For Anita Tension, Burlesque Is a Place to Test the Limits of Beauty and Belonging
Anita Tension is a New England performance artist, costume designer and educator whose work brings together burlesque, drag, pop spectacle and the technical problem-solving of garment construction.
Onstage, she creates heightened worlds filled with exaggerated silhouettes, unexpected materials and elaborate reveals, using the pleasure and theatricality of burlesque to explore beauty standards, gender expression and the freedom of becoming more fully visible.
She calls her approach feral burlesque, a phrase that captures the wildness of her performances and the permission at the center of them. It is a way of bringing power, sensuality, humor and strangeness to the stage without forcing those qualities into a single acceptable form.
“For me, feral burlesque is unapologetic,” she recently told Hyvemind. “It is the freedom to bring your power to the stage, no matter what that looks like.”
Anita often begins an act with a costume idea, an unusual material or a technical mechanism she wants to test, then allows the character, music and choreography to develop through the process of building it. She describes costuming as her “skin” and “armour” onstage, the physical structure that allows her to inhabit the fantasy and guide an audience through it, even as each layer is gradually removed.
In her signature act, “Beauty School Creep,” she wears a costume constructed almost entirely from red-colored hair and transforms a familiar symbol of femininity and beauty culture into something glamorous, unsettling and unruly. The act won Boston’s Lucky 13 Competition and was later selected from 565 submissions for the Dutch Burlesque Festival in Utrecht, the Netherlands, where Anita will perform this fall.
The performance distills many of the themes that run through Anita’s work, including the instability of beauty standards, the theatrical construction of gender and the power that can emerge when a performer turns self-presentation into an act of invention. Her work is sensual and playful, while each act also invites the audience to reconsider what they have been taught to recognize as desirable, polished or acceptable and to imagine more expansive forms of embodiment.
Anita told Hyvemind that she first encountered many of those possibilities within queer nightlife, where identity was something people could experiment with openly and creativity became a shared language of recognition, freedom and belonging. The drag sensibility, pop references and larger-than-life characters that animate her performances grew from those spaces, along with her belief that queer art can help people hold onto joy, possibility and one another during moments shaped by fear and isolation.
“The world needs queer, subversive, unapologetic art,” she says. “We must not let fear stop us from celebrating who we are.”
That belief is also guiding Anita’s work beyond the stage through teaching and the development of the Design Lab, an educational project intended to offer costume tutorials, workshops and community for performers and makers.
She also imagines the Design Lab as a digital third space where artists can exchange techniques, resources and ideas outside the pressures of social media. That spirit of exchange is already shaping her design work, particularly as her quick-release costume pieces have attracted interest from people seeking more accessible garments. Conversations about mobility and ease of use have led her to consider how clothing designed for theatrical reveals might also respond to a wider range of bodies and everyday needs.
For Anita, these connections are part of the work itself. A performance can open a conversation, a conversation can inspire a garment and a shared technique can widen another artist’s sense of what is possible. The persona of Anita Tension operates in much the same way, as an art project, an amplified self and an evolving space for boldness, collaboration and experimentation.
“Anita is not separate from me,” she says, “just an expansion of who I already am.”
Hyvemind spoke with Anita Tension about We share our full conversation with Anita below, where she reflects more on feral burlesque, costume engineering, queer creative freedom, accessible design and the work of building artistic spaces where people can experiment together.
With
Anita Tension
A conversation about queer creative freedom and the work of building artistic spaces where people can experiment together.
Hi, Anita. Welcome! Introduce yourself and let us know a little bit about who you are and what you create as an artist and performer
I am Anita Tension. I am a performance artist, costume designer, and educator living in New England (USA). I specialize in burlesque but also perform draglesque and work as a go-go performer.
My love is costume design and developing stage-worthy garments that are transformative and unexpected. As I deepen my artistic practice, I have developed workshop curricula to share my knowledge and skills. I am a strong believer that together we are stronger and that we can help each other succeed.
How long have you been creating? How did you arrive at this stage of your artistic career?
