DIRECTOR OF GUEST EXPERIENCE & VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR; BOARD MEMBER AT LARGE

Bianca Boom Boom (they/she) is The Curvy, Campy, Queer and Vampy Burlesque Bombshell, Cabaret Chanteuse and Plump Pinup.  

This award-winning artist has been teasing and teaching for over a decade and has dazzled crowds across the cosmos with their signature sing n’ fling performances and their high-glamour, high-energy acts. In addition to her onstage escapades, she has been featured in film, print and radio and holds a diploma in Music Theatre Performance.

Their ample list of accolades include appearing as a feature performer at the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival, acting as a burlesque consultant and historian for The Shaw Festival, guest teaching at the University of Toronto and being showcased at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender in Las Vegas. 

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS; BOARD VICE CHAIR

Having earned her Fashion Degree from TMU (formerly Ryerson University), Brook Alviano unearthed her genuine passion in the realm of burlesque, where bodies of every shape and size step into the limelight. There, she realized that burlesque costuming serves as an authentic canvas for unleashing pure creativity.

Brook’s burlesque costumes have travelled the globe, from all over North America to European festivals, and appearing numerous times on the prestigious BHOF stage in Las Vegas. Brook's costumes have appeared on numerous National and International TV shows such as Canada’s Got Talent, Call Me Mother and Drag Heals. Brook’s costuming and textile arts were also featured in Coco Framboise’s installation “Hair Loom” at the AGO January 2020.

In 2010, the Toronto Burlesque Festival invited her to live-Tweet the weekend of shows, and she has remained an indispensable asset to TBF ever since. As TBF undergoes a renaissance, Brook's primary objective revolves around elevating the burlesque scene with honour, authenticity, and financial success.

DIRECTOR OF EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES; BOARD MEMBER AT LARGE

Drawing her name from her Portuguese heritage, Forçais a woman on fire. Dubbed Toronto’s “force of nature,” her acts are as changing and unpredictable as the elements. Força’s signature high-energy choreography, enigmatic facial expressions, dynamic audience interaction, comedic timing, and powerful stage presence bring both classic decadence and neo-burlesque fantasies to life to create an experience that is evocative in every sense.

Força has graced some of the largest burlesque stages worldwide, including throughout Canada, the US and Germany. Fresh out the gate, Força won the crown at the Edmonton Burlesque Festival’s “Bunny” competition for upcoming performers. By 2019, she was invited to perform in the "Best Debut" category at the Burlesque Hall of Fame! A trained actor, director, and designer, she is an award-winning performer who is sure to leave your heart racing.

But Força’s investment in burlesque extends far past just her talents on stage. She holds a Ph.D. focusing on feminist community-based knowledge production in neo-burlesque. Her research has been featured in the Canadian Theatre Review and at conferences across North America. Força has taught burlesque in both studio and academic courses at the University of Toronto and the University of Toronto Scarborough, and has conducted workshops in Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax.

Core to Força’s teaching and research mandate is the importance of making research on burlesque accessible to the burlesque community. In 2020, she organized “Spectacular Striptease,” a panel with four of the Legends of burlesque, a free panel that both community members and interested researchers could attend. In 2021, she co-produced “Love Letters to the Legends” at VHOF, a showcase that tributed the Legends of burlesque. Força currently serves on the Burlycon University Advisory Committee, helping the largest congregation of burlesque instructors and students worldwide design their multi-part course curricula. She is excited to be putting her research into action with the TBF team!

FESTIVAL DIRECTOR & BOARD CHAIR

Ivory is a Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist. A graduate of Randolph College for the Performing Arts she leads a storied career as a singer, actor, dancer, model, and body-positive and disability advocate. An archer, axe thrower and firebreather, Ivory boasts a bag of tricks which is sure to wow any crowd!

Ivory has graced stages across North America, the UK and the Caribbean, appeared in print media such as the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, Globe & Mail and National Post, as well as appearing on numerous National and International TV Networks. A staunch believer in body positivity, Ivory spreads the "body love gospel" through her myriad art forms. Since being crowned Miss Canada Plus 2007, Ivory has continued her activism as a Plus Sized Entertainer and advocate for over 16 years, pushing for change with her intersectional feminism, body positivity, queer advocacy and outspoken message of love at all costs. 2016 marked the year that Ivory triumphantly returned to burlesque, after dabbling in it during college from 2003-2006. Her renewed passion for this art has found her bumping and grinding her way across the stage, calling on her singing, acting and dance background to create eye popping, jaw dropping acts that contain heart, soul and an incredible message of body positivity and self love.

