WHO is INGA?

QUEEN OF BURLESQUE 2018

INGA (she/they) is an internationally renowned queer femme burlesque star, voted one of the Top 3 Burlesque Performers in the World (21stcenturyburlesque.com). Famous for her polished style and charismatic, innovative performances, INGA’s work has appeared in several books, films, and documentaries, including Strip|Tease by Tigz Rice, From Sh!tshow to Afterglow by Ariel Meadow Stallings, A Wink And A Smile, and the award-winning web series Capitol Hill. INGA was also featured on the ABC game show To Tell The Truth, where other contestants impersonated her in order to fool a panel of celebrity judges! (Season 4, episode 7)

Born and raised in Seattle, USA, INGA spent her formative years studying dance and choreography with instructor Susan Wright, a dance trainer for Olympic athletes. In 2005 she began performing burlesque, and helped co-found Sinner Saint Burlesque, one of Seattle's longest running weekly burlesque shows. Since then she has performed in thousands of shows and headlined numerous festivals and events, most notably the Burlesque Hall of Fame Showcase in Las Vegas, the Viva Las Vegas Burlesque Showcase, the Fringe World Festival in Australia, the Toronto Burlesque Festival, the inaugural Amsterdam Burlesque Festival, and the band Queensryche's Queensryche Cabaret tour. In 2011, INGA won the coveted title of Miss Viva Las Vegas at the Viva Las Vegas International Burlesque Competition. In 2018, INGA was honored to win the most revered of all burlesque titles, Miss Exotic World: the 2018 Reigning Queen of Burlesque, at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Tournament of Tease.

INGA has had starring roles in several of Seattle's famous large-scale burlesque/cabaret productions, including BenDeLaCreme's Beware The Terror of Gaylord Manor, and Kitten n' Lou's Homo For The Holidays. She has also participated in cult local shows and events such as IvaFiero's Relentless, The Pink Door Cabaret & Burlesque Show, the Seattle Erotic Art Festival, and has been a judge for the Seattle Burlesque Games.

Since 2011, INGA has been a member of The Atomic Bombshells, the Pacific Northwest's premier burlesque troupe. Directed and produced by Kitten LaRue, The Atomic Bombshells have been called "The New York Yankees of Burlesque!" (KPLU Radio), and have been featured in GQ, Bust, Tease magazine, and MTV.com.

Before creating her own online educational curriculum, INGA was an instructor with Miss Indigo Blue's Academy of Burlesque in Seattle, where she taught over 1200 students from 2009 - 2020. She currently specializes in teaching exotic dance-style floorwork, as well as working one-on-one with performers of all levels to help hone their theatrical skills and take their work to the next level.