'It can be comedic, bold, powerful' - Waterford burlesque dancer on unique career

A Waterford woman who has pursued a career in burlesque has shared what that journey has looked like for her over the last number of years. 

Sinéad Gould, also known as Bonnie Boux, has been dancing for as long as she can remember.

"Me and my friend Louise have just been dancing together our whole lives. We'd dance in my sitting room, do local talent shows, we'd mix music on tapes off the radio. We would just enter anything that was around us. So I've been dancing for fun for a long time," she said.

At 16-years-old, Sinéad started to teach dance and has not stopped 20 years on. 

She has always loved performing too and that became a career option for her once she reached her 20s.

"I love that moment on stage.  I love that sense of community when you're backstage with all the other performers and there really is no feeling like it," she said.

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As performing is one of the main aspects of dance that Sinéad loves, the transition to burlesque is what Sinéad described as quite a "natural process." 

"It was one of those things that just happened naturally through finding the style of dance I really wanted to do, which was more heels, sensual, fierce, and then also wanting to perform on stage, but it isn't as glamorous as it seems," Sinéad shared.

In Ireland, many of the venues that shows are put on are not actually set up as theatres and therefore don't have dressing rooms.

Sometimes they don't even have a private place for performers to mentally and physically prepare for the show as they are just constantly in front of the audience. 

"So many times I've been getting changed in broom closets and everything to go on stage. Genuinely, it's no one's fault as well, it's just really interesting. The venues aren't set up to be theatre places," Sinéad said. 

Despite the lack of facilities, some of these places are among her favourite to perform in. 

"We have to use these smaller venues, which have so much more charm and a different energy and it's great craic. It's got that more feral, like breaking the fourth wall energy, which I love, but with that comes no backstage," Sinéad explained. 

Because of the lack of backstage space or dressing rooms, Sinéad has become more selective with the shows she chooses to take part in. 

"I'm just being way more honest in what I need in even to feel grounded. I need a place to like safely stretch. I've actually said no to a couple of gigs because I got asked to go back to this place and there's no and there's no private little room even. You're just out in front of the audience all the time. I need energy-wise to be able to come away from that and switch off," she explained.

Stretching is important for Sinéad as she suffers with chronic pain and a soft tissue disorder in her joints. 

She explained to me how burlesque isn't actually a dance style though, it is an artform. 

"You don't have to be this big trained dancer. You don't have to do auditions. You can just create your own stage piece and express yourself and join the community, so it's a really inclusive way to express yourself and to perform," she said. 

Generally with burlesque, people choose a stage name to go by. 

Sinéad's is Bonnie Boux, which she says she didn't put too much thought into. 

"I like the name Bonnie and then I liked the whole BB and boux is French for pout. Now, lots of people call me Bonnie and it's stuck in terms of being recognised as a brand. It's just cohesive because it's my stage name, but it's also like a brand name. I can also introduce myself as that name in different spaces and places, regardless of what I'm doing," she shared.

Sinéad also explained how burlesque is similar to storytelling but with a slight element of strip-teasing. 

"Commercially burlesque is known for that kind of maybe more on the side of showgirl, it's on a spectrum, I suppose. People might see high kicks and acrobatic moves and think, 'God, you've got to be really fit to be a burlesque performer,' but that's only if that's your style of burlesque. There's some incredible burlesque performers that don't incorporate lots of dance into their performance. It could be really comedic, really bold, really powerful, political, like satire, like bringing in stories but not necessarily doing choreography," she said. 

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Sinéad started dancing as a child but moved more towards burlesque in and around 2016.

Her mam has always been her biggest supporter by making her costumes and keeping her anxiety at bay whenever it flares up.

In 2016, she saw an ad on Facebook for Miss Burlesque Ireland and encouraged Sinéad to apply.

She finished in the top three, winning Miss Showgirl that same year, and then went on to win the Miss Burlesque Ireland competition in 2022.