She has performed at numerous burlesque festivals, venues and productions across Canada, the United States and the UK, headlining the Midwest Nerdlesque Festival, appearing as a Feature Performer for the Toronto Burlesque Festival, the Capital Burlesque Expo, FIERCE! International Queer Performance Festival and the Calgary Burlesque Festival.

Ever the multitasker, Ivory brings 20+ years of administrative knowledge to her role with the Toronto Burlesque Festival, as an experienced Director, Executive and Creative Mind. She envisions a festival which cultivates, supports and celebrates Burlesque as an art form, and seeks to bridge the gap between Burlesque as a Cabaret Art and Burlesque as a Fine Art form.

A founding member of the Succulent Six, Canada's team of Curvy Super SHEroes fighting to reclaim their right to feel empowered at any size (check out their TV show on CBC GEM and on YOUTUBE) and a proud member of Les Femmes Fatales, Canada's premiere burlesque troupe for Women of Colour.

DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH & ACCESSIBILITY; BOARD SECRETARY

Loretta Jean is the The Acadame with Game holds a PhD fro the University of Toronto's Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies. Their dissertation is an oral history and ethnographic study of nerdlesque.

Loretta brings creativity, cleverness, and a powerful, magnetic stage presence to everything she does. She has taught and lectured on burlesque history both at her university and invited talks.

She is a founding member and producer with Nerd Girl Burlesque, established in 2012. Over the last decade, she has produced over 150 revue shows. and five digital cabarets. In 2023, they co-produced the play Hermaphroditus with Dead Name Theatre.

Their work has been profiled in the Toronto Star, Penthouse Magazine, and by U of T Magazine.
Select performance credits include The Nerdlesque Festival (New York), PrideTO, Red Rum's Satanic Panic (Chicago), and the Southwest Burlesque Showcase (New Mexico).

A neurodivergent and disabled nerd of all trades, LJ also manages our website.

BOARD MEMBER AT LARGE

Madame Ode’Miin Surprise is the mother of Babes, an auntie, artist, and educator. 

Madame Ode’Miin Surprise founded IndigiBabes Burlesque collective with a goal to celebrate Indigenous Bodies, reclaim sexuality and sensuality that is rooted in Indigenous ways of Knowing and being. As well as creating spaces to celebrate and showcase Indigenous, brilliance, joy and success. IndigiBabes Burlesque was founded on the belief that everyone is sacred and sexy. Madame Ode’Minn Surprise along with the IndigiBabes focused on changing the narrative of Indigenous Women and 2 Spirit People. IndigiBabes Burlesque took Toronto by storm and were the featured troupe at TBF 2024.

Madame Ode’Miin Surprise and the IndigiBabes Burlesque have taken the stage at  the Nogojiwanong Indigenous Fringe Festival, Toronto Indigenous Arts Festival, Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival,  2 Spirit Cabaret, Pride Toronto and the 34th and 35th annual Weesageechak Begins to Dance. 

She is her ancestors' wildest dreams and will soon be yours!

CREATIVE DIRECTOR & OPERATIONS MANAGER; BOARD TREASURER

Zilly Lilly is a multidisciplinary artist with a focus on blending performance and creative arts techniques. Majoring in Dance she graduated from the Claude Watson School for the Arts and then attended Concordia University to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance. Through her education she developed skills in different disciplines and practices adjacent to performance.

With a strong background in dance and choreography, Zilly Lilly was set on creating a different path forward, one that would allow all of her techniques to be utilized. Through burlesque her costume design, special effects makeup, wig sculpting, audio mixing, video editing and prop building were showcased in a way that created a distinctive burlesque style.

She has attended and been invited to showcases and festivals from Yellowknife to New Orleans. To name a few, Zilly Lilly performed at the first ever Nerdlesque Festival in New York City, The Bagel Burlesque Festival in Montreal, Alternatease in Boston and performed at the ‘Movers and Shakers’ showcase at the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.

Zilly Lilly is the Creative Director and Co-Producer of PeepshowTO, Toronto's longest and largest Nerdlesque show. PeepshowTO boats frequently sold out shows based on parodies of different pop culture genres. With a mission to create space for performers to develop diverse acts that are often based on comedy. PeepshowTO is a wildly hilarious and entertaining show that has frequented the Toronto performance space for over 10 years.