"The girl who puts the 'oh!' in Colorado"
"Her Mile High-ness"

 

A versatile vixen of the classic ecdysiasts art, Vivienne VaVoom can generally be found bumping and grinding a mile high in her hometown of Denver. Known for her "Timeless Tease" style, this classic coquette has performed around the country and the world, including Miss Exotic World, Tease-O-Rama, New York Burlesque Fest, the Helsinki Burlesque Fest and Miss Burlesque New Zealand. Vivienne is dedicated to increasing the population of burlesque queens in Denver with her monthly "School of Burlesque" lessons. In 2013 she celebrates 15 years on the burlesque stage. Her alter ego, Michelle Baldwin, wrote THE book on the neo-burlesque scene, Burlesque and the The New Bump & Grind.

Great video interview about my roots and what I love about burlesque!

 

Vivienne VaVoom from Durward D Jones on Vimeo.

Vivienne wrote the book Burlesque and the New Bump and Grind and is featured in several burlesque books:

 

Press:

I was named one of Westword's 100 Colorado Creatives!

Vivienne Vavoom: Spreading the Gospel of Glitter- June 4, 2013
Absolutely honored to have a peice on the Burlesque Hall of Fame site written by my very talented student Jill Rothenberg

There’s No Pussy-Footing in Burlesque-Aug 10, 2012
by Stephanie Richards
"There was something incredibly liberating about seeing a grown woman dancing almost naked in a very public museum...Her body was so luscious, so perfectly feminine and beautiful...Vavoom was radiant, and her movements were natural. Her dance reminded me of the way it feels to swim nude in the ocean: a bit naughty, but oh-so-right—preternatural beauty at its finest."

New York Burlesque Festival Friday Premiere Party
"Vivienne Vavoom demonstrates the right way to use a half-and-half costume, turning her puppet upstage and making Drac’s mauling of her totally convincing, and keeping us engaged without losing more than gloves."
BurlesqueBeat.com

My favorite review ever, from a young fellow at the Hot IQ's final show:
Hot IQs Farewell Show - June 19, 2009
"The lights go down and Journey's universally beloved/abhorred superhit "Don't Stop Believin'" begins as Pinstripe introduces "Vivienne VaVoom."
A pair of fishnet-clad gams strolls across the stage, their owner hidden behind two oversided blue feather fans.
She has an enormous, lovely smile on her face.
We are offered teasing glances of Miss VaVoom's figure for a while but when she turns tail we are staggered by the force of one seriously inimitable ass.
It is worth noting that almost every single person in the venue is singing along to the song.
Alex almost faints."

Bill Husted's Bar & Grilled
Burlesque star lives for bump, grind, mind

"As Denver's preeminent burlesque queen, she perfects the art of strip tease."
By Bill Husted
The Denver Post
June 04, 2009

"Leadville or Bust" and "The Black Box Burlesque" ***
"a touch of class, a touch of sass and a touch of . . ."
By John Moore
Denver Post Theater Critic
March 20, 2009

Taking it Off Takes Off
Westword
March 13, 2009

Burlesque as It Is
Author and performer reflects on the movement today

By Marisa Demarco
February 12 - 18, 2009

Taking a Page from pinup's book
Modern-day burlesque, punk and rockabilly fans inspired by '50s icon

Denver Post
December 16, 2008

The Candy Gram: Vivienne VaVoom
thecandypitch.blogspot.com
Friday, August 22, 2008

New York Burlesque Festival: Premiere Party at the Bell House
"Colorado’s Vivienne Vavoom is the kind of girl R. Crumb would love. Blond, cute, compact upstairs and Rubenesque downstairs; white sparkly dress, classic...Surprisingly, wicked hot disrobed. A straight-up Greek goddess with legs one aches to climb."
JD Oxblood
September 25, 2008

Red Hot White and Blue
Catch Stars and Striptease at this USO Burlesque Show

Westword
July 02, 2008

THE BUZZ
Dave Flomberg, Rocky Mountain News
May 1, 2008
"In fact, the only thing that could tear me away was the graduation performance of Miss Vivienne VaVoom's newest batch of burlesque beauties, a uniquely lovely group of babes bookended by performances by Vivienne herself and Fannie Spankings, two seasoned starlets that make any stage beautiful."

Picts of the late, great Pink Elephant club

Club hoppin', March 16
By Alex Neth, Rocky Mountain News
March 16, 2007

"Baldwin, founder of the Burlesque as It Was troupe, might be Denver's busiest human - when she's not performing, writing books (Burlesque and the New Bump-N-Grind), appearing on television (Trading Spaces) or teaching newbies the art of the tassel flip, she's increasing Denver's ambient level of cool simply by leaving the house."

Art of Seduction
Pauline Diamond for The Scotsman
March 11, 2007
Michelle Baldwin, aka Vivienne VaVoom, a burlesque performer herself and the founder of Burlesque As It Was, one of the most respected burlesque troupes in the US, agrees. "I think the nostalgia comes from a basic longing for glamour. There's so little glamour in our modern culture that it makes sense that people on the scene would reach back into the past to a time when full make-up, hats, gloves, corsets and the like were everyday wear."

Saddle up for Wild West Burlesque
Grizzly Rose books boot-scootin' biggies | Champagne dinner

Denver Post
January 05, 2007

10 girls, 9 costumes: now that's what I call burlesque
Twirling nipple tassels, comic eroticism, vulgar fun, burlesque is booming here and in America.Times2 discovers its proud British roots

London Times Online
June 22, 2006

No-Hassle Tassels
September 28, 2006

Burlesquer Bares Brains
Michelle Baldwin and her troupe have peel appea
l

By Kity Ironton
June 17, 2004

 
Audio and Video Interviews
  • Helsinki Radio They call me 'Vivica', but they're so adorable I don't mind!
 
 
Archives:
New York Press
B-listers - 06/06/2003
MTV News
Christina, Gwen Stefani, Dita Von Teese Help Bring Back Burlesque - 11/04/2002
Newsweek
Take It (Almost) All Off - 01/27/2003

Denver Post
You name it, they have it at eclectic Artopia - 02/28/2003
Burlesque struts back into fashion - 11/25/2002
Bawdy burlesque is back - 09/13/2002
Keep it on! - 06/2002
Mixotica hot event at the Red Monkey - 04/26/2002
"Burlesque as It Was" revives lost art - 01/18/2002
Just a little old-time dancing - 04/2001
You've Got to Have Heart - 03/03/2001
Old-time burlesque looking for a few good strippers - 09/16/2000

Arizona Republic
June 23: Burlesque Fest - 06/19/2003
Phoenix New Times
Nude Awakening: Scantily clad good time - 05/19/2003

TimesSquare.com
Celebrating the Tease Without the Sleaze- 02/14/2002

Rocky Mountain News
High St. Speakeasy says a Lot -
08/08/2003
Keep It On! - 2/13/1999

Spanish GQ
Chicas con gusto picante

Westword
Burlesque gets huge - 11/28/2002
Risqué Business:
Old-time burlesque returns with a retro cool
- 09/12/2002
Club Scout Burlesque-Fest - 09/12/2002
Are you gonna wear that? - 04/18/2002
Sounds Like Fun: Around the World in 80 Girls - 9/14/2000
Best approximation of a turn-of-the-century strip show - 6/29/2000
If you're bringing something back, why not burlesque? - 6/22/2000
Naked Launch - 7/23/1998

Boulder Weekly
Burlesque... past and present:
Has striping lost its tease?
- 04/05/2001

GO-GO Magazine
Burlesque: Babes and Booze? - 12/12/2002