We sat down with resident Strip Hop instructor, Iva Grande. She's got the gift of the gab with this juicy interview. Settle down, pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy this fascinating read.
How did you first come into the world of burlesque?
I had always been interested in burlesque and have dabbled in some ‘Pussy Cat Doll’ burlesque - even without really knowing what burlesque was. One of my old dance teachers was keen to put together a cute burlesque trio, and we did a couple of corporate gigs but there was zero striptease. It was just sexy dancing in ‘corset singlets,’ and that sort of stuff… but I had always been interested in the idea of it. Unfortunately, due to teaching so many dance classes at night, I never found any classes that I could attend. Until I randomly found Poppy’s “Bump, Grind and Tease” at lunchtime, and my Mum bought me a voucher for Christmas. I did it for fun at first, and a term or so later she told me I should start working on a solo. I was like, “What? Me? Is that something I can do?” I was so oblivious. Because I had been through the whole dance industry, and the audition scene I didn’t ever think I’d be paid to be a solo performer. I didn’t even know it existed.
What would you say is the difference between the “commercial” dance scene and the burlesque scene?
The dance scene is very competitive. Yes, it is also competitive in burlesque but it’s different. In the dance scene you have thousands of dancers going for a couple of jobs. There is not a lot of work in Australia that will pay the bills. You always want to land that big contract. The thirteen-month cruise ship, Universal Studios, or Disney Land – they’re your dream jobs. You’re getting paid some pretty good coin for doing what you love and you’re away for thirteen months. Then the likelihood of landing another contract after that is pretty good. In terms of obtaining other kinds of income in that industry in Australia is really hard. The bar is SO high. There are the overseas contracts mentioned and then the musicals, but to get into any Australian musical it’s prestige. And the only thing in between those is amateur theatre, and commercial dancing like Go-Go dancing in clubs and such. There’s just not a lot of work here. It’s really cut throat too. A lot of people are going for the jobs, and you have to fit a particular mould for these jobs. You can walk in and be an amazing dancer, but if you’re not 5’9” or if you’re not blonde you won’t get the job. Things are improving these days, but they are generally looking for a certain look.
A few years ago, I auditioned for “A Chorus Line” and it was the most amazing audition I had ever done. The whole audition process took place on the stage at “Her Majesty’s Theatre.” I got through the jazz round (it felt like an amazing workshop with the choreographer) which wasn’t a surprise to me because it was one of my strengths… but then I also got through the ballet round, which really surprised me because Ballet is not my strength. At all. But it literally was because I put down that I was a “singer who could dance”, rather than a “dancer who could sing”. The particular role I was auditioning for was a sassy character, and I think that was the only reason why I got through the ballet - I fit that mould. That was it.
Burlesque is so different because you have full creative control of what you put onstage. You get to wear what you want. You get to use whatever music you want. You can make whatever concept you want. You can perform wherever you want, you don’t have to take every gig. You don’t have an agent who has the final say. I remember once I had an agent who was such a hard-ass. She was great at what she did and everything but I remember her asking me once how my audition went. I said “yeah, I think it went pretty well.” And she said, “No an audition is only good when you get the job.”
Damn… That got me so deep in the feels!
This is a controversial question, but do you think having a dance background helps in Burlesque?
I think having a dance background definitely makes you a more polished performer, but I don’t necessarily think that is has to be your forte. You don’t have to get onstage and have amazing lines because you can go onstage and do something really funny, or go on stage with so much presence. You can be captivating, sexy and inviting and just sexily strip your clothes off, and therefore you don’t need to have a dance background. I do however think doing some dance training does help, because you start to walk a little bit better in your heels, your posing is a little nicer, and it improves posture and poise.
And then on the other side there are some really amazing dancers who get on stage and do not know how to perform! Or sometimes they can perform, but they perform for themselves or through the audience, rather than to the audience. You see them just skimming the theatre line where they’re looking above everyone’s head, rather than looking at everyone in the fuckin’ face and saying, “Fuck me up, Bitch.”
Burlesque does break that 4th wall which a lot of commercial dancing and theatre doesn’t. Did that take you a little bit to get used to?
