ABOUT

The Dolls members are no novices in sharing their bodies with audiences, but they extended great trust to our filmmaking team in handing over the portrayal of their bodies. In burlesque, the performer is in control of everything–costuming, choreography, how much skin is shown and in what ways. By allowing us into their rehearsals, they relinquished that control. We did not receive this lightly.

The cinematographers and myself spent time processing how to film the performers’ bodies in a way that reflected instead of exploited their art. We made the active choice to be intentional with our closeups, refusing to cut up their bodies. The common practice of segmenting the female body removes humanity from the body. Along with attention to closeups, the relationships I built with the Dolls allowed us to film and edit condensed versions of the acts while retaining the spirit of the performer.

“I’ve felt like I have not been listened to for various reasons... And it’s like, what do I need to do to be taken seriously? I need to take my clothes off in public. Okay. Okay, that’s what I'll do,” Robin Rapscallion, one of the members of the troupe, shared with me in an early interview. WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, like burlesque, may illicit intrigue through the removal of clothes from female presenting bodies. But once the audience is paying attention, they are privy to the world of experiences that each person carries within that body.

Elizabeth Miller-Derstine

Director, Producer