SEAF2016 performance by The Lady B.
It has been a profound honor and pleasure to serve as Performance Director for the festival these last three years. The opportunity to work with and showcase world class performance artists in an environment geared toward highlighting art that may not otherwise enjoy the platform it deserves has been a definitive bright spot in my career. I have learned the responsibility involved in shaping decisions about what art is selected for showcase and have come to better understand the need for change in the performance curatorial process.
Now more than ever…
Now more than ever, the voices and work of underrepresented populations need to be heard and seen in hopes of celebrating difference as core to human beauty and a source of greater richness in human connection.
Now more than ever, I find it my responsibility as director to not only learn how better to feature greater diversity in the performers I select for showcase, but to make sure I am bringing a wider variety of voices into leadership roles shaping how performances work and look at the Seattle Erotic Art Festival. This year, I am re-envisioning my role as director to function not as curator, but as someone to facilitate the curation of the festival by four local performance luminaries I am honored to call my colleagues.
Allow me to introduce the Seattle Erotic Art Festival’s 15th anniversary Guest Curators of Stage Performances:
Please take a moment to read about these formidable artists here.
I look forward to sharing the the wonder of their performance showcases with you.
Photo by David Peterman.
Sincerely,
Jesse Belle-Jones
Performance Director
2017 Seattle Erotic Art Festival
Jesse Belle-Jones is a post-disciplinary artist is based in Seattle, WA focusing on burlesque and cabaret. Locally, she has appeared at On the Boards, Triple Door, The Showbox, Teatro Zinzanni, Henry Art Gallery, and other venues. She has taught, performed, and co-produced at venues across North America and in the United Kingdom. Local festival appearances include Seattle International Dance Festival, Lo-Fi Art Festival, Moisture Festival, and Mo’Wave. Offstage, Jesse is serving in her third year as the performance director for the Seattle Erotic Art Festival and her fifth year on the board of directors for the Foundation for Sex Positive Culture.