Even before burlesque I had no shame at all. I’d just look people right in the eye when I perform and I really enjoy that reaction. I especially love it when they give you nothing back or when they’re really awkward. I’m a pretty humble person, but I do have to say that performing comes naturally to me. Being on stage gives me… All. Kinds. Of. Balls.
How would you describe your unique style?
This actually comes down to when I chose my name. I didn’t really know a lot about burlesque or had done much research before I started classes and doing solo prep, but I knew from day 1 that I wanted a name that didn’t put me into any particular box. I didn’t want a really classic name or a really neo name; I didn’t want to be stuck to one particular style. I’m a Liberian and I’m very indecisive. I like a bit of everything. I do have token traits, like I do tend to go hard and fast. I’m a vigorous person and in your face. I like to push the boundaries a little bit, but all of my acts are very different. You’ll just find little traits of that ferociousness and sassiness in each act. I also get so much adrenaline when I’m performing. When I come off stage I’m shaking.
How did you decide upon your name?
So yeah, not fit into a box was one of the main thoughts I had while I tried to choose a name. I did want to have something a little bit classic. I wanted a first name that was maybe a little bit European, and a bit vintage. So, I was playing with names like Eva, Ida, even Victoria – any old-world names. And then for the second name I tried to play on things that people might associate with me. I’ve always had a lot of comments about my bum, so I originally thought. “Derriere.” It was initially a pun – Iva Derriere, but then I found someone else with that particular name in the UK when I Facebook searched. So then I thought, let’s leave a bit of mystery. The second name then became Grande, or I used to pronounce it “grand” like the French pronunciation. I wanted it to sound like Iva Grand – I’ve a grand what? But then everyone started to pronounce it Iva Grandé, which just sort of stuck. I quite like the Grandé thing now as it has a “ring” to it. It sounds finished when the MC announces it. Iva Grand doesn’t have that inflection on it to give it that “pow.”
But the amount of people who say Eva?! Like what the fuck? It’s not that hard. ;P
What is your favourite thing about being a burlesque performer?
The absolute top thing is that I love perform. I can’t believe after going through such a rigorous audition scene and being so defeated from so much rejection, I had given up on it and left my agents a long time ago. I just fell into burlesque for fun, so the fact that I get to actually be paid to perform has always been my dream. I absolutely love being onstage. So that’s my favourite thing. Full stop. I talk about this sometimes with other performers with a dance background and it blows my mind - not that everyone can do it because not every dancer can perform. But there are so many dancers in the world and yet they haven’t infiltrated the burlesque scene very much. There are so many dancers in Australia, and a lot of burlesque performers… but there are still very few dancers in burlesque that have been at that level of professional dance. I find that really mind-blowing. That’s why I feel so grateful. I’ve been competing for jobs for a very long time, but it has come to be somewhat easy (not saying it is easy).
Performing is the main thing, but I also love the freedom to do what you want. Anything goes, and it’s so much more inclusive. You don’t have to be a skinny, 5’11” twig. You can have curves and you can be skinny, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what you look like, it doesn’t matter who you are, or how old you are (over 18 obviously). Anything goes and I think that’s what makes the shows so much more exciting as well because there is so much more variety.
What is the funniest/craziest thing that has ever happened to you during a performance?
I feel like crazy shit happens to me all the time because my acts are so vigorous and take up a lot of energy. I push my body to the limits to do a lot - like splits, backbends, acro kind of shit. And a lot of my reveals are quite hard and fast, so shit always goes wrong. Disclaimer: It’s not advised to give yourself 1 count to remove a garment! Hehe… but I think of my funniest experiences was on the Burlesque Showboat. I was doing my Can Can act, and normally I spin round and round and round as I undo the back of my skirt and then it just drops. But when I went to drop it on “the” count it was actually stuck in the back curtain, so I had to climb out of it while it was just hanging in the curtain. I thought it was quite funny. I also fell over once during my can can… that was pretty funny! And not even remotely graceful….
Then there are lots of silly things. I get very out of control when I dance. I let adrenaline get the better of me. I don’t keep it cool onstage. I’ve fallen into peoples’ laps by accident and just had to make it work. I think everyone encounters these but the usuals are when your bra gets stuck on your fishnets, losing headpieces, popping too early etc. But the skirt takes the cake.
