Welcome to the Academy of Burlesque and Cabaret!

Run by burlesque performers and teachers Gypsy Charms and Viva Misadventure, the Academy runs dance classes across the country as well as supplying burlesque and cabaret performers for events nationwide.

Based in Scotland, the Academy also aims to promote the art of burlesque north of the border, creating a working support network for artists and encouraging and developing new talent.

What is burlesque?

Burlesque has its origins in nineteenth century music hall entertainments and vaudeville, and later emerged as a populist blend of satire, performance art and adult entertainment which featured striptease and comedy.  The cult of 'new burlesque' revives the classic forms of burlesque and adds a modern twist. 

At the Academy of Burlesque and Cabaret, we focus on the teaching and performance of both the classic and modern styles of the art form.

We merge glamorous Broadway burlesque with Parisian cabaret dance, draw influence from tradition vaudeville including the comedic, bawdy British-style burlesque, and embrace the old-fashioned bump ‘n’ grind of sensual stripteases. 

Who we are

Gypsy and Viva have a wealth of experience in both performing and teaching, and draw upon their joint strengths in burlesque and cabaret to provide high-quality performances and instruction in both.

Gypsy Charms

Miss Gypsy Charms was born in the fair city of Edinburgh, where until the age of 17 she saw very little of life outside of her dance school.  Reminded (constantly) that a career in the arts might result in working for the fast food outlet of her choice, she resigned herself to a more conventional life. Emigrating to the Wild West of Glasgow, she studied film, the least sensible of all academic options.  Her overriding urge to entertain continued to plague her, kept at bay through teaching aerobics classes, until her degree finished, student debt grew and unemployment loomed.  She took desperate measures and ventured into a “sensible” post-grad.  Alas, unable to sell her soul to the corporate ethos, she finally embraced her desire to entertain.  She fell into the seductive world of exotic dancing.  However, indoctrination into the academic world had left its scars; she decided to undertake postgraduate research on the subject.  The Academy was born of the frustration of social acceptance, first wave feminism and a love of the art of burlesque.

Viva Misadventure

Like Gypsy, Viva spent her early years cavorting through various dance schools, when the highlights of her young life were her weekly ballet, jazz and tap lessons.  As a teenager, drawn to the glamour of Broadway musicals, Fame re-runs and even the Brian Rogers dancers on 3-2-1, she decided to bite the bullet and train full-time as a dancer. 

On graduating, she took to the life of a showgirl like a duck to water.  A decade of international adventures followed, as Viva can-canned in Paris, entertained Bollywood stars in India, cruised the ports of the Mediterranean and tangoed her way through South America.

Now based once more in her hometown of Edinburgh, Viva continues to embrace her passion for dance and entertainment, bringing burlesque and cabaret to new audiences and participants.