The burlesque queen and community organizer on her seductively subversive act and how shes helping put people of color center stage.
Burlesque queen, agitator of the status quo and community organizer Xandra Ibarra aka La Chica Boom, on her seductively subversive act and how she’s helping put people of color center stage.
ON CREATING HER ALTER EGO:
La Chica Boom is informed by my Queer Chicana wit. I chose this name and character to point to my gender, race and ethnicity in a sort of campy fashion. I usually perform in what I call “ethnic drag” because it’s what I enjoy most and it’s how my character communicates her Chicana femme-ness. I use Chicana and Mexican iconography, twist it, camp it, queer it and then serve it to audiences on a rusted platter.
ON TOPPING A PIÑATA ON STAGE:
I guess you could say I am a piñata dominatrix. There is a wealth of piñata bottoms in the world, they always want to get hit, kicked, humiliated, beat, and eventually fisted. Yep, that’s what I do. I am the Dominatrix of the Barrio. Piñatas, if you are reading this, please make sure to contact me for more information at lachicaboom.com.
ON WHAT SHE FINDS ATTRACTIVE IN A PARTNER:
I like loud women and trans people. I like people who are disastrously correct, positively sinful, anti-dogmatic, creative, and above all—I like people in sequined little panties.
ON KALEIDOSCOPE CABARET:
I founded Kaleidoscope, An Annual National People of Color Cabaret in 2007 in Seattle. For the past two years, the show has found its new home at the Brava Theater in San Francisco. I decided to create Kaleidoscope Cabaret because it was really important that performers of color take center stage. Often we are one or two tokens in most neo-burlesque shows, where usually we serve as sort of the exotic point of reference. The show entertains and casts light on the knowledge, actions, and transformations that pertain not only to people of color.