Welcome to The Leg: Life Lessons from showgirls, stage-slayers and subculture icons
Run by Holli Mae Johnson - arts journalist and documenter for 20 years, abstract artist (feat. BBC, Royal Academy), EIC of 21st Century Burlesque Magazine and retired theatre critic.
Come for the showbiz subculture, stay for the real talk on life in the arts, creativity, health and wellbeing, identity, fashion and beauty - and incredible people to follow!
Sounds good, but what is The Leg really about?
This is my favourite Gordon Parks photograph. Of all his evocative images of New York nightlife entertainers, this Latin Quarter dancer taking a moment backstage feels the most intriguing, and relatable. On stage, her face is uplifted, her smile dazzling, her energy distracting you from your everyday worries and concerns. But what of her own?
Performers, writers and artists dissect and reflect the human experience, unlocking existential doors, translating feelings, misdirecting troubles and healing wounds. They offer up their bodies, creations and talents to be consumed and critiqued by the masses - which nowadays includes millions of faceless commenters online, too. When the pandemic hit, their livelihoods and societal value were the first to be sacrificed - even as the quarantined sofa-bound population feasted on their works to stay sane and get through.
While we’ve all shared many of the same discoveries, disappointments and challenges in life, I’ve found that showfolk can articulate them like no one else can. Maybe it’s the close and unflinching working relationship with their physical bodies, the constant self-evaluation required to excel, the higher statistical likelihood of experiencing marginalisation and othering, or the ability to observe and embody endless characters and points of view that makes them such compelling commentators on the human condition.
So whether you eat up every Allie Goodbun video you can find, or you live your life onstage or pacing in front of your work table, The Leg is for you.
Introducing me…
I’m Holli Mae Johnson*, living, painting and writing by the sea in Kent, UK in a vintage pad full of shells, statement earrings, crusty brushes and antique furniture. Writing on Substack is a new venture for me, but by no means new territory…
I spent a decade training and performing as a young singer and actor, obsessed with writing, opera and fine art. Cue record scratch. After a life-changing personal tragedy in my late teens I found myself at 20 - via a bizarre chain of events - in a San Francisco club at the core of the neo-burlesque revival. Eager for purpose and a loving community, I founded an online magazine to document the global scene and revel in showgirl subculture. Miraculously, readership peaked at 2 million in 2015, and it’s now in its 17th year.
My accidental career has seen me backstage at the Moulin Rouge and Crazy Horse Paris, chatting with entertainment legends at West End premieres, and nursing a chipped front tooth courtesy of an on-stage collision with a magnum of Dom Perignon at The Box. Most rewarding by far, though, has been the intimate conversations with female creatives from every rung of the ladder, on Vegas rooftops, in bathroom stalls, dressing rooms, backseats of cabs, hammocks, hair salons, and endless late night phone calls. When I couldn’t bear to be me, I made my life about them, and over two decades they showed me how to curate my own life instead of just letting it happen to me.
The Leg is a more expansive, intuitive new chapter that I hope you’ll enjoy and help me develop!
* The Mae was added during a stint as a pinup model in the noughties and it stuck. Surrey girl frequently assumed to be an American to this day.
Why subscribe?
I know how pesky it is swiping away rando emails, but I won’t do you dirty; that’s a promise. If you’re subscribed you won’t have to worry about missing anything. Every new edition of The Leg goes directly to your inbox, or - my fave option - download the Substack app as well and read it there if you prefer - makes Sunday lie-ins even nicer!
