LAUREN IBAÑEZ / NEXTGENRADIO
What is the meaning of
home?
Ro Kelly speaks with Auralie Wilde. When the physical comforts of home are far away, traveling sex entertainment performers often struggle to find a sense of home beyond the feathers and the glitter. Burlesque dancer Wilde brings her body to center stage to cultivate a sense of home in her own skin — no matter where she is. And now she inspires her audience members to find a way home to their bodies as well.
How a burlesque dancer finds home in her own skin
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I grew up a dancer, I grew up doing ballet, tap, jazz, like literally anything. Movement has always been like really, really big for me and always felt really good.
My name is Auralie Wilde. I am a burlesque performer, producer, emcee, jack of all trades.
Put your hands together for the hostess with the mostess. It’s me, Auralie Wilde.
Thank you, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for making mouth sounds for me.
My name is Auralie Wilde, so there’s nothing I love more than mouth stuff.
It feels amazing every time I walk in this space.
My body feels like home to me, the more I can just accept and appreciate it.
My relationship with my body before I started burlesque was a lot of guilt and punishment. I grew up a ballet dancer, so there was a certain expectation. But I always had a muscular build, I’m not naturally petite. I’ve always had like thighs and a little bit of a butt.
I was really drawn to like, sexy movement. I loved Bob Fossey, I loved Chicago, Coyote Ugly, like, I was like 14 years old, being like, I want to dance at a bar.
Somebody told me what burlesque was, and I was like, I can absolutely do that. I’m definitely going to do that. And that’s when I started/ I took some classes at the New York School of Burlesque and like, found mentors and got lots of gigs. And like, that’s where I feel like I really, you know, kind of cut my teeth as a burlesque performer.
But New York was too big. So I moved back to Iowa City, and then Iowa City was too small. So I ended up here in St. Louis in 2018.
When I’m joking, I described my body as mid sized, like a sedan.
Seeing all different body types on stage and thinking like they’re gorgeous, stunning and perfect. Like, why do I not look at myself as gorgeous and stunning and perfect? But now when I look in the mirror, I’m like, ‘goddamn, she looks cool. Like I want to hang out with her.’
I think performing in this way makes me feel at home in my body, again, because I have total control over every aspect of my performance. I can be sexy, I can be silly, I like to be both.
I work to make audience feel comfortable, like audience members feel comfortable in their own bodies with mine, by showing them that they have permission to do these things also. I think I feel most at home, in my body on stage when I’m able to like get into the right mindset. And I genuinely try to like, get turned on before I go on stage. Like I want to walk on stage a little bit horny and then it’s like really, really great. It conveys, it comes across. Not worried about hitting every single piece of choreography perfectly but having an energy exchange and a moment with the audience.
My favorite burlesque is the burlesque that makes me feel something and that’s what I want to give to other people. We can be sexual beings and it’s okay to, to enjoy that.
I am so horny for St. Louis.
Auralie Wilde smears blue eyeshadow on her eyes for maybe the hundredth time, leaning into the dusty mirror hanging in the dark bar attic, trying to get the blending right.
She is not at home, but she is close. She is in the dressing room of The Crack Fox, a downtown St. Louis bar where she has performed almost monthly for 10 years. It has become a second kind of home for her, as well as for many wayward queers of the St. Louis underground.
Auralie Wilde, 35, leans into the mirror on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, while getting in the mindset for this month’s “All Fun and Dames” burlesque performance at The Crack Fox in downtown St. Louis. “I really love this venue,” she said. “Carrie (the venue’s owner) has been really generous with letting burlesque girls have a lot of time and space here, and drag, and letting our community get more opportunities because a lot of places closed — a lot of queer spaces closed.”
RO KELLY / NEXTGENRADIO
The blue eyeshadow pairs with the hand-made 1920s art deco-inspired dolphin mask that is the lynchpin for her performance this evening: her “sexy dolphin act.” Wilde won’t be wearing much more than that blue eyeshadow by the time her headlining performance is done tonight. That’s because Wilde’s performance will be the art of taking off her sexy dolphin costume. She’s a burlesque dancer and modern-day ecdysiast, or one who performs the art of strip tease.
While many burlesque performers have leaned on animal personification routines for their acts, Wilde doesn’t quite fit into the traditional catwoman or panther-in-a-cage vibe.
