Rachel Gourd

Rachel Gourd is a classical ballet dancer and burlesque artist known as Lily Verlaine. She is the Artistic Director, Producer and Choreographer of Land of the Sweets, The Burlesque Nutcracker, Through The Looking Glass: The Burlesque Alice In Wonderland, (2009) L’Histoire de Melody Nelson, (2010) and Burlesco DiVino: Wine in Rome which debuted in Seattle in 2012. In 2015, she formed, House of Verlaine: An Exquisite Assemblage of Daring Classical Artists, which presents classical ballet through a hedonistic lens. Rachel has performed as a soloist in Europe, Asia, Australia, Los Angeles, New York, New Zealand, Chicago, and at The Portland Art Museum.

Rachel received GAP 2016 funding for House of Verlaine’s Giselle, a re-imagination of the classic ballet Giselle. This work-in-progress explores classic themes of deception, forgiveness, revenge and love with the concupiscence that is a trademark of both the company and its artistic director, Lily Verlaine.