Standing on stage with her rounded figure in silhouette, Bizzi Body removes a white glove, finger by finger.

She is dressed (for now) as the green M&M, with a bright green outer shell and white, knee-high go-go boots.

Later the Queer Wakka Wakka and Arrernte burlesque dancer, known off-stage as Bizzi Lavelle, will strip down to green nipple tassels and not much else.

"I was working out if I wear brown underneath or if I keep it green. And then I thought 'If I take off the shell, I'm brown, so I don't need to be wearing brown underneath'," Lavelle tells ABC Radio National's Awaye!.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this story contains the name of a person who has died.

Creating colourfully camp routines like her iconic green M&M performance has seen Lavelle awarded 2nd Runner Up at the Australian Burlesque Festival's New Follies competition, Out for Australia's 30 Under 30 Rising Star Award, and the First Nations Leadership and Engagement Award from the 2023 Annual Queens Ball Awards.

But Lavelle's interest in burlesque isn't skin deep. 

Recently she's been thinking about the history of Blak burlesque and the way stories of First Nations performers have been obfuscated over the years.

"In burlesque, knowing who came before you and the history of the art form is really important," she says.

"It's something that burlesque schools will teach alongside learning a glove or stocking peel. So, it makes me want to make sure that our history is being taught."

The art of the tease

Burlesque has never been an easy art form to define. 

Originally a literary term meaning a comic imitation of something serious, burlesque first found its audience in the Victorian era, often as parody of well-known operas and plays. 

It wasn't until the early 20th century that striptease started to be seen as a staple.

Lavelle says modern burlesque "can be literally anything", having developed into a self-aware performance blending theatrical striptease with comedy, dance and costume in order to celebrate sensuality while challenging social norms.

"It gives me the fiery determination to spread the history that we have now and to make sure any future Blak burlesque performers never have that feeling of being alone," Lavelle says. (Supplied: Joel Devereux)

"I think that's what's so fun about the art form," she says.

"And I think that's why everyone should go to a show, because even if you don't fall in love with every performer, there will absolutely be someone on the line-up that you see and you're like 'this is the best performance I've ever seen'."