KI am a lifelong creative. My mom is a talented fiber artist and educator, and my dad is an incredibly resourceful innovator. Growing up, my parents encouraged me to explore different artistic mediums and to think out of the box when problem-solving. In grade school, I participated in a wide variety of extracurricular activities (show choir, volunteering, travel, musicals, horseback riding, language studies…). I always loved having varied outlets for my energy and interests.
While attending university, I worked at the school's arts and crafts center. I learned how to make and teach the art forms offered. I was particularly drawn to silversmithing, silk-screening, leather craft, and sewing. It was during this time that I deepened my love of performance art, pop culture, and dance. For the first time, I started exploring the world of wigs and the ways they allowed me to express myself. I enjoyed recreating daring looks of pop stars, like Lady Gaga, and seeing the reactions people had to my designs.
In my adult life, I quickly developed a love of queer nightlife and pop culture. Being surrounded by people dancing, enveloped in pulsing, loud music, excited me and helped me find community. Inspired by fashion, drag culture, and celebrity stardom, I always admired the performers but did not feel called to the stage until a few years ago.
In early 2025, I applied for RhodyQ's biannual Burlesque Mentorship Program in Rhode Island (USA). Approximately a dozen participants were selected to take part in the six-week program. One of the co-founders, Lopez La Lopez, was my mentor. Working together, we developed my first act, "The Wizard," which I debuted in April 2025 at the monthly RhodyQ Burlesque Open Stage Show at AS220 in Providence.
My performance and costume-making work snowballed quickly. By mid-summer 2025, I was trying to perform as often as possible while spending dozens of hours a week designing costumes and countless administrative hours developing my social media presence, website, and applying for shows.
Diving headfirst into the world of creatives and feeling supported by my friends and family gave me the confidence to try big things and explore new ideas. One of my artistic collaborators, Brandon Ward, and I traveled to Provincetown, MA, in the summer of 2025. We gained so much inspiration by being immersed in a world of play, creativity, confidence, and freedom of self-expression. I have been motivated to bottle that energy up and bring it to every stage that I perform on.
For the past year, I have approached my art with the discipline of a start-up CEO, thinking strategically and working thousands of hours to craft and build my brand. At the same time, I can follow my bliss and inspiration as an artist, keeping the sparkle alive. One of my guiding principles as a performer is that I will apply for anything that I am interested in, and I will not talk myself out of an opportunity. If I am not accepted, rejection is a much better outcome than missing out on an opportunity… because after all, I am here for your attention, not your approval ;)
Why you call your style of performance “feral burlesque”?
For me, feral burlesque is unapologetic. It is the freedom to bring your power to the stage, no matter what that looks like. It is a "no-wrong-answers" approach to burlesque while honoring the spirit of tease and reveals. In my particular flavor, I want to bring the audience something wild, surprising, and glamorous. I draw heavily on drag and pop-culture influences to design my acts and do the unexpected.
The acts I feel most connected to serve as a subtle invitation to a deeper conversation. I love to explore the themes of gender expression and beauty standards in my work. When developing an act, I always want to balance sensuality and attraction with elements that challenge the audience's expectations.
By performing my ideas in a playful, often cheeky way, my goal is for the viewer to access their own self-discovery, possibly exploring their own relationship to my art in ways that can expand their view of the world and themselves.
Before you were a performer, what influences did you have as a creative? How do you see those show up now that you are a performer and a costume designer?
Music has always been a great source of inspiration for me. Ever since I was little, I have loved pop music. The first album that I ever purchased was "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!" by the Eurodance group Vengaboys. My cousins, friends, and I spent countless hours meticulously choreographing dance routines to Britney Spears and the Spice Girls. We delighted in the fantasy of becoming other characters and taking on these larger-than-life roles!
I gravitate toward artists who have a raw sensibility and approach to their art. They are authentic, larger than life, fully embodied, and evoke passion through their work. In the pop world, Peaches Nisker, Charli XCX, Lady Gaga, and Chappell Roan are among my top inspirations.
