Meet The Team
Poppy Cherry
Maison Burlesque owner and school headmistress, Poppy has been a regular fixture on the Melbourne Burlesque scene both on and off the stage since 2009, and is known for her energetic, theatrical take on classic burlesque.
Poppy has extensive experience running burlesque workshops and classes, and always creates a fun, warm learning environment. Poppy Cherry brings the spirit of burlesque to life in her classes with her vivacious nature and extensive experience as a performer. As a teacher she always encourages her students to grow, providing them with the support and patience they need to blossom. Her students can expect a great balance between fun and hard work to help them advance their skills.
Maple Rose
Ddescribed as the unwanted lovechild of Tempest Storm and Lucille Ball, Miss Maple Rose combines her professional expertise in costume and set design with her foundation in classical dance to guide budding performance artists in the art of tease! She’s here to prove that “classic burlesque” doesn’t have to be boring. Either with feather fans or tapping toes, Maple will take you on a deep dive into burlesque history.
Winner of the 1st Runner Up crown at Miss Burlesque Australia 2018, Headliner of the Australian Burlesque Festival 2020/21/22, voted #21 in the 21st Century Burlesque’s Top 50 Most Influential Burlesque Figures of 2021, voted Best Solo Artist and Most Classic at the Australian Burlesque Industry Awards, The Busties, in 2018 - Maple has shown Australia she's one tornado with her feather fans and couture costumes!
Whisky Falls
Like a good malt, our Studio Manager Whisky will warm the cockles of your heart with her unique blend of fire and finesse. Her blend of dance techniques, dramatics and styling will keep audiences' palates wanting more than just on wee dram.
After training in dance from the tender age of three, Scottish born Whisky found her way to London, England to study Dance and Musical Theatre at one of the UK's leading performing arts institutes. After working with various dance companies, Whisky found herself drawn into the ever curious and evolving world of cabaret.
With years of professional dance teaching under her belt (Bird College, UK for 7 years) Whisky has developed signature teaching methods that she has transferred into burlesque, and mentors fellow performers via workshops, classes and one-to-one online.
Bella De Jac
Glamour queen, party girl and powerhouse of the Australian Burlesque Industry Bella de Jac brings a formidable weight of experience to the stage.
With a ridiculous number of titles, awards, and headlining tours under her belt, she maintains a careful balance of utter debauchery with serious hard work.
Bella is Miss Burlesque Australia 2015, and a strong advocate for body-positive, sex- positive, feminist performance art. She has sung, danced and acted her way across Australian and international stages from Melbourne to New York, London and beyond.
Taking out both #31 and #50 in the 2016 & 2017 21st Century Burlesque Top 50, headliner of countless tours, co-director of BEAST and Bitch Stole My Act, and winner of a slew of awards including the most recent, The Australian Burlesque Lifetime Achievement Award, Bella has been a key figure within the Australian Burlesque Industry for over a decade.
Described as both an exquisite creature and a powerful and captivating performer, Bella's penchant for pushing acceptable social boundaries is cleverly disguised by the grace and glamour of her shows.
Egson Ham
Emerging from a mist of glitter and fake tan, it’s Participation Award Nominee Egson Ham!
The big kid with a big chin, Egson Ham is a Naarm (Melbourne) based burlesque performer who first entered the burlesque scene in 2015 by taking the title of Mr Boylesque Australia, and has been creating neon-coloured chaos ever since.
With his performances described as “a kids show for adults”, Egson has headlined festivals throughout Australia and carved out his own niche - bringing Boylesque to venues and nightclubs in Victoria. He has also turned twirling around into a valid career choice, working as a dancer for artists such as DJ Havana brown, Luciana, Paulini and Inaya Day, choreographed shows and tours for Karen from Finance and Hannah Conda, toured with Bring it On the Musical, and once performed as Barney the dinosaur for the Royal Family of Bahrain.
Egson ham has been a professional dance teacher for the past 10 years. His classes focus on characterisation, dance technique and sweating (…lots of sweating). In his classes you can expect to work hard, be pushed to improve your performance techniques and always be treated as a professional, no matter what your skill level is.
Today you can find Egson working as a resident performer at Sircuit bar, teaching at Maison Burlesque including coaching previous MX Burlesque Australia competition winners, creating unique costuming looks and sewing for underwear empire Now Serving Snacks.
Domino de Jour
Burlesque artist, producer and self proclaimed revolutionary, Domino de Jour has been destroying burlesque stages since 2014. With a childhood spent in heels, as a competitive ballroom and latin dancer, she is no stranger to a competition. Holding the titles of Miss Burlesque Melbourne 2016 and Showgirl of the Year at the Miss Burlesque Australia 2016 competition, she now produces Mx Burlesque Victoria and The Apprentease, providing space for both new and established performers to grow their art.
