PERFORMER Anna Smith Higgs is among the performers showcased in ‘Learning To Be Naked,’ playing June 15 at the Rafael. Photo courtesy of Red Spoke Films.
“The Smith-Rafael Film Center will host a screening and Q&A for the award-winning documentary Learning To Be Naked – Healing Through Burlesque. The title is fairly self-explanatory, but—as the film’s performers, often adorned in pasties, sparkles and tassels, reveal—there’s more to this story than meets the eye. For those willing to strip away a few metaphorical layers, what lies beneath is something powerful.
At its core, Learning To Be Naked presents the inspiring healing journeys of three individuals who share how burlesque transformed their lives. One featured performer is an amputee and breast cancer survivor who describes how burlesque helped her embrace her scars, her prosthesis and herself. Another woman recounts finding renewed power in the wake of a stroke that left her in a wheelchair. Rounding out the trio is a trailblazer of plus-size, Black and nonbinary burlesque who advocates fiercely for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists to take the stage unapologetically.
For these performers, burlesque isn’t just a pastime—it’s a safe space for healing, a stage where they shed shame and emerge as the most fearless versions of themselves.”
By Colleen Bidwell
“Anna Smith Higgs was just 24 years old when she suffered from a stroke on Christmas Day in 2004, just a month after the birth of her son, Henry. Devastated, she would spend the next five months in the hospital and begin learning how to walk again and function with only the left side of her body working.
While navigating her “new normal”, depressed and afraid of doing something “wrong” and bringing on another stroke, she confined herself to her bed for months and months - until she realized that wasn’t living. But, life opened up, and she began to heal in a new way when she found burlesque - and would go on to perform at the prestigious Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend in 2023.”
Her story is one of a few Corte Madera filmmaker, Susan Wolf highlights in the new award-winning documentary entitled, “Learning to be Naked: Healing Through Burlesque.”
KGW 8 TV- Josh Leake, Executive Director of Portland Film Festival talks with Lacey Evans, host of Hello Rose City
"In Portland there are between 10 and 18 percent of our neighbors who have some form of disability and in this film we look at burlesque dancing not just an an artistic movie, but a movie that actually helps people’s mental health ... .so it not just your typical burlesque and I love it. It’s a celebration of artistic value, healing and empowerment.”
~ Josh Leake, Executive Director Portland Film Festival
Jesus Figueroa, This Funktional talks with Eileen Wright, Susan Wolf and Mx.Pucks A’Plenty
“It’s a fantastic watch! …The LGBTQ+ community is attracted to the burlesque scene and I think it’s that self acceptance, that self love, that I think everybody needs. … I think we all need that instance where we accept ourselves for who we are and I think this film highlights that very beautifully. …It’s an emotional rollercoaster ride watching this film.”
~ Jesus Figueroa
Janeane Bernstien KUCI 88.9 fm - Get The Funk Out- Stories of Inspiration and Change
“I’ve seen the film. It’s tremendous. People are going to love this film.”
~Janeane Bernstein
ENTERTAINMENT, HOLLYWOOD, MOVIE NEWS,
by Sophie Williams
Director Susan Wolf’s Groundbreaking Documentary “Learning to Be Naked” Wins Best Documentary at the 20th La Femme International Film Festival.
“We are deeply honored to receive the Best Documentary award at the LA Femme International Film Festival. This recognition affirms our film’s mission to celebrate diversity and challenge conventional views of beauty, bodies, and empowerment through the transformative art of burlesque,” says Wolf.
“This film is a tribute to the resilience, passion, and community found in burlesque, and we are incredibly grateful to the performers who bravely shared their stories of self-acceptance and healing. We hope that this recognition will help us reach more audiences with this uplifting story, inspiring viewers to embrace their true selves and discover the joy of self-expression.
Thank you to the LA Femme International Film Festival for this incredible honor and for supporting films that amplify the voices of women.”
THE HEALING POWER OF BURLESQUE
by Vicki Larson
Photo by Badenclare PhotographyBY
“New documentary takes on stereotypes of what’s beautiful and preconceptions about what kinds of bodies deserve to be seen.
Filmmaker Susan Wolf didn’t know much about burlesque when she and her film partner hired someone to work on their documentary on Mata Hari who happened to be in the burlesque world.
Like most people, Wolf, of the San Francisco Bay Area, thought burlesque was just about beautiful young women stripping and performing an erotic dance solely for the pleasure of men.
That couldn’t further from the truth.
With origins dating back to ancient Greek satirical plays, burlesque combines dance, music and parody as a way to both celebrate and ridicule sexuality while also poking fun at social mores and push boundaries, overwhelmingly performed and driven by women and femme-presenting women— for women.”