MICHELLE KASEY ‘MY HAIR CAUGHT FIRE!’

The burlesque artist stars in The Velvet Lounge, part of the Auckland Live Cabaret Festival, opening 24 June

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How does it feel wearing very little on stage?

Entirely normal now. It wasn’t always. Like most people, I grew up understanding my body as something private, to be kept covered and contained. But I’ve been a cabaret performer for 15 years and a naked body has become so ordinary to me that I barely remember what it felt like to be shy about one. When I’m on stage wearing very little, that’s genuinely the last thing on my mind. What I’m thinking about is the story I want to tell and connecting with the audience. That’s where the vulnerability lives – not in the body, but the art.

How did you get into burlesque?