Deeply passionate about cultivating space for whatever stage of your burlesque journey you are on, Domino has been teaching at Maison Burlesque since 2017, holding the hands of beginners in Fundamentals yet pushing you in the deep end in all her other classes. Maintaining her aggressively supportive, yet sometimes terrifying, attitude of ‘If I can teach a teenage boy to foxtrot, I can teach you anything’.
A multi faceted performer, her style can be described in the same way as her tipple of choice (good bourbon on the rocks): surprisingly classic for something that looks like it should smack you in the face.
What her students say “Domino is a fierce, no-shit-taking, powerhouse of a woman who puts a real life hourglass to shame with her hip to waist ratio. An unapologetically bold performer and ferociously supportive of her students. She’s the Barbie doll you wished your Barbie doll could be."
Juniper Fox
Juniper Fox celebrates movement, the art of tease and sexuality, lust and desire, through her captivating unique performance style. She infuses every act with a mesmerising grace and sensuality, with an ability tells a story through her harnessing of emotion and energy, a burlesque fantasy that is both erotic and captivating.
Whether dressed in feathers or glittering lingerie, latex or leather, Juniper commands the stage with confidence and poise. Born to perform, this dynamic artist brings a unique blend of glamour and raw sexuality. Her passion for movement is to the core, an unforgettable performer who embodies all that is seductive and subversive about the intoxicating art form that is burlesque.
Velma Vouloir
A classic burlesque artist from Melbourne, Velma Vouloir is the golden-age glamazon with a penchent for seduction and all things quintessentially showgirl! Taking the burlesque world by storm in 2017, she has already a string of accolades under her garter belt including being the reigning Mx Burlesque Victoria 2023, Miss Burlesque Victoria 2018 and Miss Burlesque Australia - Miss Classic 2018.
An established dance & aerial arts instructor - Velma has trained & performed extensively in classical, commercial, lyrical & broadway jazz, pole, aerial hoop & pilates. She has nearly ten years of teaching experience under her belt, teaching both in Australia and internationally. She believes everyone has the right to dance & move unapologetically and has a passion for creating nurturing, fun and challenging classes for her students.
Iva Grande
Iva Grande is a feisty dance-school outcast and she is ready to please. A lifetime devoted to dance but shunned for her love of gyrating, Iva found herself at the doors of Maison Burlesque begging for acceptance.
Iva also has an extensive teaching background in dance, with 10+ years under her belt. She holds a diploma in Dance Teaching and Performance with her favourite styles being jazz, hip hop, lyrical and music theatre. Seeing dancers grow while bringing choreography to life is her biggest passion (besides performing of course) and if you had to describe her teaching style, she is the birth child of Abby Lee and Mr G...
Ruby Slippers
A high-femme kaleidoscopic cyclone of extroversion and light perversion, Ruby Slippers lives by the motto that you’re either Dorothy, or you’re the twister. Gracing burlesque and drag stages alike and leaving a trail of glitter in her wake, she’s earned a reputation as one of the best dressed (and undressed) kids in town.
In 2017 she toured the country as a national headliner for the Australian Burlesque Festival, and in 2017 and 2018 was honoured by her peers, winning the title of “Most Innovative” at the The Busties, the Australian burlesque industry awards. In 2022 she was invited to perform at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender in Las Vegas at their Movers, Shakers and Innovators showcase, as well as New York’s iconic Slipper Room. She rounded out 2022 by being named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Burlesque Artists in the world by her peers and fellow community members.
Ruby continued her winning streak of being a badass babe into 2023 when she blew minds at the Drag Expo Melbourne Gala, and headlined the 10 Year Anniversary Perth International Burlesque Festival.
Joanna
Described as the equivalent to a firework on New Years Eve, Joanna is Australia’s own internationally acclaimed belly dance performer, instructor and powerhouse entertainer.
For over 25 years, Joanna’s experience in the performing arts has lead her to achieve proficiency in numerous dance forms outside of belly dance - including ballet, jazz, and musical theatre. She holds a Bachelor in Entertainment Business Management, as well as Certificates across music theory, performance and sound engineering.
Joanna’s love of MENAHT (Middle Eastern, North African, Hellenic & Turkish) dance has thrusted her into the international realm, where she has performed on festival stages across France, Spain and Greece. Her belly dance style is described as Oriental/American Cabaret, however she is known in Australia for her strong influences in musical theatre, queer culture and cabaret.
