Roxi Dlite
Encyclopedia
Roxi DLite is a Canadian burlesque
performer, model and photographer from Windsor, Ontario
. She was crowned the Reigning Queen of Burlesque and Miss Exotic World 2010
at the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas. Her tagline is the Drinkin’, Strippin’, Smokin’ Machine.
and French-Canadian descent. As a child she studied gymnastics and later trained in aerial acrobatics with a former Cirque Du Soleil
performer.
program at St. Clair College
. She discovered burlesque by accident in 2005 while working as a dancer in a couples club. She drew her inspiration from both old Hollywood glamour as well as Miss Piggy
, and developed retro-inspired striptease
acts. After an audience member praised her for “bringing back burlesque”, she then studied its culture and history. The Windsor Star notes, "Ironically, Roxi would never have been able to immerse herself in old-time burlesque if it weren’t for modern technology." Mixing the old and the new has become the hallmark for Roxi, often mixing classic-burlesque themes with modern props, pole tricks and aerial acrobatics.
Roxi DLite has received numerous accolades throughout her career. In 2009, Roxi DLite was the first Canadian in history to be invited to compete for the coveted Miss Exotic World title. She performed her most well-known act, the Runaway Bride, which culminates in an aerial act with a giant diamond mounted on top of an aerial hoop
. The 2009 Miss Exotic World pageant was Roxi’s first competition. In 2009, she won the 1st Runner-up to Miss Exotic World and earned a return appearance at the 2010 Miss Exotic World Pageant.
In 2010, Roxi DLite won the Miss Exotic World Pageant, the most prestigious burlesque title in the world and became the first Canadian to do so. She performed her signature act, the Smoking Cigar, which features a 12-foot smoking cigar and ashtray. DLite says the act was inspired by an old photograph of film noir
legend Marlene Dietrich
.
She was voted one of the top 5 burlesque performers in the world and she was named one the hottest modern burlesque performers in the world. She has been called a "burlesque queen" by the Detroit Free Press
and "stellar act" by The Globe and Mail
.
She starred in the critically acclaimed Wonderland, a burlesque inspired re-telling of the Lewis Carroll
classic, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
. The stage show, described as a "dazzling visual display", featured notable Detroit-area performers as well as an original soundtrack scored by a seven-piece band.
Roxi DLite is an anchor performer in Detroit's Theatre Bizarre
.
Roxi DLite was a spokesmodel for a Canadian lingerie company and has modeled for numerous publications including CK Deluxe
and Java's Bachelor Pad Magazine.
She appeared in Issue 36 of the Dark Horse
comic book The Goon
. The Eisner Award
-winning author Eric Powell
interviewed Roxi as part of his research for the burlesque-inspired issue.
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
performer, model and photographer from Windsor, Ontario
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
. She was crowned the Reigning Queen of Burlesque and Miss Exotic World 2010
Miss Exotic World Pageant
The Miss Exotic World Pageant is an annual neo-burlesque pageant and convention, and is the annual showcase event the Burlesque Hall of Fame...
at the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas. Her tagline is the Drinkin’, Strippin’, Smokin’ Machine.
Background
Roxi DLite resides in Windsor, Ontario and is of MétisMétis people (Canada)
The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
and French-Canadian descent. As a child she studied gymnastics and later trained in aerial acrobatics with a former Cirque Du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...
performer.
Dance
She began dancing while finishing the graphic designGraphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
program at St. Clair College
St. Clair College
St. Clair College of Applied Arts and Technology is a college in the Southwestern Ontario counties of Essex and Chatham-Kent.-Campus:Its main administration and largest campus sites are in Windsor, Canada. In addition, other campuses are located in Chatham and Wallaceburg. In 2007, St...
. She discovered burlesque by accident in 2005 while working as a dancer in a couples club. She drew her inspiration from both old Hollywood glamour as well as Miss Piggy
Miss Piggy
Miss Piggy is a Muppet character who was primarily played by Frank Oz on The Muppet Show. In 2001, Eric Jacobson began performing the role, although Oz did not officially retire until 2002....
