Where can I see it?
Most Voraxica shows are, by the very nature of the genre, secretive and rarely publicized. We hope to try to cover news regarding
Voraxica and other, similar, like-minded events on this site.
You can also check out the Catclaw Theatre Company's website, as well as the homepage for Jeffrey Scott Holland's randomly occurring traveling show called The Voraxium.
Would you like to host a Voraxica show in your area, or even put one on yourself? We'd love to help! Contact us and let's talk!
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What is Voraxica?
Originally a term coined in 1999 by "transplanetary" performance artist Jennifer Ray during a drunken spree,
Voraxica is part of a new lexicon for a new civilization. The term is intended to replace the outmoded and played-out concept of "burlesque" but is far more all-compassing in terms of range, scope and taste than its predecessor.
Years ago, we were thrilled when the modern burlesque revival began, but like the Rockabilly and Swing revivals before it, it quickly got homogenized into something very predictable and narrow, nothing like the richly idiosyncratic early days of burlesque and vaudeville. Nowadays, when you
say "burlesque" to someone, they automatically have their own ideas of what that means, and usually they're very one-dimensional. The same goes for the word "vaudeville". It would be a fruitless effort to go on a campaign to reclaim the word "burlesque", so we're going down in the basement
to start something else instead.
So what is it, exactly? Think of it as a 21st century cabaret revue, one that requires a four-dimensional sense of aesthetics from its audience. Voraxica uses any and all cultural tools at its disposal to get the job done. We are not a modernized, goth-ified, hipster remake of old burlesque. We are not
a empty and formulaic simulacra of "the good old days" of vaudeville, robotically fetishizing that which is "retro". We are drawing from a deeper, more powerful set of aesthetics that already contains everything created on Earth since ancient times.
Think of it as a variety show that places such an
extreme focus on "variety" that an expanded definition of the term was necessary.
That's the beauty of it: there's no such thing as a "typical" Voraxica show. Voraxica succeeds where so many "shock" troupes and avant-garde acts have failed, in temporarily conjuring up a place where, for a brief time, anything can happen.
Let us be pedantic and stress that again: we are not paying lip service or using the phrase casually. Yes, we are
saying a Voraxica show is a place where, quite literally, anything can happen. If you have limited taste in music, limited taste in theatre, and limited taste in life experiences in general, you won't like Voraxica at all.
If you're easily offended, stay away from Voraxica. If you think that everything in life is pretty much as it seems, you lack the sensory capability of even receiving what Voraxica is transmitting.
Voraxican Pre-history
Among the many unsung, forgotten, or misunderstood heroes of the past whose contribution to mankind has helped shape the path towards the dawning of the age of Voraxica, these names especially come to mind:
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