Jaimz Dillman isn’t going anywhere. And neither is her Corsets & Cuties brand.
But as her burlesque troupe prepares to mark its 10th-anniversary season, she is changing things up. Dillman, known to fans as Lady Jaimz, won’t be producing shows with a consistent company of dancers after the coming season. But she’s still going to be part of the burlesque scene she loves.
“Ten years were never on my mind,” says Dillman of her troupe’s longevity. “It just kind of kept going, and audiences kept coming.”
Corsets & Cuties started when Dillman performed in the 2012 Orlando Fringe Festival show “Redlight: The Bad Girls of Broadway” — a show Dillman only stepped into as a last-minute replacement. Produced by Wade Hair’s Breakthrough Theatre Co., the naughty revue was a big hit.
“We thought, ‘We’ve got something here,'” Dillman recalls. “I guess people want to see this.”
She and a friend, who later moved, began building their own burlesque troupe after the “Redlight” success, but with a specific idea in mind: They wanted to create a group where anyone could feel sexy. At the time, there were few options for wanna-be burlesquers.
“There was nowhere for the people who weren’t cookie cutter” in their looks, is how Dillman remembers it.
That has changed.
“The representation now is inspiring,” Dillman says. “People of color, different sexual identities, fandoms, abilities and disabilities.”
The shows, too have grown more elaborate. In the beginning, “we were just throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what stuck,” Dillman laughs. Today, you’re likely to see aerialists, singers, comic skits: “It’s almost Vaudeville, where you put in so many things,” she says.
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Dillman, who by day is a catering manager for special events, had a background in improv comedy, having trained at Orlando’s SAK Comedy Lab. She also had theme-park experience.
But she still needed help getting Corsets & Cuties off the ground. She found a mentor in Blue Star, whose Varietease performing troupe set a high bar. Dillman says she wouldn’t have made it past a year without Star’s support and guidance.
“Blue taught me about dealing with egos, dealing with casting, dealing with venues,” she says. “I can’t thank her enough for that.”
She also found financial backing, from Premier Couples Superstore in Orlando. The family-owned business on Orange Blossom Trail “stayed by our side, making it possible to rent spaces and pay festival fees,” Dillman says. “I don’t know how we would’ve done any of it without them.”
She’s most proud of the opportunities to give back to the community, whether through supporting Star’s cancer-fighting Barber Fund; staging the play “The Vagina Monologues,” with proceeds benefiting Planned Parenthood and One Heart Women and Children; or marching in the city’s annual Pride parade.
“A couple of years ago we performed after the parade,” she remembers. “It ended up being this sea of people giving waves of love back to us. That made me the most proud, for not only the performance but what we’ve been able to do.”
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Now it’s time for Dillman to do something else.
Well, while she’s also celebrating the Cuties’ accomplishments with this final season.
The kickoff will be Aug. 25 with a show at The Abbey in downtown Orlando (more information at corsetsandcuties.com ). It will feature retrospective clips, displays and photos marking the milestone. An amateur competition follows in September, then shows for Halloween, the winter holidays, Valentine’s Day and springtime, before the final production from the regular performers takes the stage at the 2025 Fringe Festival.
“After 10 years, I want to see what else I can do,” Dillman says. “And you know what they say, always leave the audience wanting more.”
So later this month, she will lead a company of “‘Bridgerton’-obsessed” burlesque dancers from different troupes in a show at downtown’s High-T Orlando that’s themed to the streaming program’s vibe. She’s partnering with Real Radio on the station’s first burlesque competition, in Sanford this September.
And some future plans will include the Corsets & Cuties name.
“I’m deeply protective of the brand we created,” Dillman says. “We’re the class clowns of burlesque in Orlando. We don’t take ourselves seriously — but we take our shows seriously.”
She plans to continue the popular amateur shows, and step into the role of mentor.
“There are a lot of up-and-comers who are going to need to find their way,” Dillman says. “Maybe I can give them an easier journey than we had, stumbling around.”
And she hopes to stage new “all-star” shows featuring dancers from multiple troupes as a way to build a united burlesque community. She dreams big: “Maybe a festival with troupes from throughout Florida, with workshops and shows,” she muses. “A weekend we can all celebrate what we do.”
There are certainly a lot of burlesque companies around Orlando these days — thanks in part to Corsets & Cuties elevating the scene. Several local troupes actually spun off from Corsets & Cuties as dancers left the troupe to follow their own creative vision. So many exist now, in fact, that Dillman organized a special preview night last spring just for the multiple burlesque companies participating in the Fringe.
Dillman is proud of the part her company has played in building up the Central Florida burlesque community — and introducing newcomers to an art form that can be spicy and silly, occasionally at the same time.
“Every time we do a show, I can’t tell you how many people come up and say, ‘This was so much fun, I want to do it,'” she says. “Burlesque is sexy, it’s funny, it’s passionate, it’s empowering.”
Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com . Find more arts news at OrlandoSentinel.com/entertainment .
Up Next
- What: A burlesque all-stars show themed to the vibe of streaming hit “Bridgerton”
- Where: High-T Orlando, 23 W. Church St. in Orlando
- When: 6-10 p.m. July 31 (show at 8 p.m.)
- Cost: $25
- Info: barnonecreationsfl.com/hight-orlando (click on “reservations”)
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