A Map Of My Evolution

We chat with NYC based burlesque performer and photographer Regal Mortis about pandemic life, evolving into the person she is today and do a promo for the upcoming 80s Evolution ImprovBurlesque Battle show 4/9 8 PM EST on zoom. She is "The Girl Who'll Make You Stiff" but she'll also answer "The Spanish Harlem Abuelita". Regal Mortis is a Colombian and Apache Native American who came here for social justice and to shake her ass. Her acts and aesthetic demand fat bipoc goth representation in a counterculture that is overwhelmingly thin and white. Regal Mortis is a photographer and burlesque performer in New York City, she is also founder of Regal Pictures, a body positive/fat positive boudoir photo studio in Brooklyn, NY. She's been contributing her brand of Glitter Gore to burlesque since 2015. Regal was a nominee for the Master of Macabre award at The White Elephant Burlesque Silver Tusk Awards (2018). She is a member of Sister Bear Burlesque, an all plus size troupe based in Philadelphia. Regal has performed throughout the East Coast, including the Great Burlesque Expo Festival in Cambridge, MA (2017). She is also the resident photographer for the bi-national dance company, Danse Theatre Surreality based in Paris & NYC.

On my 44th birthday, I share the map of my evolution. A middle child weirdo from the start, I fell in love with performing at young age. Plagued by self- esteem and body image issues for most of my life, I finally learned to love myself in my mid 30s. Our journey is not linear. Our paths make us different. Every experience is a pin prick in our evolutionary map. My body is healing.

Performing burlesque in the Pittsburgh area (and virtually) since late 2019, we meet Scarlett St. Clair. She also holds a master's in history and is an independent historian, working on a not-yet-published book entitled: "In the Midst of Youth and Beauty: Women in Civil War Arsenals." We chat about the boosted self-esteem that comes from performing and photoshoots, growing up with autism and more.

An artist since the age of 5, Danielle Robinson hopes to encourage conversations with her art. Creating with mediums such as painting and sculpture, her work exudes feminine energy and darkness. We talk about how we evolve, the self-love and acceptance that that comes with age, and much more. Find out more about Danielle and her work at http://www.daniellerobinsonart.com/.

Lakota Shekhar is Owner and CEO of Cleveland, Ohio's Blackwater Cabaret she has been a two time feature in Amazing burlesque and a two time Burlypicks title holder and judge. This published pinup was Ms. February 2019 for Annie Axel's Soap & Salve calendar and a Ohio Pinup two time OH! Girl. Lakota is now a board member of the DisabiliTease Festival. When not performing she's running her online shop Mermaid's End. She is Burlesque's Best Kept Secret!

In story 25, I had the pleasure of catching up with Sam Logsdon, a Pittsburgh based drag and variety performer (aka Hot Toddy), voice actor and podcast host with Happy Ever After Party. We chatted about finding sobriety in the pandemic, body and identity acceptance and much more.

Cherry Pop is a seasoned burlesque performer and pole dancer from Cleveland, Ohio. When she’s not shaking her ass for the world to see, you can find her teaching pole at Cleveland Exotic Dance. Cherry’s mission is to show the world that all bodies and identities are sexy and deserve to show themselves off!

Tonight we chat with Chris aka Rowan Fyre/The Gothic Celt. We chat about believing in yourself, finding your confidence, the pursuit of alternative modeling and burlesque performance while being uniquely yourself.

Kicking off 2021 with our first guest, Jane the Dame. We catch up on the year behind us, look forward to the year ahead, chat about finding your power in your body and much more!

Catching up with Pale Ginger Pear about her 2020 lipedema/lymphedema reduction journey. We discuss her body story, how Pale Ginger Pear came about, and the trials and tribulations of dating while plus size.

Linnea Marie can be described as an enthusiastic advocate for self love and sex-positivity. Throughout the years of working in the medical field and distributing toys through her own website she realized that that was not enough, and decided to become a love teacher and a love dealer. She sought out workshops and certification programs to better assist her clients. She is currently enrolled in the Dr. Rachel Institute for her Certification in Clinical Sexuality Coaching. Through out the years Linnea has tried to empower the masses with knowledge of sex, sexuality, anatomy, respect, consent, and most of all, knowledge of self. She is able to share her knowledge through blogging, classes, and travels. Her ultimate goal is to encourage, educate, and sprinkle sex positive inclusive information everywhere. She has taught one of the most popular seminars, a fellatio workshop at EXXXOTICA which is the biggest love, sex, and relationship convention in the USA. Hosted workshops including Female Orgasm, Fellatio, Sex Toy, and couples workshops up and down the east coast. For more information and bookings check out www.exxxiteme.com.

Maehem Galaxie is one quirky queer cutie! A proud member of the Velvet Hearts! Pittsburgh, they're a nonbinary burlesque and drag performer who's been charming the stages of the 412 since April 2018 and competed in this year's regional Burlypicks! You never know what you're going to get with this sexy space cadet and they're very excited to share their story on Map of My Evolution.