You once kicked the ceiling on the boat too, haven’t you?
Oh yes. I’ve kicked the ceiling multiple times, yeah. And I’ve also stabbed it with my scissors before. I forgot about that actually, but it the very first time I did “Teeth.” My ending pose is like a superman stance, and so I raised my hand and then went “fuck”.
So tell us a bit more about your non-performer self? We know you teach kids to dance and have your own dance school, but what else do you do in your day?
I’m a busy lady. Work wise (I’ll talk about my day job in a second) but I literally work 5 days a week (before this Corona Virus), plus teach dance 4 nights a week, dance recreationally 1 night a week, and teach Saturday mornings as well. And then I perform on top of that. It’s pretty frickin’ full on. And I teach, on average, about 15 classes per week, which is quite taxing. It’s a lot to teach and most of those are choreography classes, so it’s a lot of preparation.
My day job, as of this year (I studied it last year), is as a teacher’s aide. I work in a Catholic primary school with children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder and I help support their learning. I absolutely LOVE children and this job. One minute I’m helping a kid with his reading and a few hours later I’m prancing around in a sparkly g-string.
I have a couple of questions to go off that – first off, how would you recommend to keep a balanced lifestyle while being so busy but also being creative?
That’s actually something that I’m struggling with, to be honest, because I give so much of myself to everybody else that I don’t get a lot of time to create for myself. I would like to pull back from my work in some way, I just don’t know how yet because I like having that financial stability. So that creative balance is something I’m still trying to find. I try and schedule myself sometime in the week while I’m already in the studio and add on to my routines a little bit at a time so it doesn’t feel so much pressure. But I haven’t released a new act for over a year. I don’t understand how people can just whip out so many acts. Financially I don’t think it’s viable. I get the inspiration but sometimes I don’t want that for myself, so I’ll give the idea to my students. I’m a real perfectionist. I don’t want to pump out acts that are just acts, they’ve got to have some kind of meaning to me.
How to you go about the school not finding out about your pastime?
Ugh…that’s such a struggle because I just want to scream it from the rooftops. I’m so proud of it. It’s actually a bit shit – I’ve had to tighten up all my social media security. I have a private Iva Instagram account which fucking shit cause it’s not really going to help me network with people. They kinda know I do something – they know I teach adults dancing in Richmond. It’s “hip hop” and “music theatre.” There are actually two people who know that I do burlesque; a teacher I work very closely with and another teacher that I know who is also a dance teacher and we chatted about it at the Christmas party. I trust them and nothing has come back to me since then. In the school’s eyes I do “showgirl” kind of work. Or “cabaret” style.
What do you love to eat?
I love eating Cheds at the moment. I can’t stop eating cheds! I fucking love them. Every time I go shopping, I have to buy two packets at a time because I can eat half the box in one sitting.
I love eating a lot of really healthy food too. I do. I eat a lot of veggies. I love cooking. My life is so busy that I have to be organised when it comes to my food. So I do a lot of meal prep and eat a lot of lean proteins and veggies. And I drink a lot of coffee and a lot of wine. It’s all about balance [giggles].
And you’ve got two gorgeous pets!
Yes, Misha and Ron. Ron Weasley. They’re pretty cute. They’re bit annoying sometimes. But they’re pretty cute. If you’ve ever done my online classes, you’ll no doubt have witnessed a case of their zoomies. I think they’re pretty happy to have me home all the time right now. Now that I’m working full time and never home at all, Misha gets a bit sad. She’s got a bit of separation anxiety being a Staffy… So she’s pretty happy right now – she’s made herself a bed out of pillows on the couch. It’s pretty bad but she doesn’t go out for many walks and she’s been out for 2 walks in the last couple of days so she’s pretty tired today.
What do you like to watch?
I’ve just finished Prison Break from start to finish, which I quite enjoyed. It’s quite old, like 2014 or something. And I love the Handmaid’s Tale. I love Outlander. I love a lot of lighthearted, easy to watch things like Jane the Virgin. That was pretty fun. Just bingeworthy netflix. But if it’s too serious I can’t always get into it. Except for Handmaid’s Tale. Those are my extremes. The Handmaid’s Tale and Jane the Virgin.
What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in developing your burlesque career?