With her technique based, culturally accurate and history driven teaching style, Joanna aims to encourage her students to find their niche and distinctiveness in belly dance. Her priority is to advocate how welcoming this dance form is of all ages, sizes, experience levels, and gender identities.
Cora Noire
Somewhere between a glamorous showgirl and a scene kid, Cora Noire grew up feeling very at home on the stage doing musicals, dance competitions and music videos.
Never quite finding exactly the right place in that world to be truly herself, Cora turned to more alternative performance styles eventually moving to Melbourne and tumbling into the world of burlesque.
As a die-hard fan of pop-punk and metal, Cora has found a way to combine this with her high energy and at times camp burlesque performance style.
Cora has also been teaching dance for nearly 10 years, with over 20 years of dance training under her belt including a Cert 4 in Commercial Dance and Musical Theatre.
As a teacher, Cora is really passionate about making every single person feel comfortable, seen, empowered and encouraged to be unapologetically themselves.
Sham
Shamita is a multi-faceted performance artist and theatre maker who specialises in movement and devised work. A trained dancer from an early age, after over 16 years of ballet training, as well as a broad range of other dance styles; she developed an interest in dance theatre forms such as Butoh alongside her acting. She holds a BA Performing Arts from Monash University, supplemented by training with Film & Television Studios International, Stella Adler AoA Los Angeles, AAFTA, and Meisner Technique.
As a performing artist her work has travelled across Australia and overseas, from the tropical islands of Guam and Brunei, to cosmopolitan Singapore. She often incorporates intercultural practices and cross disciplinary elements into her work, inspired by everyday experiences, music and sound, and socio- political issues she is driven by.
When not on large scale stages and screens, she is an active performer of Australia's queer cabaret scene, and is passionate about creating high energy performances with her signature style. Behind the scenes, Shamita is also a keen writer and director, and is popularly consulted for movement direction.
Valerie “Va Va” Valentine
She's blonde, buxom and beguiling. She's Melbourne's own Boudoir Babydoll. It's Valerie "Va Va" Valentine!
As far back as she can remember, Va Va has been star-struck with the glitz and glamour of the silver screen, rummaging her mums makeup bag and prancing around in her shiny Saturday night heels always waiting for anyone and any occasion to soak up the spotlight. As a formally trained classic ballet dancer with a bust and booty that just won't quit - Valerie spent many a moon dreaming of a home to shake it the way she was meant to.
A Maison Burlesque alumni herself, after her dazzling debut in 2019 at Cherry Poppers Solo Showcase, Va Va has sauntered stages over the east coast of Australia and graced many a lap(top) worldwide through digital cabarets in London and Spain. She has also been featured on the cover of many pinup publications in both Europe and America. Known for her cheeky charm this vintage vixen takes you back to the golden era of Burlesque one bunny hop at a time, like a living, breathing MGM Glamour Girl. Follow in the slipper clad footsteps of Marilyn, Mamie and Mansfield to learn a trick or three about pinup perfection.
Lauren Bok
Lauren Bok is an award winning stand up comedian and burlesque artist with big attitude, big energy and big face.
Nominated for the Golden Gibbo at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2019, she has been described as 'jaw-achingly brilliant' by The Music and 'a joy to watch' by the Herald Sun. She has created 5 solo comedy shows and performed in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Adelaide Fringe, Perth FringeWorld and Edinburgh Fringe.
She has hosted and/or performed at Burlesque Idol, The Apprentease, Tassel Thursday, Mx Burlesque State Final Victoria, The Burlesque Showboat, The Lost Cabaret, and Cabaret Impedimedia.
She holds a Bachelor of Creative Arts/Teaching from Melbourne University and has facilitated comedy and burlesque workshops for over a decade, with a methodology in collaborative and directed play within a safe space designed to find the funny in every student.
Meet Our Admin Superstars
Melba Peach
A theatre kid at heart, all singing all dancing Melba is a chameleonic performer who pops up in a variety of places including behind the reception desk.
Her love of costume and performing translates into an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of classic film and musical theatre.
Winter Greene
The breath of fresh air that’s always in season!
With facial expressions that could strike fear into a Disney villain, Winter has jazz-hands’d and box-step’d across many stages; from nerdlesque shows, queer clubs, horror cabarets, and on our very own Burlesque Showboat. They are the current title holder of Mx Burlesque Melbourne!
Winter is also our specialist in all things glittery! You can sometimes find them teaching crafty afternoon of bedazzling covers for your pink bits and all things in-between.
You can also catch this sexy beast on the reception desk sometimes, or hit them up for some custom sparkles !