How To Make Cruelty-Free Burlesque Feather Fans
Having located my cruelty-free ostrich feathers, I not only had to, but sincerely wanted to make the fans by hand.
Tonya Kay
This Magickal Child from Michigan farmlands is an award-winning actress and writer, professional dancer, burlesque performer, pole athlete, danger artist, stunt woman, world-traveling conservationist, raw vegan celebrity and living proof of what a child raised in love grows up to be.
You’ve seen her on TV’s “Criminal Minds,” “Glee” and “The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien”; in The Muppets, The Lone Ranger and Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant movies; in Rolling Stone, TV Guide, SPIN, Inc. and Vertical magazines; and on stage with STOMP, De La Guarda, Panic At The Disco and the Lalas Burlesque.
When she is not road-tripping to see her favorite heavy metal rock bands play live or rebuilding her 1965 Buick Riviera classic hot rod, Tonya Kay is seeking out organic farmers markets, sustainable vineyards and life-changing art. It is this renegade’s passion to shape reality, push evolution, exist in love and take the whole wide world along for the ride.
I Learned Everything I Need To Know About Producing From Craigslist
Jack Dagger taught me everything I know about knife throwing but most importantly, his philosophy on building a marketable act: Entertain the people.
Embellishment or Thievery? How to Give Credit Where Credit Is Due
People will be inspired by my art and I will be inspired by others. It’s how we credit after inspiration that identifies us as honorable or as thieves.
The Joy of Being a Vegan Actor in a Vegan Film
The directors wanted to keep the investing sources private and small, if need be, so as not to risk watering down the activist message.
Producing Burlesque for Film
I edited the film myself, offering just a bit more in each clip while giving nothing away, building up to a brief moment of reveal: my Fire Tits danger art.
Negotiating Live Performance Contracts: My Hard-Won Savvy
Although I value my strong team of agents out here in Los Angeles, asking an agent to handle my live gigs is unnecessary and actually backwards career-wise.
Waiting Is Hard
It’s taken four years for one of my low-budget films to be distributed publicly. I am in no fewer than nine projects in post-production as we speak.
Fearlessly Mortal and Other Acts of Disobedience
It took the uniforms no less than 10 seconds to descend upon me and promptly remove myself and the entire cast of STOMP from the nation’s administrative capitol.
Burlesque Medicine: Healing Body Issues & Empowering Women
We are celebrating the way we move, our emotional connections to the movements, our creative self-expression and our engagement with onlookers.
Faith Over Fear
I caught myself stressing, like I did every month, over how I was going to pay my 3-bedroom’s whopping $250 rent on my unpredictable performer’s salary.
Fire Me—I’m An Artist!
Artists are choosing the path less traveled and are rare and courageous in society because of it.
Create Your Own Content to Further Your Career
There are many ways to further your career. One often overlooked goldmine is the glut of “downtime” most artists are already intimately familiar with.
Always Be Available: How I Lost My Film Role In An Hour
I was a rage-against-the-machine kind of anti-techie until then. I bought a cell phone the next day.
Small Town Kid, Big Dreams
I am unfit for the 9-5, but exceptional at the unstable, abstract and adventurous. I am an artist!