One woman discovers herself and her calling
Lavinia Vale, (also known as Chrissy Mackey) moved to California from her hometown of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in the early 2000s to be an actress. The classically trained opera singer (spinto soprano) who specializes in fire eating and breathing, glass walking and all-around variety performer had her share of film roles and other jobs working background in films and a few TV shows, such as the Wanda Sykes and The Bernie Mac shows.
She finds power and empowerment in performing pieces from jazz to power ballads to symphonic metal to actual arias.
This was an unexpected road for the burlesque performer, who is also in the process of writing her dissertation. Her degree field is industrial and organizational psychology with a focus on training and learning. She uses games to train people in soft skills for business purposes.
It’s ironic, because the art of burlesque contains a playful quality — the tease. Lavinia said she doesn’t perform traditional burlesque. In her case, she brings humor to her act, which is traditional to burlesque. Originating in 1860s Britain, burlesque was a humorous art, caricaturing serious literary, dramatic or musical works. Eventually, it evolved in America with emphasis on the “exotic elements” that were more subtle in British performances. This is where Lavinia’s act differs. The storyline is the focus in her performances, rather than the striptease, though that’s present too. Lavinia pulls it all together to reveal a strong, capable woman.
What follows is a story of a woman finding herself when she least expected it.
Growing up in a “fairly strict” Christian home, she said she wasn’t familiar with burlesque. But her husband had seen it. He told her about it and she asked him to take her to a show.
“I remember watching the show and then speaking to a couple of the performers [and] just being impressed,” Lavinia said.
The performers struck her as empowered, carefree, confident and comfortable in their own skin. She noted they “almost seemed like wizards.”
Lavinia recalled thinking she could never perform like that, as her self esteem, then, was really low. The entertainers firmly told her “No. Anybody can do this. You just need to find some classes and learn the art.”
In 2019, Lavinia began taking burlesque classes. After three different classes, the style of teaching just wasn’t “sinking with her.” In fact, she felt worse. A friend encouraged her to check out one more class, by private instructor Vixen DeVille. Lavinia enrolled in the “Permission to Play” course. The course gave her permission to let go. She recalled spending the first 45 minutes of the class crying.
DeVille asked her why she hated a particular thing about herself. When Lavinia’s answer highlighted what other people say, her teacher responded, “what do you say?” It was a turning point. Lavinia credits that class with gaining much more confidence and reestablishing her love of the stage and theater.
The first course questions were, what is one of your greatest strengths followed by what is one of your greatest weaknesses? The answers to both, Lavinia said, have always been her intelligence. It was both a strength and a weakness. The youngest in her class by about six months, she started school early. She also has severe ADHD. She explained her mind is constantly analyzing everything and she’s able to put things together very quickly.
“It was seen as a great thing by adults but it wasn’t so great with classmates,” she recalled.
“I never really felt comfortable with the idea of being intelligent. We talked about why that was an issue for me and of course that was one of the things that made me break down and cry … what she just said to me it (was) life changing, a revelation. It helped me to see things … to see myself through a different lens.”
A Name
Lavinia adopted the name of her paternal first and second great grandmothers.
“It’s unique and I was going for a classic feel to (my stage) name,” she said.
Lavinia made her burlesque debut at Vixen DeVille’s 15th anniversary in 2020, an online event. A portion of the event proceeds was directed towards the “Vixens Unleashed” scholarship program. The scholarship fund provides “life-changing training for women in need all over the world.” The training has helped people work through issues including depression, eating disorders, recovery after major life changes and healing after physical or emotional abuse.
Lavinia has much to share about grief, technology and the arts. She tells stories through her performances, including those which are either fire-related or burlesque. Her creativity and wit, coupled with her artistry, offer a mixture of acts from serious and empowering to light-hearted and silly. It’s evident that this is fun for her.
“I like telling stories and that’s usually how I tailor my acts,” Lavinia said. “The act isn’t just me stripping but (it’s) also listening to the words. Everything works together to tell that story.”
