Geeta Von Tease - 'Teasing The Nation'
Geeta Von Tease is an actress by profession. She has a BA Degree in literature and film and so works both sides of the camera. She trained at the Birmingham Theatre School and has appeared in TV commercials, corporate videos, voice overs, music videos, promos and role plays for many leading High Street stores. She is also an aspiring writer and has several theatre plays and monologues in different stages of development, including a screen play.
Geeta Von Tease is an experienced life model and regularly poses nude for artists and sculpture classes up and down the country. In 2014 Geeta made a cameo appearance as an actress in the ten year come back music video for the Birmingham band 'B21' which was nominated at the Britasia Awards. Also In 2014 Geeta was invited to become Patron of a 'Pulp, Trash, Cult, Sci-Fi, Horror, Gore & B-Movie Film Festival' and interviewed Steampunk and Science Fiction Author A. Stuart Williams on stage. 'I had been quite poorly for a while and was out of circulation so my confidence was on the floor. It felt like I was literally having to start all over again'. In 2015 Geeta worked on a documentary interviewing Hip Hop royalty from the 1980's and filmed Hip Hop dancers being motion captured for a Guinness Book World Record. In 2018 Geeta added theatre directing to her list of skills after training under the theatre director Tracey Street in Birmingham. In 2019 a career highlight for Geeta was being invited to take part in a symposium at the Barber Institute of Fine Art where she did a Q&A whilst posing nude. Early in 2020 Geeta appeared in episode 3 of 'Easy Ways to Live Well' for the BBC as the nude life model championing body positivity.
Geeta Von Tease first became interested in becoming a burlesque performer after visiting the London Burlesque Festival Week in 2010. 'I saw the fun and quirky way in which women removed their clothes artistically using different genres and art forms. I liked the way in which performers used inspiration for their characters from Disney to pantomime, from circus to nursery rhyme with real skill and imagination. I realised that you could roller skate, balloon pop, fire eat, have a snake wrapped around you, be a soloist, be part of a duo or a troupe, tap dance, be a ballerina, a gymnast and play the piano, all whilst performing a striptease routine. I was entirely captivated and inspired. I set about developing my 'signature act', a comedy routine based on a lollipop lady. I did some workshops and had a few lessons in a gin parlour in Birmingham. Then I entered a newbie competition for Black Country Burlesque where I won a place in the finals. I quickly moved through the ranks because my ethnicity made me different.' It wasn't long before Geeta was getting bookings which resulted in developing this Website. 'I worried that I wasn't classical or traditional enough plus I felt that I wasn't tall enough to twirl the fans so I suffered from 'imposter syndrome'. After a while I realised it was about finding my 'own voice and my own style'. Since then I've produced a one woman burlesque show which included a 'reverse striptease' in my repertoire. This was based on a bondage act which was my homage to the fetish film director that I was dating at the time'
Geeta Von Tease is now producing burlesque and cabaret shows of her own and wants them to reflect a mixture of Vaudeville to variety, circus to electro-swing. 'I won't be happy until I find a plate spinning, spoon playing ventriloquist act.' Appearing at 'Burlesque Is Back In Town - Showgirls' in May 2015 I managed to find a sensational hula hoopist (as seen on TV) and a ladies acapella barber shop quartet, which went down a storm. At the 'Burlesque Is Back In Town - Decadence' November 2015 show she booked headlining act Kitty Ribbons with her stunning Sugar Plum Fairy routine, rotating on a giant music box and booked the sophisticated Suzie Sequin to perform her tribute act to the blond bombshell Marilyn Monroe. 'I didn't want to saturate the market with too many shows. Less is more. Also I wanted to be mindful of other Promoters.' Geeta found a brand new venue where she was hoping to have a long term residency. 'It's a stunning restored Victorian library and I'm going to alternate between this and a beautiful Unitarian church near the Custard Factory buildings in Birmingham, where a creative community have colonised. You might think that sounds crazy, but I'm interested in making creative use of unusual spaces in urban landscapes away from the usual city centric night life'. Both venues in fact have played host to corporate events such as weddings and the National Vintage Awards.
Geeta Von Tease hates going to burlesque shows in dark 'spit and sawdust' dives where you have to stand up all night in painful high heels sticking to the floor. 'I wanted to offer a great audience experience, surrounded by elegance, glamour and opulence. I wanted to provide an environment where people could feel safe and comfortable wearing their beautiful clothes. I thinks It's great to see people dressed up for example as nuns going to a 'Sing-a-long-a-Sound of Music' night or seeing guys in stockings and suspenders at the Rocky Horror Show. That's why I like to encourage an audience culture of dressing up in vintage apparel and cult things like steam punk, it really adds atmosphere and a fun vibe to a show'.
For 'Showgirls' my Star Raffle Prize was a 'Vintage Pin-up Photo Shoot' at Lynsey LeKeux's Vintage Salon based at the Custard Factory in Birmingham, who were my sponsors. For my 'Decadence' show the Star Raffle Prize was an afternoon cream tea for two' at the Hilton Metropole Hotel near the NEC, Birmingham. 'Invited vintage traders are going to be an attraction for every show that I host from now on'. In 2017 Geeta decided to go out of the Birmingham region for the first time and personally selected the beautiful town of Shrewsbury.
What people have said about Geeta Von Tease and 'Burlesque Is Back In Town'
"Full of Eastern Promise" - Videographers NJ Productions
"Great taste with 1st class performers" - Audience Member
"The idea of holding this event at this venue was absolutely genius" - Tito & Frankie
"Extravaganza of a show" - Star Raffle Prize Winners