This afternoon Pucks and I discussed finding self-love during the pandemic and much more! Mx. Pucks A'Plenty is the Director of Junk in da Trunk, the Michelle Obama of Burlesque, and Seattle's Own Mxtress of Thiccness! This roguish radical is always ready to ride whether it be behind the scenes or on stage. Spreading their black queer magic where ever they go, Pucks is always in control. Pucks is also the founder and co-producer behind What the Funk?! An All POC Burlesque Festival and is the co-producer behind FIERCE! Queer Performing Arts Festival 2020. This producer is known for their solo Puckduction productions and their co productions such as A Brief Puckduction, 4 Leaf Puckduction and Nocturnal Puckduction.  The Femme Daddy that your mother should have warned you about, Pucks is not only a performer, but a producer, stage manager and themcee for hire with wit and tit to spare. You may have seen them in VHOF (Virtual Burlesque Hall of Fame) this past August. They have performed in several festivals as well including the Buxom Blaze Burlesque Festival, Savannah Burlesque Festival, FIERCE! Queer Performing Arts Festival, Edmonton Burlesque Festival, They/Them Festival, Disabilitease Festival as well as performed in The Body Political in San Francisco and as a guest performer with Bless Your Heart Burlesque in San Diego and Gritty City Sirens of Tacoma. They are also the current Mx. Congeniality of the 2019 Savannah Burlesque Festival. "The They/Them/Yas Queen of Burlesque" is Mx. Pucks A'Plenty and they have #nopucksgiven.   

Luna La Crème is a nonbinary burlesque performer, drag king and all over cosmic cutie! Starting their performer life in dance classes as a kid, musicals in high school, and as a Rocky Horror shadowcaster; Luna found their way to the Steel City Burlesque Academy and became a 2014 graduate of the Academy. Since 2014, Luna has been performing burlesque in Pittsburgh and around the United States including in Denver, Richmond, Rochester, and St. Louis. They are a proud member of Hot Metal Hardware, the Smokin Betties, and is a veteran member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce Players (Pittsburgh's Rocky Horror Shadow Cast). Luna is also multi-award winning, most recently winning the 2020 Pittsburgh Burlypicks Master of Comedy and Lip Sync, as well as the 2018 Pittsburgh Pride Femme Fatale title. Luna is also co-producer and host of Shine, a digital open stage open to give all performers a place to Shine! They are the tantalizing tiny moonlit pearl of Pittsburgh, Luna La Crème!

September is PCOS Awareness Month and I am happy to chat with some amazing guests on A Map of My Evolution podcast about their experience with PCOS and how it relates to their body story. I had the pleasure of meeting our next guest back in 2018. I am excited to speak with them and hear their story tonight on Episode 17 of A Map Of My Evolution podcast. Rawiyah Tariq (they/them) uses ritual, massage, storytelling and performance art as tools to liberate, heal and reclaim space for marginalized community. They believe in cohesive and somatic healing practices that align body, mind and spirit. Currently, Rawiyah is living in the Bay Area while continuing work on their book and A Sovereign Embodiment as well as providing care to Black Queer & Trans therapists via Project Ete Sen with Ella Ofori LMFT and launching a Black centered podcast My Black Body Podcast with Jessica Wilson MSRD. Connect to them on social media via facebook, twitter and instagram or follow them at their blog. You can also catch them as a feature in the film Fattitude and Heavenly Brown Body. https://www.instagram.com/mammyisdead/ @mammyisdead https://mammyisdead.com/ https://www.asovereignembodiment.org/ https://www.projectetesen.org/ https://www.myblackbody.org/

September is PCOS Awareness Month. Our first guest is 30 year old award winning burlesque performer and internationally published pinup model, Eden Ivy. We talk about her PCOS diagnosis at age 19, her journey into the world of burlesque and modeling and how these things have contributed to her body story.

I had the pleasure of meeting my next guest, Hannah Eko in 2017. She is a writer, speaker, educator and performance artist. We discussed the healing power of writing, self-love, and her upcoming book of essays, Honey is the Knife: Compassion, Pleasure and the Dark Feminine Divine.

Shannon, like me, is in her early 40s. In this episode, we talk about her body journey and how she's come to love and appreciate her body .

34 year old CC discusses her journey of navigating self esteem and body image and how doing modeling and zumba have helped her to embrace her body in adulthood.

Black Lives Matter!  I have taken a bit of a break since my last episode, but I am ready to come back and use my platform to amplify some amazing Black voices that I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with over the past few years. Stay tuned!

Body positive, Intersectional feminist blogger and influencer Ari shares her multifaceted body journey and talks about how she uses her platform of plus fashion, beauty, advocacy and growth to inspire women of color.

Morrigana Regina is a Pittsburgh based intersectional body positive feminist drag activist. We talk about body love, drag, creating in the digital age and much more.

Brandi is a mom, a Baker, and an all around lovely person! We discuss body image pre and post motherhood, finding your sexiness, talking to your kids about bullying and much more!

Rose Maywood is a Pittsburgh burlesque performer. We talk about her childhood experiences as a dancer, self-esteem, body image and how her past experiences have impacted her as a burlesque performer.

CW- mention of suicide and self harm. Ashley Ramos is a body positive, sex positive artist living in Pittsburgh. Join us as we discuss body shame/positivity, art, sex work, and so much more.

33 year old Pittsburgh burlesque performer Sass La Fraise talks about body positivity, burlesque and dealing with disordered eating.

Lesa and I met back in 2017 at one of my Empowerment photoshoots. We talk about the journey of learning to love and making peace with our bodies

Jinx is a 50 year old burlesque performer from Pittsburgh. She shares insights on weight loss surgery, self-love and seeing the beauty of others inside and out!

25 year old Abbey shares some insight around chronic illness and unintentional weight loss and navigating those body changes

Our first guest is Georgia Pearl, a 26 year old burlesque performer from Cleveland. She shares how perorming theater and burlesque has helped to propel her body acceptance journey.

A brief introduction to the idea behind doing the podcast during a global pandemic.