Burlesque helped Lavinia work through her grief from her father’s death from COVID-19 on Dec. 22, 2020.
“It was super difficult,” she said. “I was really upset. My dissertation is for me; I don’t want to say it’s for him but he was so excited to find out they were going to have a doctor in the family.”
Lavinia’s father was supposed to take part in a recognition ceremony, placing her doctoral hood over her head signifying her success in completing her graduate program. The last time she spoke to her dad was Nov. 6 of that year — the day she successfully defended her dissertation proposal. She recalled he was very excited and in good health. But when she called back on Thanksgiving her mother told her that he was sick.
“Dad had an underlying condition, auto-immune encephalitis, a very rare auto-immune disorder. He was going to the hospital for infusions once a month to keep that under control. I think that’s where he picked up COVID.”
Burlesque was something Lavinia said she never saw herself doing. But, from the very first class, experiencing the incredible boost to her confidence, she said, she got addicted to it and needed it in her life, even though she didn’t know how to pay for it.
While preparing to submit her proposal for her dissertation, Lavinia had to take most of 2019 off from her burlesque classes. When the pandemic and lockdown hit, in 2020, she had to completely rewrite her dissertation because it was based on an in-person study, which couldn’t be done. Instead, she used that time to focus on burlesque — as a distraction from her dissertation. She finished her classes and performed a virtual debut in November 2020 — one week later, she successfully defended her proposal.
Her debut video was titled, 5 Stages of Grief. Two weeks later, a fundraising show for mental health awareness was scheduled. Lavinia desperately wanted to be involved in it, even though she had no idea what to do. Eventually, she created an act encompassing the five stages of grief, featuring photos of her dad from all eras of his life. The video became one of her friends and fellow burlesque artist’s most favorite videos. She was cast in the mental health charity fundraiser. A portion of the show’s proceeds went to Nami OC, a mental health nonprofit providing free mental health services.
“It’s a good conversation starter when people are going through grief,” Lavinia said. “(It) doesn’t have to be because of the death of a loved one. Any kind of grief is going to follow a similar pattern. Some people won’t experience all five stages. Some get stuck in one stage for a long time, and that’s okay. That was what the video was meant to show.”
Lavinia notes on her website burlesque has been able to reach and help more people than ever before, despite pandemic restrictions. In fact, some of her peers utilized 5 Stages of Grief during the “thick of COVID” before vaccines were available.
Lavinia has performed at TRIP in Santa Monica and Harvelle’s in Long Beach, including recently in May, when she performed her Handmaid’s Tale act. She may take that act to the Slavik Burlesque Festival June 18, in Warsaw, Poland, which ironically, is one day before Lavinia’s dad was born. She said everything in this has centered around her father.
Singing for more than 30 years, Lavinia plans on performing burlesque for as long as she can. Her future plans include producing burlesque/cabaret, corporate entertainment, variety specials, music and comedy. She can do this remotely from wherever she lives, Lavinia and her husband are moving to Oregon, where her husband wants to homestead. Lavinia noted she has a great number of contacts here, she’s available and is looking forward to continuing to produce shows.
“Not only is burlesque fun but it’s satisfying to get on the stage and perform,” Lavinia said. “(People) just pouring out their soul about how that act personally touched them and say, ‘You’re so empowering.’ I love hearing that because I’m a storyteller at heart. (If) my story impacted your life in a very positive way, I’m very happy about that.”
Lavinia Vale produces and performs in Everyday Superheroes — Fundraiser for Ukraine. For one night only, members of the burlesque and cabaret community come together to entertain you and call attention to the tragedy in Ukraine.
Time: 8 to 11 p.m., July 15
Cost: $10 to $40
Details: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/everyday-superheroes-fundraiser-for-ukraine-tickets-354725693097
Venue: Grand Annex, 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Details: lavinia@mslaviniavale.com and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCCE625FH8c