I had the amazing opportunity to write for the video game website, Polygon, for their Video Game Fashion Week. My article is about how the outfits in Deus Ex: Human Revolution drew me to the game and how creating an act based on Eliza Cassan gave me great appreciation for the character and the overall themes of Deus Ex (I did play it predecessor in college but didn't consider myself a fan until after developing my act). Click here to read the article.
Thank you Polygon for allowing me to share both my writing and my burlesque and Allan Hayslip for providing performance photos like the one below.
I was incredibly shocked and saddened to hear about singer CoCo Lee's passing. You might know her for "A Love Before Time", the theme to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She became the first Chinese-American performer at the Oscars. She was also the first Chinese singer to have a Billboard hit in the U.S. although her success was mostly in dance music and not mainstream even though she sang in English (in addition to Mandarin and Cantonese). CoCo provided the Mandarin language voice for Mulan and sang Mandarin and English versions of "Reflection".
I used the latter for my "Original Kaylee" act because CoCo could have been the main singer of "Reflection", but Disney went instead with a non-Asian singer (I am glad Lea Salonga sang the movie version but she also was passed up for the single). If you haven't read my previous post about "Original Kaylee", I created the act for Evil League of Ecdysiast's Wronged by Whedon show. I wanted to address the fact that despite being set in a future where American and Chinese cultures are prevalent to where people speak Mandarin phrases, Firefly had zero Asian actors in the main cast. Even worse, Kaylee Frye was intended to be Asian before Joss Whedon decided to cast Jewel Staite. As someone who loved Firefly, I created the act to reclaim the role and address the issue of cultural appropriation that remains present in burlesque and other art forms.
CoCo Lee was the first Asian pop star I encountered. Before her, I knew Lea Salonga sang some Disney songs and James Iha was part of Smashing Pumpkins, which I wasn't a fan of until later in my teens. That was all the representation I saw as a pop-obsessed preteen so discovering not only CoCo but a whole industry of musical artists who looked like me was life-changing. I'm glad Asian pop music is finally getting recognized by mainstream American audiences and that we are seeing more Asian-American stars. CoCo helped break down some of those barriers, and I'm forever grateful.
I'm sharing a video of my performance in Spicy Hotpot Arts' all-AANHPI (Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander) showcase, Slaysian Fusion. There are actually many AANHPI burlesque and variety performers. My showcase, Forbidden City of the South, showed how many are in Texas, but we still get left out of the conversation on representation and diversity sometimes. I was super appreciative that Flux Inqueerior opened their production to performers from all over so I decided to apply and travel out to Georgia when I was cast. The show was an affirming experience, and I hope producers, publications (looking at you Retro Lovely), and fans continue to see the importance of representation.
Thanks to Di' Lovely's work in acknowledging AANHPI achievements in burlesque, I made it into the Burlesque Hall of Fame!
I just want to end by acknowledging CoCo's battle with mental health because it isn't something that gets talked a lot about in Chinese culture. Add to that the pressures of maintaining a positive image as a celebrity, and it can be overwhelming. It's something I've struggled with too. If you're having a hard time, know that there are places to find help. Reaching out is hard, but there are people who will listen and want you around.
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