences of how people see me versus how I want them to see me. A lot of the stereotypes, I mean, some of them are positive, so exotic and beautiful– but it can feel very confining sometimes. So I really wanted to show I’m more than that. I’m proud of my heritage, but I am also an individual. Each of us have a very distinct personality.”

• Minx Arcana at City Winery for the Asian Burlesque Festival 21.5.22