Today we’d like to introduce you to Ariel Allegro.
Ariel, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’m a rare Atlanta native, born and raised here. Art has been a passion of mine since childhood, and I began working in the arts professionally (photography) in 2001. In 2006, I graduated from Georgia State University with a BFA in photography. While photography has been a lifelong pursuit, it didn’t provide me with the creative artistic fulfillment I craved. In 2013, I discovered Atlanta’s burlesque scene, and I knew: “THIS! This is what I want to do!”
I started taking classes at The Atlanta School of Burlesque (now a part of Metropolitan Studios, owned and operated by Ursula Undress, Roula Roulette, and Talloolah Love) in early 2014 and debuted as a performer that September. Since then, I’ve performed in festivals, pageants, and conventions all over the South, from North Carolina to New Orleans.
Nerdlesque (burlesque acts based on pop-culture and geek-culture source material) has really been where I’ve found my stride as a life-long geek who found her way into performance art. This specific genre of burlesque allows me to build upon established characters and backstories in order to tell my own truth in a more easily relatable way. Honestly, the majority of what I put on stage (whether as a performer or producer) has its roots in nerdlesque.
In late 2017, I made the scary decision to leave the troupe I had been a part of for pretty much my entire burlesque life and strike out as an independent performer and producer. I produced my first show in March 2018 (Pi Day), and in August of 2018, I competed for – and won! – My first title: Royal “High”ness of the Asheville Burlesque Pageant.
I have been super blessed with all the amazing opportunities that have come my way, all the wonderful and talented people I have met and learned from, and all the incredible experiences I have had along the way. I definitely want to issue a shout-out to Sadie Hawkins and Shellie Schmals, who inspire me as a person and producer. I also want to acknowledge (in no particular order) Sin Tillating, Tesla Goyle, Katherine Lashe, Candi LeCoeur, Dee Flowered, Diego Wolf, Royal Tee, Fritz Krieg, Coco Rosé, Evangeline Laveau, Oodles of Troodles, Edie Bellini, Flux Inquerior, Johnny Pine – and so many others! – who have encouraged and supported me, counseled and advised me, been my confidantes, held me accountable to my own moral code, and helped keep me sane and on the track to be the kind of person and performer that I strive to be. Mostly, I want to thank my partner Kevin for being my rock and my biggest cheerleader through all of the pursuits of my adult life.
Has it been a smooth road?
A life in the arts is a rough road by nature, and, well, I chose to pursue art both as vocation and avocation!
Financially, it’s hard. Art is expensive! Materials, education, spaces to practice/produce/perform/display are expensive, not to mention the intangible costs of blood, sweat, and tears…and then there’s the intangible price of life experience that goes into inspiring and fueling the creation of art in the first place. Convincing customers and consumers of the value of art is a never-ending struggle.
Since I started producing burlesque shows, I think the biggest struggles I’ve had are 1) access to affordable, medium-capacity venues that allow me to give performers worthwhile payouts (something of which Atlanta has a serious shortage) and 2) getting visibility for upcoming events and connecting with potential audiences, especially with Facebook continually increasing restrictions and censorship.
As I am a socially-awkward empath, navigating interpersonal dynamics has always been exhausting, but I’m constantly learning and growing and trying to be the best me that I can be and the best me that my friends and fellow performers deserve.
My biggest struggle is time. There’s never enough. I constantly have new ideas, acts, and shows demanding to be brought to life, costumes to be made and logistically designed, marketing campaigns to formulate, shows and festivals to apply to. It is often hard to balance with a “muggle” life of marriage, parenthood, work (photography industry), and making time for all my friends and family that they deserve.
