‘Everyone should celebrate burlesque’… This is the message from Australian-born, London-based burlesque artist and mental health ambassador Sapphira, who is launching a global #burlequeinbootschallenge, an online dance challenge, set to her Drum n Bass reworking of Nancy Sinatra’s, Boots Are Made for Walkin’
Presented by Sapphira’s online learning platform, the World Burlesque Academy App, World Burlesque Day connects 57 countries online and this year everyone will be celebrating once again on Wednesday 26th April 2023.
Sapphira launched the challenge filming it on Westminster Bridge and she will be popping up at locations around the UK whilst other dance schools and people around the world film their contributions and post them online.
“When I launched the first World Burlesque Day from my kitchen during the lockdown, I had no idea we would reach 57 countries,” says Sapphira. “Already we have entries for the Dance Challenge coming in from Denmark and Chile. The goal really is to get many people as possible to try burlesque because it changed my life and gave me so much self-esteem after a terrible breakdown in my 20s. I've created a free module for World Burlesque Day on the app I initiated called the World Burlesque Academy. It's been amazing to see people in Mexico showing me they've downloaded the app and are learning the dance moves from there. I've realised this is so big and the goal is to get 1 million subscribers on the app and thousands of entries for the #burlesqueinbootschallenge."
Sapphira's global initiative for World Burlesque Day and World Burlesque Academy was this year recognised by Virgin StepUp. Sapphira, who has met Sir Richard Branson, made the cut to be one of 20 entrepreneurs on Virgin Start Up’s StepUp programme in February. Her selection into the Virgin StepUp programme, for founders who want to take their businesses to scale, helped her prepare to scale her business initiative, the World Burlesque Academy App, an online learning platform, to one million members and the Dance Challenge idea was formed during this training week.
Now, These Boots Are Made for Walkin’, the result of one of her Bristol recordings with music industry staple, Doc Moody, has found a new purpose in the upcoming global Dance Challenge.
“We first played this version in a live DJ set on the Kamikazi stage at Shambala a few years ago and it was the biggest tune in the set. The dance floor went crazy. I can’t wait to see the digital world come to life when we launch our dance challenge, it’s going to be great!” says DJ/producer, Doc Moody.
DJ/Producer Doc Moody is best known for his career spanning 30 years and most notably as the Live DJ for Onallee & Futurism 3.0 plus residencies at Blowpop UK, Superstyling South Africa and the prestigious Soho House, New York. The pair met in Bristol and have been collaborating long distance between Bristol, Wales, Melbourne and London for over a decade.