“It’s a passion.”
For Joliee Blak (she/her), performing in the Cleveland drag and burlesque scene is far more than a simple hobby or pastime. “Dance was always a part of my life,” she explains. “I started training at 16 and started teaching at 18.” Being an artist and performer at heart, however, Joliee found herself immersed in artistic endeavors beyond just dance. “I played violin for ten years as well as piano and flute. It all just kind of molded me into being this drag sensation. Everything was building up to that.”
Unsurprisingly, Joliee’s heart for performing led her to the local drag scene where she felt a powerful connection to what was playing out onstage. “I was like, I need to do that. There’s no question, I just need to do that.” Fascinated by what she witnessed, Joliee approached Cleveland performer Shari Turner (“Shari was just open arms, so sweet”) who took the time after a show to speak with her about getting into the world of drag. “It just clicked.”
Never satisfied to be pigeonholed, however, Joliee sought to expand her form of artistic expression through burlesque. “I was like, whoa, we can mix those?? Burlesque kind of just inched its way in there, you have some burlesque performers that do a lot of drag shows as well.”
With her artistic breadth and performance experience, Joliee hopes to bring something more to the Cleveland drag and burlesque scene. Perhaps compelled by the support of Shari Turner, Joliee has been intentional in making herself available to other performers. “I never mind helping anybody,” she explains. “In dressing rooms, I’m making sure that I’m kind of like that mother hen.”
With the political and cultural shift that has occurred within the last few years regarding drag performances and transness in general, Joliee views her role as “mother hen” to be increasingly important in a world seemingly intent on erasing the LGBTQ+ community. “That’s where community comes in, right? I mean, we want people to be themselves, but understand that to be yourself could bring harm. Therefore, if we’re doing it all as a community together, there’s more strength in that. It doesn’t mean we won’t be attacked, there’s just more strength in that. And we can fight that.”
For Joliee, ultimately that fight is accomplished by being true to ourselves and showing up for one another through the power of art. “For me, and we’ve heard this many times, but it’s that one misfit kid who sees one of my performances and says, ‘Hey, I can do that too, let’s get up there!!’”
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