She travels in a world of feather boas and fishnets these days, but Foxy Tann was trained in classical theatre and originally had her sights turned on Shakespeare. Still, the Minneapolis performer, who is one of the headliners at the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival, refuses to see her new line of work as that far removed from her thespian roots.

“I don’t think there should be a difference. What I’m doing is art; it’s just in a bar,” the sassily animated, mega-’fro’d burlesque star says over the phone as she loads up her car for a seven-week tour that hits Denver, Seattle, and elsewhere on its way here. “And the live-theatre world could take a cue from the burlesque community: we don’t get grants.”

Tann took a roundabout route into the world of bump ’n’ grind. Born and raised in the Minnesota area she likes to refer to as the Twin Titties, she didn’t want to leave that town—but she was feeling dissatisfied in its stage scene after graduating with her BFA in theatre in 2004. As she puts it, “I wasn’t having fun. It’s hard for an African-American [actor] in the upper Midwest.”

One of her best friends was a drag performer, and soon the character of Foxy Tann was born as an emcee and entertainer at gay clubs in Minneapolis. Tann says she was sort of a “female female impersonator”, but it didn’t always go over so well with the boys, who found her “confusing”. It wasn’t until she saw her first burlesque show that she found her calling.

“I hadn’t really heard of it and I thought, ‘That’s where I belong!’ Burlesque accepts everything,” she enthuses. “I don’t think they’re that different at all,” she adds of the drag and burlesque worlds. “It’s very much a solo-based performance art that you are doing in front of multiple drunk people.”

Minneapolis has a hopping burlesque scene, and soon Tann was rounding up her backup dancers, the Wham Bam Thank You Ma’ams, and putting on fully choreographed, costumed, and set-decorated productions. “I always thought it would be really funny to have little tiny girls in giant Afros doing things behind me,” says Tann, who says her forte is emceeing—which she will officially put on display at two variety showcases at the Vogue on Friday and Saturday nights (May 3 and 4).

It speaks volumes about the success of burlesque, and Tann’s own hilariously twisted talent at it, that she can now make a living at her chosen art form. Even five years ago, there wouldn’t have been enough festivals and other gigs to support her touring; now she’s got a steady schedule from now through to November.

The eight-year-old Vancouver fest’s own continued growth is another testament to the popularity of the scene. Tann shares her thoughts on burlesque’s seemingly undying appeal. “A lot of women have seen burlesque and said, ‘Oh my God, this is what I want to do’—not as a living but more like community theatre,” she explains. “The proliferation of that provided the base, the infrastructure. Now you see a bunch of girls volunteering to put on a big festival.”

So has the underground scene officially hit the mainstream? “No—not yet, because it’s still not seen as a legitimate living,” she laments.

Amid all her travelling, and despite the explosion of burlesque events across the continent, Tann—who’s also known as the “Original Triple Mocha Latte”—still finds herself one of only a handful of African-American names touring in the art form.

“There’s almost no black girls,” she admits. “For me, it’s not a big issue—I’m not too into the race thing. Yes, I am blatantly using a stereotype as my character, but it comes out of a place of parody and comedy. I’m trying to use this as comedy; I’m not trying to use this as a cultural commentary on African-Americans.”

No, Tann is more interested in getting bawdy laughs—not that she ever imagined herself spending her time on-stage this way. “I thought I would be doing Shakespeare in England by now,” she says with a last hearty laugh before hitting the road.