We first met the curvetastic burlesque performer, Rubyyy Jones at our first ever show. She was one of the beautiful people in our audience and was soon burlesque dancing in Burlexe.
We haven’t been able to get enough of Rubyyy ever since! In 2011 she joined us for the Elton John AIDS Foundation performance and bantered with Alan Carr. Then in 2012 she got her very own burlesque monologue to perform on our stage…
Rubyyy Jones Burlesque
Name: Rubyyy Jones, with three y’s because I have lots of questions I want answered: why, why, why? and Jones as it’s my mother’s maiden name.
Job description: Performer, Writer, Muse. As a muse, I’ve been in collaboration for the past five years with an artist in Canada who creates incredible charcoal drawings of me from photos I send her or lovers. It’s a documentation of the different relationships I’ve had over the years and my relationship with myself and my sensuality.
Describe yourself in five words? Performer, writer, muse, in love.
How did you get into burlesque? I’ve always been a performer and I was looking for a new genre. I loved the creativity in burlesque and the opportunity to be as glamorous as I want to be while making people laugh and think.
Burlesque hero/ine? Definitely, Gypsy Rose Lee and Dirty Martini.
Favourite routine? At the moment I’m really enjoying people’s reaction my Bukkake Balloon Pop. For me it’s a really great example of what I do in burlesque: it’s funny and sexy but it’s also shocking, in a sweet way.
In 2013, we invited Rubyyy to become the poster girl for the run of Burlexe as she encapsulated everything we champion. Here’s the interview we did at the time…
Where did you get the confidence to do this kind of shoot? I’ve definitely been working on my confidence for a long time. I have the little “advantage” of being beautiful though I’m not thin and I never will be. When I say advantage, I mean with the pressure to be this perfect image of a woman – I always felt the brunt of the pressure and imbalance was around my body.
One of the nice things about being in Europe (I’m originally from Canada) is that I feel there’s less pressure on having the “perfect” body. It delighted me when I moved here and saw women of all ages and sizes with such amazing style!
I have a one-woman show called Rubyyy Jones Learns… – where I talk about my self-esteem journey, eating disorders and body acceptance. I feel it’s my duty, my calling to show and share my body. Other people, men and women alike, feel inspired seeing my naked “imperfect” bod, swirling and shimmying across stage. I get that feedback a lot, a lot, a lot at Burlexe – how good they feel to see their body, their wife or partner’s body represented. It also helps me to have courage in those moments when I’m not feeling so strong.
What advice would you give to women who struggle with self-esteem? Your relationship with your body comes down to your relationship with yourself. Your spirit and your connection to it makes all the difference to your body confidence.
Why are women of your size not represented currently in the media? It would be very dangerous for ‘the man’ and for people at the highest level who want us to ‘consume’ to be completely happy with the way we are. A lot less people would be paying for surgery, beauty products, trainers, etc. It pays for them to have us consumed with consuming. Also, they’re nothing more intimidating to the patriarchy than a glowing, gorgeous woman in her power, grounded in herself.
Motto: ‘Save Rubyyy Jones.’ My calling is to cultivate and express my inner child and part of that work is for me is to help other people do the same. Save Your Rubyyy Jones!
What does burlesque mean to you? Burlesque is freedom to me.
The wonderful make-up is courtesy of Nikki Marriott and styling from Miss Cairo. The photographer, Magnus Arrevad, came to us to take pictures of Boylexe for a book he’s creating about boylesque. He’s since become a friend and we were able to persuade him to come and take these shots, his first of burlesque.
Watch Rubyyy Jones performing a classic burlesque at Miss Burlesque UK:
Check out who else starred alongside Rubyyy Jones in our burlesque show and watch our answer to: what is burlesque?