Balance. That’s the best way, to sum up, obstacles and challenges of probably every aspect of my life. The constant struggle for balance. And I definitely fail a lot, but I keep learning and growing and trying to do better.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am a professional photographer and burlesque performer. I have worked professionally in the photo industry for 18 years and developed a reputation in Atlanta for my retouching skills and, more recently, knowledge of eclipse photography. I have production artist credit on three pieces now hanging in the Papal Museum I Rome. Currently, I am working on a large-scale 43-image composite of the 2017 eclipse destined for the Vatican and Smithsonian Museums. I am also collaborating on a book chronicling the process of photographing solar eclipses.
I pretty much shoot anything people want pictures of, and I have a passion for preservation and restoration. It brings me a lot of joy capturing and preserving people’s personal stories.
As a burlesque performer, I’ve been performing for almost five years now and have had the opportunity to perform for festivals and conventions across the Southern US. My proudest achievement was winning my Asheville Burlesque Pageant title.
As mentioned, I started producing burlesque shows a little over a year ago. My first two shows hit capacity, which is insane for a brand-new producer! I’m super proud of that achievement, and I’ve already sold out two shows this year! Not only that, I’ve been enormously blessed to cast amazing-caliber performers from across the Southeast. It’s mind-blowing all told.
This year, my goal is to use burlesque to give back to the community by incorporating a charitable aspect to each show I produce. In January, we did a blanket drive with a blanket fort/bucket list theme, and I was able to deliver something like 50+ blankets to Lost ‘n Found Youth and PAWS Atlanta. In May, I am producing a prom-themed show which will also include a formalwear drive and fundraiser to help underprivileged teens have access to their high school proms/homecomings/etc.
I’m also working on a workshop curriculum designed to empower other burlesque performers with a deeper practical understanding of digital image handling and processing (including the basics of image resolution requirements, which a lot of producers and festivals are specific about in their application process). It doesn’t sound all that exciting, but photography is the lifeblood of burlesque marketing and foundation of building a social media following. I want to equip other performers with the basic knowledge I was already lucky enough to possess when I started in burlesque.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Atlanta is a weird city in that, unlike pretty much every other major metropolitan center, we don’t have any natural boundaries. As a result, our city has sprawled and spread out over the decades, making everything super spread out. Other cities have the benefit of compact city centers and foot traffic and venues that are accessible to foot traffic. We don’t have much of that, and it makes it harder to attract potential audiences. Furthermore, the lack of medium-capacity, affordable venues is a huge challenge for the burlesque industry. As Atlanta grows and blooms and booms, small neighborhood venues give way to high-rise complexes…or get run off by new development…or get priced out by the ever-increasing price of real estate.
I know a lot of what is attractive about Atlanta is our local arts and art communities. But at the rate, this city is growing and with the increasing prices of rent and real estate, that rich artistic culture gets priced out and pushed away. Our city could really benefit from having more (and more affordable!) venues that are accessible (and friendly!) to the arts. And not only that, we need venues with pricing that makes it possible for artists to put on their show and actually walk away with reasonable compensation for said art.
As far as starting out a burlesque career in Atlanta, I did it, and I’ve had a pretty awesome journey. I don’t know any different. And we have a lot of resources available to aspiring performers, like The Atlanta School of Burlesque and monthly “Tease Tuesday” open to performers of all (or no!) experience. We have a ton of different kinds of producers and production companies, troupes, and collectives, so there are a lot of different avenues to get involved and find your groove. But I know not all transplants to the Atlanta scene have experienced a smooth transition from their home city. So I think more public visibility for the industry would definitely help. Also, the more our local performers perform in other cities and participate in festivals around the country, the more connections we make, and the more nationally integrated Atlanta’s burlesque scene becomes.
Contact Info:
- Website: arielallegro.com
- Email: arielallegroatl@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ariel_allegro/
- Facebook: facebook.com/arielallegro
Image Credit:
Kevin Kurz, Kevin F. Quinn, Bill Wooten, Charles Bailey, Starrlight Images, Indulge Images, David Leo / Leo Photography, Lee Lee Photography, SoaringOak Photography, J Merritt Photography
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