Watching each of them navigate celebrity while continuing to make art has been informative and fascinating. As I build Anita's world, I have more and more respect for anyone who is moving through the world with any level of fame or recognition.
In the world of burlesque, Frankie Fictitious, Yikes Macaroni, Sherman, and Cheerful the Clown each blew my world open. In different ways, each of these performers brings incredible stage presence and thoughtful, delightfully creative characters to the stage.
Within each act, these performers create an entire world, and they invite the audience to step inside and explore. I am deeply inspired by the attention to detail and the energy it takes to manufacture a fantasy and deliver it to the audience.
I would be remiss not to say that I am deeply inspired by entrepreneurs and the can-do attitude of ruthlessly believing in yourself and continuing to pursue your goals.
Can you talk about your creation process for a costume or new character for a performance? (What comes first: the outfit, the music, the vibe …. Or, just, what's it like for you, in your head?)
Most often, my creative process starts with the costuming. Costuming is more than a garment to me; it is my skin and my armour on stage. Even when I have stripped down and am nearly naked, my power starts from the energy and the world that I create through my costuming.
Before I get to the stage, I love to start by thinking of a structural concept, material, or costuming element that I want to explore. Very quickly, the other elements of the act start to materialize. During the time that it takes to fabricate a costume, I have plenty of space to think about the character, the energy, the story, the music, and the big moments in the act.
I rarely go into a costume project knowing exactly how it will turn out. Instead, I let the needs of the act dictate the final design. I love that my process is fluid and can adapt to new inspiration and discoveries along the way.
Once I know the vibe, theme, or fantasy world that I want to create, I will explore musical options. This often involves listening to songs that resonate with me or investigating music within a specific theme. Once I find or edit the music into a rough draft, I will listen to it repeatedly ad nauseam. By doing so, I can identify the pacing and start to play out the choreo.
It all comes together once the costume is done, the music is chosen, and the choreo is mapped out. I hate to admit that dress rehearsals are my least favorite part of the process. I find the exercise of getting undressed and redressed a dozen times in a row to be a nightmare. To address this frustration, I will often practice one to two reveals at a time to make rehearsing more efficient.
My acts are often evolving. Not as a compulsion, but because my dreams for each act develop over time. Costume pieces can be improved. Choreo can be developed. It is so much fun to find new inspiration and try things out. As a lifelong perfectionist, my creative work has been an antidote to the idea that anything needs to be final or that perfection is even attainable.
While I always bring my finest work to any stage that I am performing on, I remind myself that live art is ephemeral, and trying new things and challenging myself is part of the fun creative process.
Can you tell us more about the festival in the Netherlands you'll be performing at this November? Tell us about the act that was selected!
Yes! I was selected to perform in Utrecht, Netherlands, at the Dutch Burlesque Festival (running November 27, 28 & 29). The festival is in its fifth year and is produced by Violet Moonshine & Zizi Zinnona. This year, there were 565 acts submitted, and 36 were selected to participate in the festival. During my time in Europe this fall, I am planning to have tour dates in London and Berlin!
My act "Beauty School Creep" was selected for the festival. Nearly all of the costuming for this act is made from my signature red-colored hair! I created the original version of this act in September 2025, and it has evolved since then. While I have made various changes to the costuming since the act's debut, the biggest update was inspired by my participation in Boston's Lucky 13 Competition in January 2026. The producers, Dixie Douya and Hazel Hellcat, offered mentorship as part of their show. During one of our calls, they suggested that I add an intro using the song "Beauty School Dropout" from the musical Grease.
Even though I was nervous to try something new, I am glad that I did. The updated version of this act won me the competition! I love iterating on an act and continuing to find new layers and depth. The new version of this act is my favorite of all time.
I feel completely embodied in this act because it perfectly encapsulates my artistic energy. I love to surprise the audience, challenge beauty standards, embody an unapologetic attitude on stage, and present as powerful and playful. This act has it all!
