Today we’d like to introduce you to Cat LaCohie.
Hi Cat , please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started working in Burlesque and Circus in London, England in 2006.
I moved to LA in 2012 and started performing locally and began my own teaching academy in 2014. It began with just one 90min Intro To Burlesque class and a 5 week act development course. Over the years I developed the course into a full act creation course “Permission To Play” and launched an online version of it in 2016.
At the same time I had fellow performers interested in learning how to eat fire and I started teaching small classes to people I knew in my back yard. I was also running a burlesque experience for “Airbnb Experiences” and one night the power went out!! With no light or air conditioning and a group of 10 people with nothing to do, I said, “would you be interested in learning to eat fire”. The session was a success and I reported back to Airbnb who then approved the session to be listed as an additional experience.
By 2019 I was running my “Permission To Play” programme in person and online, and teaching Fire Eating classes monthly. When the pandemic hit in 2020 I moved all my training online and started teaching Fire Fans (unlit of course) and offered my burlesque intro class to Airbnb who were now moving all their experiences to an online format. At this time I had also started looking into motivational speaker training as so many students had benefitted in all aspects of their life from Burlesque training and I wanted to get the word of Burlesque out to a larger audience.
This speaker training introduced me to a whole new world of entrepreneurs running 3 day events and year long programmes and it felt time to step up my game and develop my year long “Pro-Level” burlesque training programme. In addition, these entrepreneurs were picking up on the benefits of Burlesque and the team-building breakthroughs of working with fire and began to bring me on board for THEIR events and run group trainings in both.
Inspired by working at these events I now run the twice-yearly retreat “Fire and Flight” with aerialist Amanda Ritchie – a mixture of fire and aerial performance training in addition to photoshoots and a final showcase performance on the final day. I also launched my “Pro-Level” year long Burlesque programme in 2023 in addition to three 3 Day Intensive workshops which cover all aspects of Burlesque- performance skills training, confidence and charisma and skill in creating stronger act concepts.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
A huge struggle was trying to do it all myself. That was a big lesson. In order to scale my business I had to find people to partner with and to build a team. I’m so grateful to have the right people walk into my life at the right time who have supported me and helped me to grow. I have also had some fabulous business coaches to give me great advice, encourage me to keep going and guide me on the path to exploring new scary, but exciting territory.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I most proud of my new year long programme “Pro-level Pathway”. The ability to work with students who are committed to improving and transforming themselves and to watch how they grow and develop over the year is so satisfying. I believe what sets me apart is having built a training programme that covers ALL aspects of being a Burlesque performer. It’s not just about gaining dance skills and performance skills but also looking at personal development – building confidence on stage AND off stage as well as being able to improve your costume and design skills in the theatrical world in addition to learning the business side of burlesque, building your brand, negotiating contracts and actually getting booked for work. I like to think of myself more as a mentor than a teacher – I am personally invested in helping each of my students achieve their goals and to guide and support them in each of their individual journeys.
What’s next?
Most recently I was brought in to facilitate a fire workshop for 40 software engineers out in Chicago as well as bring my burlesque workshops to a Women’s entrepreneur group. I’m really enjoying being able to bring this work to non-performers and see how positively they respond to the mentality behind Burlesque and the personal transformations that happen during these sessions, as well as seeing the joy people get from discovering their super human ability to eat fire and how this opens them up to the idea of what else they are capable of.
I’m excited to branch out and run more of these workshops for non-performer industries while also increasing my intake for next year’s “Pro-Level Pathway” programme.
Pricing:
- – 2hr Intro To Burlesque (In Los Angeles) $45 per person
- – Permission To Play (in person or online) $597
- – Learn To Eat Fire (In Los Angeles) $70 per person
- – Pro-Level Pathway year long training $10-12k
- – Fire and Flight Retreat – Packages range from $997 – $1697
Contact Info:
- Website: www.VixenDeVille.com, www.FireandFlight.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/VixenDeVille
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Vixdeville/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/vixen-deville-burlesque-and-body-confidence-los-angeles
- Other: https://speaker.catlacohie.com/
Image Credits
Photography:
Flying Lion Cabaret
Art Ruffin
