Introducing dancer and kink explorer extraordinaire Anna Urband (aka Hydra), the producer and coordinator of a new monthly cabaret of Black, Queer erotic performers in a unique location downtown. Her company, Carnal Productions, focuses on collaborative, sex-positive live shows.
“Capturing the magnitude of style and taste throughout the diaspora,” her PR blurb says, “Carnal Production shows create an immersive experience spanning Afro-punk artistry, queer beauty, hot-blooded burlesque glamour, and fetish exploration.”
The venue, the women-owned Karoo Café, is housed in what used to be a mortuary. Its décor and atmosphere are partly what Urband was drawn to create performances in: it is filled with luscious, soft seating and vibrant colors and patterns, and features a high-end cocktail menu and traditional South African food.
Most of the performers generally do not do the “tease” part of burlesque, instead using their chosen costume. Lighting, strobes, and other technical additions create the ambiance they want audiences to take part in.
The show, on the fourth Sunday of each month, starts at 1:30 p.m. Urband would like to establish it as a Seattle perennial habit — one that people can spread the word about and come back to over and over.
“These shows are choreographed numbers,” she told the SGN. “They come on stage with beautiful costumes with BDSM and fetish themes, so we are in latex and leather. My specialty is wielding floggers. We might use ball gags and cover them in rhinestones. The intention is to highlight an area of sexuality that can also be explored through the fantasy of seeing something displayed on stage.
“I think people who take an interest in what we were doing, as opposed to going to see play, tend to be people who are interested in sexuality and like the theatrical nature of it, so they want to go out, want to dress up to be entertained.”
Urband adds that she cares for her performers. She protects them from being harmed or inappropriately interacted with by patrons. She aspires to pay them equitably. She takes care to be sensitive to consent issues.
Background and a new start
Urband started out as a theater kid and aspired, like many, to have a career in musical theater.
“I was fortunate not to grow up in a particularly repressive household,” she said.
She didn’t get cast very often, though. She felt barriers as a light-skinned, biracial performer.
“The incidences [of racist comments] were constant and overt, like, ‘How is your hair gonna fit into a wig for a costume?’” she said.
She tried to weave together a life as an artist, also taking classes at Velocity Dance Center. She also performed at the Can-Can.
“A dancer-friend from the Can-Can said, ‘Hey, I think I want to do this [burlesque show],’ and I [thought], ‘I can do this,” she said. “I have this whole theater background. I’m a very organized person,’ and I was exploring some of that in my personal life as well.
“In 2018, I cofounded a burlesque cabaret company, and we were producing ongoing, full-blown dance theater productions. We wanted to have a company run by women. In this new company, a huge motivator was making a company that involves sex work with a greater sense of ownership and less infantilization, less objectification for women's bodies and Queer people's bodies.”
Urband said that she was not seeing anyone else present the kind of show she was doing. She felt she was offering something on the cutting edge, and she liked that it seemed cool.
“The response from the public was immediate and people were really excited to see something new,” she said.
After a successful few years, during the pandemic, the organization changed and Urband also departed.
About a year ago, Urband was walking near Pike Place Market past Karoo Café.
“I walked in, and for the first time [in a while] felt like I have to do a show,” she said. “I felt really invigorated and excited by the space itself. I met the owner, Olivia, and she seemed really excited about the prospect [of performances], and I asked, ‘How do you feel about fetish?’ And she was cool.”
Urband feels strongly that “Black women and Black Trans women are more likely to be murdered from doing sex work and demonized for being sexual, and I think it’s really important to create a space where you can be black and be sexual and it is by choice.”
For more information, go to www.carnalproductions.com/home-3. For more articles and reviews by Miryam, go to https://MiryamsTheaterMusings.blogspot.com .
Support the Seattle Gay News: Celebrate 51 Years with Us!
As the third-oldest LGBTQIA+ newspaper in the United States, the Seattle Gay News (SGN) has been a vital independent source of news and entertainment for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest since 1974.
As we celebrate our 51st year, we need your support to continue our mission.
A monthly contribution will ensure that SGN remains a beacon of truth and a virtual gathering place for community dialogue.
Help us keep printing and providing a platform for LGBTQIA+ voices.
How you can donate!
Using this link: givebutter.com/6lZnDB
Text “SGN” to 53-555
Or Scan the QR code below!
