Dr Lola Montgomery

Dr Lola Montgomery is renowned as a creative researcher, as well as a burlesque icon and singer.

She has performed at major events such as Berlin Burlesque Week, Stockholm Burlesque Festival, Woodford Folk Festival, Valley Fiesta, Edinburgh Fringe and Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Her solo shows have headlined events like Tease-o-Rama’s North American tour and Australian Burlesque Festival and she was the first Australian to perform at the Burlesque Hall of Fame. Her full-length shows have toured nationally at festivals such as Adelaide Fringe. Her collaboration with Desert Blues Cartel, Vamp & Burn, has headlined the Wonderland Spiegeltent, Dockland Arts Laughs and Blues Festival and Port Douglas Carnivale. She also supported Nick Cave and Grinderman on their 2007 Australian tour.

Her shows famously chronicled in the major books of the new burlesque era – feature highly referenced sets that take flights of fancy from departure points like stained glass windows, Russian ballet, medieval armour, Mary Magdalene or Loie Fuller’s iconic art nouveau Serpentine Dance.

Lola has been integral to the development of the Australian burlesque revival since her debut in 2002, inspiring the opening of some of the very first burlesque clubs, as well as emerging performers and audiences alike. She has coproduced the Brisbane branch of Dr Sketchy’s Anti Art School Brisbane since 2009. An academic and researcher, Lola holds the strange but delightful distinction of being the first performer to earn a Doctorate of Philosophy by performing the art of burlesque.

She is a senior lecturer in the MCI with areas of specialty including experimentation, cultural theory, femme theory, intermezzo/liminal performance, French psychoanalytic philosophy, mask theory, and performance as research. She recently submitted her application to the Fellow of the Higher Education Association (FHEA) through Advance HE and sits on the Executive Committee for the Cultural Studies Association of Australasia.

‘a highly developed aesthetic and a sly wit…Lola is in a league of her own’ – The Age
‘Glorious! Cést magnifique, Lola!’ – Forever Crazy, Crazy Horse Paris’ London event

Selected Journal Articles

Montgomery, Lola (2022) (Auto)Theorizing the maternal interval: Burlesque performance as creative research, Continuum, 36:1, 102-116, DOI: 10.1080/10304312.2021.1958159

Montgomery, Lola (2020). “Becoming Burlesque: Performer Training in Contemporary Burlesque.” Fusion Journal, no. 17, pp. 107-119.

Selected Industry Publications:
Montgomery, L (2022) “The Kind of Thing That Happens” Cultural Studies Association of Australasia Blog

Montgomery, L (2019) “Burlesque Festivals: A History.” 21st Century Burlesque Magazine

Montgomery, L (2015) “Crystals in the Desert: A tour diary in Outback Australia”

Montgomery, LM (2005) “Lola The Vamp” The Next Big Thing, Spring Edition, Griffith University

Selected CONFERENCE PAPERS

2019

• Becoming Burlesque: Performer Training In Contemporary Burlesque – AusAct: Being Relevant, Queensland University of Technology
• Mary/Magdalene/Mother: Burlesque – Cultural Transformations, Cultural Studies Association of Australasia, University of Queensland
• The Vampire’s Wife: Collaboration and Meaning in the Work of Susie Cave, co-authored by Dr Elham Golpushnezad – Cultural Transformations, Cultural Studies Association of Australasia, University of Queensland

2015

• Burlesque as Research, Australian Burlesque Museum: Icons Conference, Melbourne

2012

• Neo-burlesque, Striptease and Sexuality on the Popular and not so Popular Stage – Australian Womens and Gender Studies Association Conference, University of NSW

2010

• Keynote Speaker, Beyond Burlesque Symposium – La Trobe University, ACMI, Melbourne

2009

• A Stacked Deck – Australian National University, Canberra Fringe, Canberra

2005

• History of the Australian Showgirl – Teaseorama Conference, San Francisco (GURPRS Travel Grant)

2003

• Lola The Vamp, Teaseorama Conference, Henry Fonda Theatre, Hollywood

Selected CREATIVE RESEARCH

Performances

Tease-o-rama, North American Tour (with Cirque Du Soleil) – Headliner (2008)
Burlesque Ball – Headliner (2006)
Bohemia Tour (AUS) – Headliner (2007)
Milonga Del Angel Tour (AUS) – Headliner (2008)
Bijou Cabaret – Headliner (2009)
34b Burlesque (Sydney, Au) Headliner
GoGo Burlesco (AUS and UK)
An Awful Lot of Vaudeville, Melbourne Fringe Festival (2011)
The Burlesque Ball (2006, 2010, 2011)
Tease-o-rama (Hollywood, 2003)
Tease-o-rama (San Francisco, 2005)
Nick Cave Solo and Grinderman support (2007)
Woodford Folk Festival (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012)
Valley Fiesta (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010)
Big Day Out (2003, 2004, 2005)
Exotic World (Las Vegas, 2006)
Miss Burlesque Australia Grand Final judge, state judge ongoing (2009)
The Poor Slob & The Good Fairy, Adelaide Fringe and Anywhere Festival (2015)
Vamp & Burn Wonderland Spiegeltent, Docklands Festival, Port Douglas Carnivale (2014-16)
The Planting Festival (2019)

Selected CREATIVE WORK

Exhibitions:

The Lola Show – an exhibition by 5 artists, Brisbane (2005)
Icons – an exhibition of memorabilia from Australia’s burlesque Icons, by Australian Burlesque Museum, Melbourne (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019).

Selected Media/Press:

Getaway
Mornings With Kerri-Anne
The Today Show
A Current Affair
Yumi Stynes No.2 – Highlight of Big Day Out tour (2005)
Channel V
Cover story The Age M Magazine (2006)
The Courier Mail
MX
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Age
The Guardian (2015)
The Huffington Post (2013)

Film:

“The Poor Slob and The Good Fairy” Cannes Film Festival debut (2006) – Producer/director/actress
“Lola The Vamp” Griffith Film School (2010)

Music:

Sed Diabolus, single for solo installation exhibition (2000)
Ma Cherie, single by Desert Blues Cartel (2015)
The Blues Will Not Save You, EP by Desert Blues Cartel (2017)
Irresolute (band)

Accolades:

8 Hottest Burlesque Stars of All Time – City Pages (Canada, 2010)
First Australian to perform at Burlesque Hall of Fame (2006)
21st Century Burlesque World Top 50 (2015)
21st Century Burlesque World #20/Australian #1 (2016)