, and developed retro-inspired striptease
Striptease
A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner...
acts. After an audience member praised her for “bringing back burlesque”, she then studied its culture and history. The Windsor Star notes, "Ironically, Roxi would never have been able to immerse herself in old-time burlesque if it weren’t for modern technology." Mixing the old and the new has become the hallmark for Roxi, often mixing classic-burlesque themes with modern props, pole tricks and aerial acrobatics.
Roxi DLite has received numerous accolades throughout her career. In 2009, Roxi DLite was the first Canadian in history to be invited to compete for the coveted Miss Exotic World title. She performed her most well-known act, the Runaway Bride, which culminates in an aerial act with a giant diamond mounted on top of an aerial hoop
Aerial Hoop
The aerial hoop is a circular steel apparatus suspended from the ceiling, on which circus artists may perform aerial acrobatics. The hoop sometimes has a hand loop and a bar across the top...
. The 2009 Miss Exotic World pageant was Roxi’s first competition. In 2009, she won the 1st Runner-up to Miss Exotic World and earned a return appearance at the 2010 Miss Exotic World Pageant.
In 2010, Roxi DLite won the Miss Exotic World Pageant, the most prestigious burlesque title in the world and became the first Canadian to do so. She performed her signature act, the Smoking Cigar, which features a 12-foot smoking cigar and ashtray. DLite says the act was inspired by an old photograph of film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
legend Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
.
She was voted one of the top 5 burlesque performers in the world and she was named one the hottest modern burlesque performers in the world. She has been called a "burlesque queen" by the Detroit Free Press
Detroit Free Press
The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The Sunday edition is entitled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep"...
and "stellar act" by The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
.
Photography
DLite specializes in pin-up and glamour photography. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including The Globe and Mail. Roxi has photographed the top stars of burlesque but is most known for her self-portraits. She styles, shoots and edits all her own photos that are said to “exude softness, warmth and strength all at once.”Appearances
Roxi DLite stars in the upcoming feature film Burlesque Assassins. The film is a 1950s Cold War-era, adventure-comedy shot entirely in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. DLite plays Bourbon Sue, a "hard-drinking, cigar-loving delinquent prone to dust-ups with the local toughs, but also has an affinity for acrobatic dancing. So she joins the titular squad of Assassins, who end up being the world's last line of defence." DLite trained in hand-to-hand combat for the film's fight scenes. The film also features real-life burlesque performers from around the world.She starred in the critically acclaimed Wonderland, a burlesque inspired re-telling of the Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
classic, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
. The stage show, described as a "dazzling visual display", featured notable Detroit-area performers as well as an original soundtrack scored by a seven-piece band.
Roxi DLite is an anchor performer in Detroit's Theatre Bizarre
Theatre Bizarre
Theatre Bizarre is an annual Halloween masquerade staged in a residential Detroit neighborhood. Occupying several adjoining properties, the grounds include a haunted house, a Ferris wheel and several stages that accommodate over 150 performers each year. The performers include local and national...
.
Roxi DLite was a spokesmodel for a Canadian lingerie company and has modeled for numerous publications including CK Deluxe
CK Deluxe
CK Deluxe is a magazine published by Geno DiPol and Koolhouse Publications, featuring Kustom Culture lifestyles, Pin-Ups, Hot Rods, Customs, and Artwork. This magazine has a huge cult following in the U.S.A. and along with Ol' Skool Rodz are considered by many as good references for the Modern...
and Java's Bachelor Pad Magazine.
She appeared in Issue 36 of the Dark Horse
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
comic book The Goon
The Goon
The Goon is a comic book series by Eric Powell. The series has a paranormal slant, with the average story concerning ghosts, ghouls, skunk-apes with an unnatural hunger for pies, extra-dimensional aliens, and mad scientists.-Publication history:...
. The Eisner Award
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
-winning author Eric Powell
Eric Powell (comics)
Eric Powell is a comic book writer and self-taught artist living in Lebanon, Tennessee who is best known as the creator of The Goon.-Biography:...
interviewed Roxi as part of his research for the burlesque-inspired issue.