Sinéad had mentioned anxiety was a challenge for her at the time and so I wondered how she had the confidence to perform in that capacity. 

"I had a certain level of confidence for sure, but not to where it is now and that's because I just put myself out there," she explained. 

Some people have mentors for burlesque, which she feels would help with confidence and not messing up on stage, something she would have liked to have had. 

Another challenge Sinéad has faced comes from social media and getting shadow banned on Instagram. 

Because of her costumes and certain moves, Instagram regularly flags her content as sexually explicit. 

"To them, it's a sexual nature. A lot of time they flag my posts and say it's soliciting, which it's not like, it's just a dance routine. There's places and spaces for that, I'm not putting that down, but I'm like advertising a dance class and then it'll just get flagged for going against the guidelines," she said.

She added that this can be very annoying but she knows it's normal in the industry.

"Anyone that's expressing themselves in that way are all just getting flagged but not shagged, sadly," Sinéad said. 

Thankfully, she doesn't get much backlash for the things she posts and says the industry has a very safe, supportive community.

"Inclusivity and self-love is at the core of it and feeling free in your body. Unless you're asking for a constructive criticism because you want to improve your performance, that's different, but we don't go around handing out criticism to each other. I suppose the internet is a whole other world. You're exposed to all sorts but you're exposed to that whether you're doing burlesque or not. If you're putting yourself out there, you're getting criticism regardless. Now, luckily I don't," she said.

One thing she does get is some "awful men" in her DMs.

Sinéad does pull them up on their behaviour though and many have apologised to her afterwards. 

For anyone thinking of dipping their toe into burlesque, Sinéad recommends attending a class or getting a mentor. 

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Awareness of your own body is also important as you can then start working on sequences that you want to work on. 

Attending a newbie night is another helpful tip Sinéad would give. 

"Once you have footage of one act and once you've kind of create connection with people in the same community, that's when the ball will start rolling, you know. I think the advice to get into it is just remain authentic to yourself and try and connect with others in the same place, if you can," she said. 

Workshops and dance classes are something that Sinéad runs on a regular basis, ranging from twerking and dancing in heels to burlesque. 

These lessons have allowed Sinéad to keep working in a sensual dancing space even while slightly struggling with the idea of slowing down on the performing side of it.

"I've pulled back a lot on the style that I would do. I don't really perform that much anymore because of my joints and stuff. I wear knee pads on stage, which don't look pretty, so then that means I usually wear boots on stage, which means then the whole look of my costume changes. I style it around boots, which does limit me sometimes for things I would like to do but I can't deal with the pain of my knees," Sinéad said. 

Christmas is generally quite a busy time for her in terms of burlesque performances and lessons but this year she has just one booking. 

"You've got to be careful what you wish for because I asked for change and I needed it but it can be an emotional transition because it's your art form,"  she explained. 

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In terms of the future of Bonnie Boux and burlesque, it's uncertain at the moment. 

She knows she will always have a place in her heart for it, but is not one for a five year plan.

"I think the future for me as a creative is it'll always be there. I will always have that in me and I will definitely curate moments for me to still work as an artist, whether that's in burlesque or dance, but it's not just because of this question with burlesque, I couldn't really answer anything for the future for me," she said. 

She does hope to find her person in the next few years but does have a few non-negotiables when it comes to a relationship.

Her partner must have trust and confidence in themselves and therefore trust and confidence in her, especially considering her career path.

"At this stage of my life, I just want to meet someone in person and know that you like the smell of them. With that being said, I don't really date because I actually haven't met people. People probably think I'm getting asked out all the time because of what I do but it's actually the opposite," she said.

Sinéad stressed that it is so important to remain true to yourself in life and having the right friends around you keeps you on track and grounded, she says. 

"That's where I am in my life. I'm really pouring love into my relationships of all kinds in my life. Community and friendship is just so important and that will lead you to your successes in life," she concluded. 

If you would like to find out more information on Sinéad's classes or workshops, visit her website Bonnieboux.com or her Instagram @bonnieboux.