VIBF Workshop Series
Registration for our workshop series is now open! Join us on Friday, April 3, and Saturday, April 4 at Passion & Performance Studio (55 W 8 Avenue) for a day of skill-building workshops with some of our incredible festival performers.
Browse this year's offerings and sign-up below.​
friday, april 3
10:00 AM : Roxy Reverie 'Intentionali-TEASE: Creating Acts with Purpose'
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11:00 AM : Halena Lou 'Showgirl Style: Heels for Technique'
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12:00 PM : Joona Bae 'Confessions of a Festival Darling'
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1:00 PM : Kai Rae Khushi 'Telling Stories Through Movement'
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2:00 PM : Cherry OnTop 'Supernova'
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3:00 PM: Luna Yen 'Flashy Floor Tricks'
saturday, april 4
10:00 AM : Numi 'WTF: Work that Face'
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11:00 AM : Coco Rosé 'Coco's Log: Slow Burn'
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12:00 PM : Aza Lia 'Burlesque Costume Design Intensive'
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1:00 PM : Aquarius Moon 'Virgin Vogue'
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2:00 PM : Vena Kahlo 'The Art of Heavylesque'
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3:00 PM: Xochii de la Noche 'Float & Flow: Silk Fans Essentials'
Intentionali-TEASE: Creating Acts with Purpose
Roxy Reverie
This workshop explores how we can make intentional choices in our acts, strengthening our performances through purposeful and consistent decisions in our movement, music, costuming, and more! Through reflection questions, writing prompts, and act analysis activities, you will learn how to build stronger characters, energy, and relationships with your music, costumes, and audience. Bring in an idea you've been mulling over, an act you'd like to improve, or come up with a new idea in the moment—we'll consider how you can make conscious decisions to reach your goals for the performance!
This workshop is open-level and lecture/discussion-based.
WTF: Work that Face
Numi
You’ve got the moves, but wtf is that face doing?
Numi will walk you through the basics of how to best utilize your face on-stage to suit your performance and character choices—including a focus on mouthshapes, lipsyncing, and injecting emotion through your facial expressions.
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Bring the drama, bring the subtly and learn how to drive narrative using your face
Showgirl Style: Heels for Technique
Halena Lou
Here’s the secret to those performers you see with perfect lines, long extended limbs, and photo-ready poses: it’s not something inherent to them, but rather, it comes from training!
In this workshop, Halena Lou will draw on her 20+ years of dance training (including in jazz, ballet, and heels) and her experience dancing in a professional cabaret company to break down key jazz and heels technique for that showgirl look and feel in your burlesque acts. This class is designed for burlesque performers who don’t come from a technical dance background, and will demystify technical terms and give you a foundation of showgirl technique.
This workshop is open level, and will include: body warm up; centre exercises to build strength & stability and work on lines; across-the-floor exercises to integrate technique into movement; and a short combo. Heels optional, though the movements are designed to be done in heels. Expect to work hard but feel good, challenging your inner showpony in a welcoming environment.
Coco's Log: Slow Burn
Coco Rosé
'Slow Burn' comes from the idea that the performance is like a slow-burning fire, building heat and intensity over time. A style that celebrates the beauty of anticipation and the thrill of the tease.
Are you ready to set the stage on fire and have the audience begging for the next reveal?!
Join Coco Rosè where she will teach you:
- Sensual movement and dance
- Gradual reveals of the body
- Teasing gestures and facial expressions
- Building anticipation and tension
- Emphasizing the art of seduction and allure
Confessions of a Festival Darling
Joona Bae
Ever wonder how the same performers keep landing spot after spot on festival lineups? Featured in over THIRTY burlesque festivals all over the world, Joona Bae is here to spill the sparkle secrets on the festival circuit. This 60-minute lecture-style class will dive into what the festival producers are looking for, how to make your acts stand out to the adjudicators, and how to make the most out of a festival appearance. Whether you are a brand new performer looking to break into their first festival or a seasoned performer looking to keep the momentum going, this class will equip you with the tools, tips, and insider know-how to navigate the rhinestone-studded world of burlesque festivals.
Burlesque Costume Design Intensive
Aza Lia
Drawing on a professional background in illustration and animation design, Aza Lia leads a deep dive into visual theory and execution, moving beyond basic pieces to create intentional, high-impact burlesque costumes. This workshop teaches performers to view costuming through an artist's lens, treating reveals as sequential layers and utilizing design principles to engineer garments for the stage. Participants will review basic colour theory applicable to costuming, learn to prioritize silhouette readability, and apply embellishment techniques to emphasise form and movement.
The session includes a hands-on analysis of Aza’s signature burlesque garments and a three-layered sketch exercise using custom design templates you can take home, to move from initial concept to a functional design blueprint.
Telling Stories through Movement
Kai Rae Khushi
This workshop is about embodying your tale, leaving words behind and letting your body become the altar of your truth. This practice is helpful for a performer developing an act, working through internal blockages in solitude or simply moving about daily life. This workshop is one part note-taking & one part exploitative movement. There are no wrong answers in this workshop, simply an invitation to take yourself on a journey.
Please bring with you: something to write with, something to write on, water, clothes to move in. Socks recommended.
Virgin Vogue
Aquarius Moon
This is for all the newbies to the world of ballroom! During this class, you will learn the foundations of vogue femme: hand performance, cat walk, duck walk, spins and dips, and floorwork. This is a social dance that empowers you to freestyle using the various elements of vogue while showcasing your personality. At the end of classwe will do a virgin mock ball where you will get the chance to earn your tens across the board!
Supernova
Cherry OnTop
A movement and choreo-based workshop where we will explore and unleash our inner supernova of power!
With exercises, intention, and a banging soundtrack of course, Cherry will help you access your power centre and learn how to translate your energy to the audience.
Let's dance, shake, shine, and maybe even scream together in 90 minutes of pure fun.
The Art of Heavylesque
Vena Kahlo
Burlesque gives us a platform to share stories. But stories aren't all rhinestones and glitter. In this class we will discuss the art of creating impactful acts with heavy content. Whether that's personal stories, political, or cultural pieces—there is room for everything. We'll discuss intention, therapeutic processing, and artistry whilst creating your acts, and ends with expressive art therapy activities to get started on your journey.
Flashy Floor Tricks
Luna Yen
Get on the floor for some floor choreography with Luna! We are getting ooey, gooey, and adding a dramatic flare. Luna blends her experience as a pole dancer with burlesque in this choreography. This class is designed with multiple variations for all level. Luna looks forward to moving with you!
Float & Flow: Silk Fans Essentials
Xochii de la Noche
'Float & Flow' explores the fundamentals for silk fans through a burlesque lens. We will cover the core foundations of movement with silk fans to polish your onstage presence, along with show-stopping and cheeky tricks to wow your audience!