You'll also be teaching a workshop at BurlyCon. What is BurlyCon, what is your workshop about and why is the topic important to you personally
As part of my West Coast tour this fall, I will be teaching at BurlyCon in Seattle, WA. BurlyCon is a renowned educational burlesque conference held the first weekend in November. This year, it runs from 11/5–11/8. I am delighted to share that I was selected to teach two workshops! The first is about staying organized as a performer, and the second is about creative idea development.
In both workshops, I focus less on the idea of right and wrong practices and more on finding systems that work for you as an individual. Through facilitated conversation, attendees can explore their own approaches and learn from one another. There is truly no one-size-fits-all answer; success comes from finding solutions that are adaptable and sustainable.
These topics are important to me because I am so fond of the work that performers and creatives do. In my own work, I have found that my success has relied on organization and harnessing my creative energy. I am excited to teach about these fundamental topics and to continue learning from others.
Can you tell us about your
plans to launch Design Lab?
The Design Lab is one of my newest endeavors! The Design Lab, while still in progress, is intended to be a space where creatives of all skill levels can access more in-depth tutorials and workshops, with payment options offered with accessibility in mind.
For the past three years, I have volunteered at a local entrepreneurial hub as an advisor. I went through their programming three years ago with my first business. All of the ventures that participate in the program incorporate a model of positive social good into their business plans. For my first business, I developed a subsidized program where members of the community could access services at a discounted rate.
When thinking about the Design Lab and my values as a performer and creative, I knew that it would be vital to offer workshops in a manner that is accessible to people with varied economic resources. While I am still developing the details, workshops will be made available through either a subsidized program or a sliding-scale model. I firmly believe that everyone should have access and should be included in the conversation.
As my costume design and engineering work has gained popularity with my audience, I am curious about cultivating community in person and on the internet outside of social media platforms. I am hoping that this digital third space might naturally develop into a place where performers, creatives, and like-minded makers can connect with one another and share ideas and resources.
What feels important to you right now, as an artist and as a community member?
As a community, it feels really important to me that we continue to connect and create. We must remember to be gentle with one another and with ourselves. In a world that rewards toughness and raw individualism, leaning on one another and allowing for humanity is sometimes the biggest act of resistance we can take.
When we show up for each other authentically and within our means, when we dare to share our joy and creativity, we can inspire one another to keep going. I believe wholeheartedly that the world needs queer, subversive, unapologetic art. For those of us in a place of privilege, we must continue to make space for all voices to be heard. We must not let fear stop us from celebrating who we are.
What is something people don’t ask you about your work that you wish they would, or something we didn’t ask you that you’d like to tell us about?
Hmmm… this is a fun question. People often ask, “Is Anita a character?” The straightforward answer is “no”; if anything, Anita is an art project. In a way, she is a persona, representing a brand of bold creativity, daring designs, genuine collaboration, and a vivacious thirst for life.
When I think about how I change when presenting as Anita, I like to describe her character traits as authentic and as a dialed-up version of myself. Just like at work, you accentuate and highlight certain parts of your personality while dialing down others. The same goes for when I am presenting as Anita.
I love the process of becoming Anita. The ritual of putting on my wig, doing my makeup, and slipping into her costume feels less like an escape and more like settling into a different presentation of myself. Anita is not separate from me, just an expansion of who I already am.
Something that is new to me is the intersection of accessible clothing and costumes designed for reveals. I have found that my costume work, specifically my quick-release bras, resonates with people who are looking for accessible garments. I have been so inspired by this community and recognize that there is so much we can learn from one another. One of my new designs, a front-release bra, was inspired by a conversation I had with someone. I love how we can find inspiration in unexpected places and how our communities can support one another.
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Upcoming Appearances
- Helltown Burlesque & Foxy Cabaret Provincetown, Massachusetts
- Dyke Fest Somerville, Massachusetts
- Worcester Draglesque Festival Teaching
- BurlyCon Teaching · Seattle, Washington
- Dutch Burlesque Festival Utrecht, Netherlands