Probably one of my biggest things is that I come across as a really confident person but I’m actually quite insecure. Insecure in a way that I’m very hard on myself. When I watch something back on video, I’ll heavily critique myself. I aim for perfection all the time, which is not always feasible. I care too much about what other people think of me. So I can get really down if I don’t get a particular job, or if one producer in particular doesn’t hire me for a job I immediately assume I’m not good enough, or they don’t like me as a person, or something like that. That’s a pretty common thing that I think.
So that’s a bit of a challenge for me, trying to extend my network to get different kind of gigs as well. I’m really grateful for Poppy and the work she provides for me, but I would love to try some new things.
And making acts. That’s a challenge. Time wise mostly.
Where do you normally get your inspiration for your acts?
Most of the time it’s from the music. I usually find music that moves me and then I base an act around that. “Teeth” is a good example. I loved that song, and played it to Poppy. We started brainstorming ideas and then ended up with this whole bandaged thing. The original “Teeth” concept versus the new version is completely different. The new “Teeth” concept is “plastic surgery gone wrong,” but the originally it was more “mental asylum” themed – breaking free of your bandages. It’s always the music first for me.
Although I have an act at the moment which is a classic striptease style. I’ve been watching a lot of American and Australian performers, and I just want to strut around in a really pretty costume doing a really pretty act. Now I don’t have music for that one yet – it’s one of my half-boiled ideas. That’s just a costume.
A couple of your acts have had a few iterations; can you explain why you continue to expand the idea?
“Teeth” in particular? Or I also have my “Broadway” act. That has 2 different versions. I have the Broadway/Charlie Chaplin/Ragtime version with a bowler hat and tux. It’s quite a classic style. But it also has a sailor version. That act was initially was created for the Showboat. Poppy said, “hey, make a 1920s act,” and I was like “here we go.” And then she asked, “hey, do you think you could make that a sailor act?”, and I was like, “here you go!” So that’s one way of doing it – making it to fit the mould for the job. “Can Can” was also created for the Showboat – something French? Yup, sure, Can Can! And I’ll take my clothes off.
“Teeth” didn’t really have many major development until I submitted it for Miss Burlesque Victoria. And then for Miss Burlesque I wanted to amp it up as people had already seen the act quite a few times. I wanted to make it more theatrical because we had the big stage to play with. I gave myself an endless budget for Miss Burlesque. I asked myself - How can I set the scene up to show that I’m getting plastic surgery? Why do I have the teeth in the first place? I never used to have the mouth piece, only the teeth pasties. So then I tried to figure out why I have those. The song is called teeth and then nothing was happening with the mouth, which didn’t make sense. I started playing off this idea of surgery gone bad, and added an assistant, and a hospital bed to create ways to try and set the scene that I’m recovering in hospital. I added a voice over at the start which explains that my plastic surgery had gone wrong. It’s absolutely ridiculous and I love it! So that’s how that act came about, I wanted it to be more theatrical for Miss Burlesque. I haven’t been able to perform that full version since then because there are not a lot of stages that can fit my prop. I do a different versions now with the same music and concept and I just use a chair. Different versions for different venues. It’s a bit silly and a kinda dark at the same time.
Another act is my “classic” which was also for Miss Burlesque. It just hasn’t been sitting well with me. It’s not 100% my concept, though I’ve been really grateful for the help I’ve had on it and I was really proud when I performed it at Miss Burlesque. But I’ve watched it back and I keep repeating that critique to myself and I know it’s not 100% where I want it to be so that’s in development to create a new act with an existing costume. It’s an amazing costume – it needs to get out and be seen.
Last question: What advice do you have for new and emerging performers?
I don’t know. That’s a really challenging one. What do I normally say to my girls? I guess… do your research. Do something that’s really true to you. Try not to do something that is pushed upon you that doesn’t really show who you are as a person. Try and decide what kind of performer you want to be. I don’t think for me in particular I’m a “one-size-fits-all” performer, but if you want to be a classic performer that’s perfectly fine as well. Make sure you rehearse…in your costume… a lot.
Learn from Iva in her regular Strip Hop & Neo Burlesque classes at Maison Burlesque. Term 3 2020 (starting May 25th) will be going live soon so grab a spot before they sell out!
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