Over the Rainbow, Under the Moon

In the Seattle contemporary dance scene, the only rule is there are no rules.

Waxie Moon and Rainbow Fletcher are two of the city’s most notorious outlaws of dance—and also two of the most accomplished and refined dancers.

Rainbow Fletcher The first time I heard about you was when we were looking for special guests at Can Can, and I researched you and I was like, “Oh, yes. This will be awesome.”

Waxie Moon I always have a really good time when I perform at the Can Can. I’m super-impressed with what you guys have built there. You’re sneaking in art within the guise of cabaret. You’re like, “Actually, it’s contemporary dance! Gotcha!” I’m really impressed that you guys have nightly shows, you’re all so committed, and you develop new work continually. Your choreographic vision and your vocabulary are super-exciting and dynamic and strong. You guys have great humor.

Rainbow The most exciting thing about that place is the freedom to choreograph whatever type of movement I want to do. The trick is to be smart enough to have a feel of cabaret or burlesque so people still feel like they’re getting the satisfaction they wanted from going to that type of venue. And also being able to offer dancers a consistent job that pays. That’s so rare! [laughs]

Waxie That’s such a gift. You guys are like a dance company.

Rainbow That’s been my vision from day one. Choreography-wise, compared to other burlesque shows, I like seeing the relationships between people on stage and in unison. And that has to happen through working together consistently.

Waxie Totally. You’re in a tight ensemble. All of you are impeccable dancers, but beyond that you have a sense of theatricality. You have personas that burst through. So much contemporary dance I see is so neutral...

Rainbow Yeah, anonymous in a way.

Waxie It’s afraid of personality sometimes. You guys embrace personality but you don’t sacrifice choreography and vision, what you want to say artistically.

Rainbow That’s a huge challenge, because everyone does move really differently—figuring out people’s strengths and weaknesses, and when to play them up or hide them. I do like dancers to have their own unique voices, which you don’t see as often, like you were saying, in more classical and contemporary dance. It’s a challenge.

Do you missing dancing in an ensemble?

Waxie No.

Rainbow No? [laughs]

Waxie I danced for so long in dance companies and I worked so hard at technique and I was also involved in an ensemble theater. Waxie was the expression of me as an individual when I finally was like, “What happens if I leave the group? What do I have to say?” So I don’t miss it. But it’s also because it’s incorporating all my interests: acting, theater and now burlesque, gender-play, and queer visibility.

Rainbow Right. I just heard that you were teaching theater at Cornish. 

Waxie Oh yeah! You’re a Cornish person, too, so we have similar backgrounds of conservatory settings and formal dance training. And then we found our way into [something different]. Was it a surprise for you?

Rainbow It was definitely a surprise. When I first got hired [at the Can Can], I was dancing as an apprentice at Spectrum and I needed a second job. So I got hired at the Can Can to be a server and dancer, but we only went on for five minutes. We’d go up to tables and sweat in people’s food.

Waxie Hot!

Rainbow Yeah. It was not ideal to me back then. I was like, “I probably won’t stay here that long.” [laughs] Once I took over the choreography part I realized, “They’re going to let me do artistically whatever I want to do and I’m going to take advantage of this opportunity.” 

Waxie We were both part of the A.W.A.R.D. show at On the Boards and there you snuck in entertainment at what’s considered more of an “arts venue.” You’re not afraid of it. I think I do the same thing. A primary expectation for people at On the Boards is that they might be provoked, and yes you’ll be provoked, and you might be entertained as well. 

Rainbow That was an interesting experience for me. I felt like I had some humor in the piece. It was interesting, the different feedback I got from that. Some people were like, “That was circus!” But it was interesting the feedback wasn’t that extreme. There was no, “You can’t do both!” 

Waxie I had a similar reaction. People were like, “He’s obviously a good performer, but I don’t think it belongs here.” In my heart I’m a dancer. So just because I’m doing pedestrian movement or striptease, it’s still dance. I was surprised by that reaction, that people were just like, “It’s not really dance. I don’t know if it makes sense here.” And I was like, hello! In 1962, with the Judson Church movement, people were eating a sandwich on stage and that was called dance!

Rainbow Or pacing around in a square...

Waxie Or having a pillow fight, or whatever! That happened in the early ‘60s, but some people still have a different expectation that dance needs to look a certain way.

The burlesque and cabaret scene in Seattle is so strong and has such an audience that the larger theatrical venues are taking notice of what we’re doing and inviting us to participate. We’re part of the party and I don’t think that’s happening with what I know of the burlesque scenes in other cities. That’s something unique to here. Why it’s happening, I have no idea.

Rainbow Popularity? Or quality? Or just audience?

Waxie Maybe because it’s so rainy, people like stripping in Seattle! 

Rainbow They don’t see people dancing naked too often.

Waxie There’s great theatricality in New York contemporary dance, but what’s happening here is different.

Rainbow Anytime we go on the road people are like, “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” I get that a lot after shows at Can Can: “I’ve never seen burlesque before.” Then I wonder what they’re gonna think when they go to a classical burlesque show, because it’s much different. I usually don’t say anything and just let them see for themselves. 

Waxie It’s nice not to classify the work, too. I don’t think you classify yourself. You’re an artist. You’re like, “I create, I’m a movement artist, it looks different depending on the work I’m making.” In a way I don’t classify myself as a burlesque artist. I call myself a gender-blending, queer lady boylesque performance art stripping sensation.

Rainbow [laughs]

Waxie I love the term “boylesque” because nobody’s going to be like, “Oh my God, that’s not boylesque!” because nobody knows what it means! How do you classify yourself? Or do you?

Rainbow Sometimes we’ll call it contemporary cabaret. Our shows are really hard to describe, but it’s almost like a mixtape. The randomness is part of what makes it different and special. And it’s still thought-out and strategic. It’s like, “Here’s a moment of burlesque, here’s a moment of this or an influence of that,” and how that gets pieced together is what I’m interested in. And like you said, not labeling it: “What is this new...?”

Waxie Hybrid…

Rainbow Yeah, hybrid.

Waxie …Flower! Glittery flower!

Rainbow Yes! 

Waxie What is this new hybrid glittery flower? 

Rainbow I definitely want to be a force in changing the dance scene in Seattle, but also in the world! To make dance entertaining and also intelligent and stimulating. And also taking influence from the past but also constantly trying to keep pushing towards reinventing what that is, and learning from it and changing it. I think it’s important to not get stuck because then you get labeled. I take the influences of really classical work mixed with things like So You Think You Can Dance? or America’s Best Dance Crew. I try to keep up with what’s popular, and those shows have this new sense of what the body can do. It’s not just tricks but it’s different ways of moving that haven’t been explored. And to combine those two? That’s exciting to me.

Waxie Yeah, yeah. I’ll leave that fancy dancing to you. One of my agendas would be queer visibility in its most unapologetic way. I amp up my maleness and my femaleness, and just put it out there so people can—I hope—celebrate their own gender complexity, or embrace their own gender fluidity, or something like that. And I want more men stripping in the world, because I think that’s a really good idea.

Rainbow Me too! 

Waxie One of my goals on stage is to convey a lot while doing very little. It’s my secret goal. So I’ll take way too long, like a whole minute, just to stroke up my thigh and up my body, and see if I can hold an audience’s attention that way.

Rainbow That’s a skill I want to figure out. Out of performers I’ve seen in Seattle, you’re one of the best at that kind of subtle intensity. 

Waxie I’m just lazy! I’m like, I can’t kick and turn like Rainbow, so I’m gonna take two minutes to take off a glove. •

Photography by Andrew Waits