pandemic announcement
Posted April 27, 2020
Greetings metalheads! We love and miss you all! Our primary concern is for your health and well being, and that of your friends and families. The Sign of the Beast Burlesque / Metalesque Fest production team continues to meet regularly (virtually of course) and to monitor COVID-19 and its possible effects on MetalesqueFest slated for October 1-2-3 of 2020. Right now we are in continued email contact with our venues as they navigate these uncharted waters with us.
We want you to know that as of right now plans for Metalesque Fest 2020 are ON.
We are moving forward with performer applications and preparations for the fifth annual shows on October 1-2-3 here in Portland Oregon. Since the pandemic situation and its effects on the entertainment and venue industry are ever-changing, we want to let you know that we will always keep you informed of the latest news in regards to our events.
Our performer applications close on June 1 and at that time we intend to keep you further apprised of our plans for the Fest. These plans *could* include venue changes and/or fewer show nights. At this time, none of those changes have occurred, but they *are possible* and we wanted to be transparent with you all about that.
We understand that current world circumstances have had a massive financial impact on our community. Performers, if you are suffering a hardship but still want to apply for Metalesque Fest, we are now offering the option of paying a sliding scale “pay what you can” application fee (minimum of $5 for one act) that is in effect now through the end of the application period on June 1. We don’t need to see any proof of hardship, simply select that payment option in the application and you are all set! For the application please visit the link in our bio or on our website.
If you *are* able to pay the full application fee during the different application time periods (listed below in this post) and wish to support the festival in that way, we welcome that and thank you for it! Your financial contribution keeps our art organization going and will help us continue to host this unique event every year. We still intend to pay all performers a guarantee of $50 per booked festival act, and we continue to work on a housing network to assist visiting performers find a place to stay with our Burlesque PDX community.
PERFORMERS:
Don’t have a great video of an act submission because your shows were cancelled? That’s ok! Send us a video filmed in your basement, garage or backyard...whatever works! We just want to see your moves, fabulous face, costume and enthusiasm! Send us your burlesque, pole, acro, drag, fire, glam, nerdlesque, circus and aerial acts set to METAL! It is fine to video your act without the costume and send us “costume in progress” images to our email at:
signofthebeastburlesque(at)gmail.com
Earlybird Applications: $25 per application
OR “pay what you can” sliding scale of $5 minimum per act
March 15-April 26
Joint Applications with Oregon Burlesque Festival: $15 to each festival
OR if you are only applying to Metalesque Fest then the “pay what you can” sliding scale of
$5 minimum per one act does continue through this time.
April 26-May 3
General Applications: $30 per application
OR “pay what you can” sliding scale of $5 minimum per act)
April 26-June 1
If, as time passes, it becomes evident that we cannot continue with the 2020 Fest for some reason, all application fees will be refunded at the time of that decision. We will be making a final decision to move forward with the event or cancel it in early June soon after our application period has ended. We appreciate your patience as we face these unprecedented and changing circumstances.
Please be in touch, be kind to one another, and be a rainbow in the dark in these strange and challenging times.
Horns up! XO Sign of the Beast Burlesque
If you have any questions please email us directly at signofthebeastburlesque(at)gmail.com
more about red rum
A little bit PEEPshow, a little bit FREAKshow, a little bit CREEPshow!
Hailed as the ‘Queen of Halloween’ and the ‘Lon Chaney of Burlesque’ Red Rum is a multidisciplinary artist whose formal background is in painting and video art. She earned her MFA in Painting & Drawing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2005. After two years experimenting with her own video and horror film special effects she was quickly creating live Grand Guignol style performances in Chicago galleries under the collaborative umbrella of Death By Design, Co., a special effects and video based company founded with her colleague Teena McClelland. Piloted by an Innovative Art In Chicago grant opportunity, DxD transformed any space into a film set where clients were invited to engage in an in-depth conversation with life through the creation of their own “Hollywood” style death. With this project, DxD sought to offer a safe vehicle for exploring ideas on myth, storytelling, cinematic illusion, celebrity, and our own mortality.
After 5 years immersed in Death By Design, Co. the transition to burlesque in 2010 seemed to offer the perfect combination of her love for makeup, prop building and the catharsis of a live audience. While exploring the scene she noticed performers who approached macabre and gory topics still had a concern with keeping the face beautiful. What would happen if grotesque figures and faces were presented in the same medium that elevates beauty, sexuality and fantasy? Is there something meaningful in the space between attraction and repulsion, between what is deemed acceptable by society and what is taboo? RedRum’s work has always taken shape out of the things we are most afraid of. It is not only a way of processing the fear but a means of protection against it.
Always keeping in mind, "if you can't do something better do it different" Red Rum has been headlining burlesque productions across the country and currently produces a grand annual event called Satanic Panic: An Evening of Paranoia & Power that puts a spotlight on epidemics of moral panic through history. Choosing narratives that combine elements of sex, death and humor, Red Rum twists the expectations of traditional striptease and utilizes it as a vehicle for storytelling and grotesque transformation.