Viva Valezz! 2008 - A Year in Shimmies

[Viva Valezz!]

Viva! would like to take this moment to say GRACIAS MUCHO MUCHO MUCHO!!! 2008 has been an incredible year for Viva! And, I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who had anything to do with the fantastic fun! Thanks to my great friends and fellow-performers who supported, who performed, who came and cheered, who gave advice, who were just there. Thanks to my loved ones, Bert, my closest friends – I couldn’t do any of this without your support and patience. I’m SO looking forward to a fantastic 2009! So much to do! I’ve gotten bitten by the burlesque, pinup and production bug. I’m ready to roll… and I hope you’ll be willing to roll along with me!
THANK YOU SO MUCH! Can’t wait to bring you more! Besos – Viva!

Viva!’s 2008 – Shimmies in Review

Thanks to everyone who came out to the fantastic Assumed Identity party that I hosted in March, featuring many of my talented friends, in honor of my “adopted” son, Briden Cole. As an update to everyone who attended that bash, Briden just had successful top surgery three weeks ago, and it’s just another fantastic step in his transgender journey. Thanks to all of you who came and showed love. He was overwhelmed by the support! And, the Assumed Identity party gave me the inspiration to bring even more “girlie” talent to the East Village (myspace.com/easyvillage) stage!

East Village saw the birth of Viva!’s Red Light Girlie Shows, bringing Columbus the most fantastic all-female variety show – a little bit of burlesque, a little bit of bellydance, a little bit of comedy, a little bit of music… and a whole helluva lotta beautiful talent and entertainment!
Some great 2008 Red Light moments:
• The first Red Light Girlie Show launched in May. We kept it short and sweet to see if anyone would even come. We were taken aback by the support of all of our friends in the crowd.
• In June, for Pride, we had TWO shows, one featuring beautiful bellydance talent, and one featuring saucy burlesque performers. It’s always fun to perform for large groups of adoring lesbians ;) Love it!
• Our July show was a fundraiser for the Ohio Lesbian Festival (myspace.com/ohiolesbianfestival). We had a ton ‘o fun raising money for the gang down in Kirkersville!
• In October I introduced a group of lovely ladies that make up my sexy and sweet burlesque troupe, the Velvet Hearts! Bossy Grrl, Calamity Rain, and I can’t wait to bring share more of ourselves with you!
• In honor of IDKEX, in October I produced a show featuring local hotties, and especially highlighting the talents of visiting gals from across the country, including Kentucky Fried Woman from Oakland, CA; Miss Mae the Bellydancer from Chicago’ Kitty Victorian from Washington, DC; Miss Tricksie Heart & Pink Sushi from Tucson, AZ; Pidgeon Von Tramp from Seattle; Heywood Wakefield from Boston, MA.
• In December I did something I haven’t done in years… sang in public (karaoke doesn’t count!). It was exhilarating and scary, but I loved it and hope to do more of it in 2009.

I performed in many shows throughout the year, but here are a few notable gigs that I just have to mention one last time:
• In August it was incredible to be asked to perform with the Royal Renegades (myspace.com/royalrenegadesohio) in their “I Love the 80s” Show. It was great to break out my spandex and leg warmers again! And, fantastic to join forces with the infamous Renegades for the first of, what I hope will be, many to come.
• Labor Day weekend, I performed in the Coney Island Rockabilly Festival (myspace.com/cockabillyrecordsnyc) at the incredibly seedy and fabulous ChaCha’s on the Boardwalk (myspace.com/chachasbar).
• In September it was a pleasure to add a full day of burlesque sassiness to the Ohio Lesbian Festival on the Limelight Stage… or what I renamed the Red Light Stage! Although there were some challenges throughout the day, I was overwhelmed when the room was PACKED for the evening burlesque show. The Lesbian Festival and burlesque - who knew?!
• It was an honor to perform with the most beloved Columbus drag king and burlesque celebrities as part of the “Columbus Collective” for IDKEX in October.
• In October I was flabbergasted and so, so honored to be invited to perform in my favorite drag superstar Nina West’s (myspace.com/superdragqueen) “Nina! Pop” show. (Nina is my #1 drag queen crush.)
• In October I was invited to perform burlesque and set up a quite unconventional Dr. Sketchy’s sketching class at Trauma 2008 (myspace.com/evolvedtrauma). The Velvet Hearts and I had a blast and can’t wait to get even racier next time!

In July I introduced the Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School (http://drsketchy.com/) movement to Columbus! I’m proud to offer Columbus’ new and seasoned artists the opportunity to attend live figure modeling classes… in venues where they can also get their drink on! (Shameless plug: If you wanna learn about upcoming sketchin’ classes, go to myspace.com/sketchyscolumbus.)

In August I unveiled my new logo, created by the lovely and talented Kat (myspace.com/artfuldodgerf14).

As if I wasn’t busy enough, I was also bitten by the retro bug in 2008! Not being a conventional beauty, it was exciting to begin an unexpected adventure in pinup modeling.
I had so much fun launching my pinup career. I worked with so many fun photographers and did some great work! More than anyone else though, I’d like to thank the fantastic Andrea Haley of Devyne Productions (myspace.com/devyneproductions). This woman is the most talented photographer you’re ever gonna meet. She is a miracle-worker and true artiste. Need a photographer or graphic or web designer? For god’s sake, hire this woman!
Great pinup stuff in 2008:
• Introduced my first pinup calendar, the Viva Valezz! 2009 Pinup Calendar! (Shameless plug: Don’t miss your chance to order one before they’re all gone – go to https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=1706242 to order one online.)
• In July I entered my first pinup model contest, Java’s Bachelor Pad Cheesecake Contest (myspace.com/javabachelor). And, although I didn’t take the cheesecake title, it was exciting fun to participate, and be featured amongst a bevy of lovely and well-known pinups. I was given an honorable mention in the contest for having a lot of votes from my friends and fans (THANK YOU!). Not bad for an old broad!
• In October I was chosen as a Promo Model for the pinup lifestyle networking site, Retro Luvin’ (http://www.retroluvin.com/). To check out a growing little network for lovers of the retro lifestyle, go check it out!
• I was chosen as one of the “25 Christmas Cuties” by Java’s Bachelor Pad Magazine. To see the full calendar of holiday cuties go to http://javasbachelorpad.com/christmascuties2008.html
• I was chosen as a “babe of the day” and featured on Cherry Club Inc.’s December calendar. To see the full calendar of pinup babes, go to http://champrocks.com/pages/3279733.php

Gotta give my props to the photogs – Talented photographers I had the privilege of working with and/or being photographed by in 2008:
Devyne Productions (of course!) myspace.com/devyneproductions or devyne.net
Briden C. Schueren myspace.com/ilikemanboobs
John Walker Photgraphy myspace.com/lordoflordskingsofkings
Cortney D. Brown myspace.com/badcoupon
Ken Farrar myspace.com/imagesbyken
Brian Crosby www.crosby-photo.com
Dark Angel Photography www.myspace.com/darkangelmodels
Apocalypse Pinup myspace.com/pinupapocalypse
Three 15 Photography myspace.com/three15photography
Billie Stafford myspace.com/hecates_illusion
Draven Eric myspace.com/dravenstudios