“My favorite animal has always been a dolphin, and then I learned more about them and how weird they are,” Wilde told NPR Next Generation Radio backstage at The Crack Fox. “They get, like, high on puffer fish … I was like, I’m a dolphin, very community oriented, and I think they have sex for pleasure, so what’s not to love?”
Dubbed “The Smart Mouth of Burlesque” and jokingly describing her body as “mid-size like a sedan,” there’s nothing small about Wilde. She has been entertaining audiences with her special brand of sexy and silly since she started taking her clothes off professionally in 2012.
Gaining experience and fans all over the world since then, she has toured and performed nationally across the country and internationally throughout Europe, Israel, and Fiji, until she moved to St. Louis in 2018.
Aurlie Wilde, a 35-year-old burlesque dancer, reacts during a game-show portion of her performance on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, at the Crack Fox in downtown St. Louis. A key element of Wilde’s burlesque performances, she said, is a self-described energy exchange. “That’s the most fun part for me is the fact that it’s a live experience and that there’s a lot of eye contact,” she said.
RO KELLY / NEXTGENRADIO
Even when she is not physically in her home in the south city neighborhood of Dutchtown, Wilde finds home on stage, but more specifically in her own nakedness.
“I think I feel most at home in my body, on stage, when I’m able to get into the right mindset,” she teased, explaining her before-show routine. To get in that headspace to connect with herself and her audience, Wilde said, “I actually think about old sexual experiences and get a little bit turned on. It comes across.”
Portraits of Auralie Wilde wait to be purchased by fans and mentees alike that want to take a piece of the lively burlesque performance home with them on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, at the Crack Fox in downtown St. Louis. “The amount of times someone has come up to me and said, like, they’re so happy to see what they look like represented on stage, like that feels really good,” she noted. “So that makes it worth it.”
RO KELLY / NEXTGENRADIO
Growing up in Iowa, Wilde always felt that she was meant for bigger and badder things than the modest cornfields of her hometown.
“Somebody told me what burlesque was,” she began to explain, “and we didn’t have anything like that in Iowa. But I drove two hours to see my first show, and I was like, ‘I can absolutely do that. I’m definitely gonna do that.’”
Breaking from her classical training in ballet, jazz, and modern dance, Wilde showed herself and her audience members that there are forms of dance and expression that make loving space for bodies like hers.
“This was the first time that I was in charge of everything from start to finish. I was in charge of my music, picking out the song … picking out the costume, sourcing the costume, coming up with all of the movements, and the storyline and all of that,” she said about burlesque.
“So I think I felt much more empowered in having control of my performance that helped me feel more in control of my body.”
Auralie Wile, 35, beams at the freedom and empowerment she has gained from performing burlesque on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, at her home in Dutchtown. “I like picking out the costume, sourcing the costume and figuring out how to do that, coming up with all of the movements and like the storyline,” she explained. “I felt much more empowered in having control of my performance. That helped me feel more in control of my body.”
RO KELLY / NEXTGENRADIO
Burlesque gives her that sense of home because she can shirk the pressures and restrictions of her classical dance upbringing and unapologetically showcase and express herself in all the curvy, audacious, tattooed glory of her natural body – including one of her beloved dog Morbo.
“I’m starting to feel a lot more at home in my body after getting a … ton of tattoos this year,” she explained. “Now I look in the mirror and I’m like ‘goddamn, she looks cool. I want to hang out with her!’”
Auralie Wilde, a 35-year-old burlesque dancer, enjoys the company of her dogs, Morbo and Archie, on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, at her home in Dutchtown. “I am a homeowner now. I never thought I would be that,” she said. “I majored in dance in college. I made different choices.”
RO KELLY / NEXTGENRADIO
Auralie Wilde, 35, shows off some of her newest ink: a vibrant portrait of her dog, Morbo, who is named after a character from one of Wilde’s favorite television shows, Futurama, on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, at her home in Dutchtown. “I’m starting to feel a lot more at home in my body after getting a … ton of tattoos this year,” she explained. “Now I look in the mirror and I’m like ‘Goddamn, she looks cool. I want to hang out with her!’”
RO KELLY / NEXTGENRADIO