Spectacular Lessons with Penniless Writers and Pink Feathers

My recap of Texas Burlesque Peepshow's Moulin Rouge- inspired show actually starts two months before the show.  That was when I decided to put together a routine.  Plenty of time, right?  I failed to realize that my "Black Glasses" act had been brewing in my mind much longer than the month it took to put it together.  There was also the issue of making a complicated costume, which I couldn't have done without the help of my wonderful friend Mandy.

This is the face of a tired
penniless writer.

The premise of my act was inspired by Christian at the beginning of the movie and "Nature Boy".  While I liked the song, I thought I would go with something less obvious and more adaptable.  I'd been wanting to dance to "Hurricane" by MeByMe, an old music project from a college acquaintance.  That must have been a strange facebook message for him to have received.  With the time crunch, precise choreography, and monster of a costume, I started to become distracted from other aspects of my life.  In a way, I was turning into my character with the frustration and lack of sleep.

When I first considered performing, I read a lot about needing to have a thick skin.  I've never handled rejection well, but being a writer and constantly reminding myself that I was doing burlesque for fun steeled my soul.  Nevertheless it still hurt to learn that I wasn't cast.  What really got me was knowing that I could've done much better had I not procrastinated.  To regroup, I decided to put that routine to rest for now, but I did continue to go to dance class.  There, another opportunity presented itself.

Black Mariah had been putting together a fan dance for Spectacular Burlesque!  Since I wanted to focus on my solo act, I wasn’t sure about joining in.  However, the routine, which was set to Valeria's "Rhythm of the Night", was too irresistible to not learn.  It gave me a chance to work on my fan dance technique, and I finally was motivated to buy proper ballroom shoes.

Las Tentadoras Plumas Rosadas

I was stoked at how our routine had come together by show day.  We had different experience levels with both the dance and performance in general, yet we all came together on-stage and backstage with putting on costumes and make-up.  I did almost have a meltdown two acts before ours because one of my false eyelashes had started to fall down.  I had been struggling with them all day and with another pair the night before.  Since there wasn't enough time to reapply, I ripped the other one off and got ready to step out.  With all the gorgeous fans and even more beautiful ladies, I don't anybody noticed.

I think the false eyelash failure was a sign that I'm not really classical at all.  That's not to say they're not a staple for all of burlesque, but I had struggled to come up with a pink and black costume too.  Then there was the realization as I watched the other performances that the routine I submitted really did not fit in with the show at all; that is, my vision of the Moulin Rouge— the free, bizarre Bohemian spirit— wasn't the vision of Spectacular Burlesque!  Although I've had the inkling for a while, I didn't want to pigeonhole myself as only a neo or nerdlesque dancer.  Now I know I shouldn't force things to happen.  Group numbers can be where I get my taste of classical, and I have an idea of how I can improve my writer routine.  At the after-party, Jay Scarlet did a Tarot reading for me that told me to stick to my guns with whatever I'm working on.  I think that summed up the major takeaway from this experience pretty well.

For more photos, visit my facebook.

I did it! (blog version)

Over on my Tumblr, I made a post titled "I did it!" when I submitted the video of my routine to the Dallas Burlesque Festival.  A couple days ago, I followed it up with a second "I did it!" post upon receiving news that I was accepted.  Yes, you heard right: I am performing in the Dallas Burlesque Festival!

post-filming shot

On filming day, I was both really nervous and excited.  It wound up being a weird evening as my classmates were absent for various reasons and a fire alarm had gone off in the complex when I arrived.  While we waited for the firefighters to shut it off, I asked The Dirty Blonde about shows that I ought to submit my routine to.  After naming a couple, she brought up the Dallas Burlesque Festival.  I was hesitant because it is such a big event and I have no experience with dancing burlesque solo.  Dirty said that it couldn't hurt to apply.

After waffling on the subject (and actually being so hesitant to see myself on camera that I had to wait until my partner came home to watch the video), I eventually realized what she meant.  Yeah rejection sucks, but I face that as a writer all the time.  I didn't think I would be accepted as a stage kitten with no experience last year, but it happened because I gave it a shot.  Go big or go home, right? 

That mentality has gotten me really far with burlesque, and looking back at the past year, I am impressed with all the chances I've taken, as well as the work I've put in.  Not to say that I've always had it easy, but I do tend to pursue hobbies that I happen to be good at.  I've had to work for this; even if the dance steps were easy to learn, getting them to look effortlessly sensual took effort.  I'm proud of myself, and I've learned to not be afraid to say it.

My resolution to be more naked has been beyond successful.  It's transformed me, and I hope that burlesque continues to have that impact.  I'm super excited to see what 2014 has in store and to be in the Dallas Burlesque Festival!

Going Solo and a Hairy Predicament

Over the summer, I realized that I had to start thinking about whether I wanted to join a troupe or strike out on my own.  Belonging to a troupe provides a lot of resources and opportunities that may be hard to find.  On the other hand, I’ve always been a loner, one with a unique approach that might not fit a group’s aesthetic.  Plus my schedule and lack of car doesn’t always work with rehearsal times.

Then the question became: what would be my debut solo act?  I won’t reveal too much, but one of my favorite J-pop artists has a song that I really identify with.  It has moments perfect for both striptease and poking fun at nerdy tropes.  However, I didn’t want to fall into clichés, and I wasn’t sure my one plan to prevent that would work.

a sneak peek

I decided to sign up for The Dirty Blonde’s “Create Your Own Burlesque Routine” class, and it was the best thing I could’ve done.  Not only did I have another perspective on my vision, the class forced me to actually choreograph a routine and make a costume.  The latter was particularly important because I am a huge procrastinator and this costume wound up being a monster of a project.

My obsessive tendency to never want to waste anything, including a few inches of thread, has made sewing a terrible task to undergo.  In my attempts to avoid it, I wound up making some things more difficult.  Iron-on transfers are not the way to go.  I really have to thank my friend Tina and costuming goddess Black Mariah for all their help.  Also deserving of my gratitude is my partner who has shown me how to sew more than five times now and dealt with a few meltdowns over botched construction.  I did discover a love of rhinestoning.  My technique is messy, but I always feel accomplished after I glue a few stones down.  I also don’t find E6000 noxious at all.  Yay sparklies!

my first rhinestone job

As for choreography, the song’s looseness proved to be a challenge.  I’m so used to eight-counts and marking every single step that I got a little lost at first.  While there are still kinks to work out, I’ve learned that giving myself some leeway is important for when a stocking gets stuck or I forget a step.

This act has turned out to be really “cute”, a word I hate being called.  I just associate with bad memories and condescending attitudes of people who think I’m 15.  With this routine, I’ve learned to embrace my inner cuteness, but I’m redefining the adjective to better fit my identity. Nobody is going to confuse my burlesque for being an innocent little girl, and I want to challenge people’s ideas.

That being said, I came across another issue: body hair.  I had assumed I would shave, like I do for cosplay.  However, I really loathe the process and how women are expected to be hair-free.  It’s ridiculous, and if I want my performances to be satirical and provocative, what better way to do this than to defy beauty standards?  I don’t want to be conventionally pretty, and this routine isn’t classic.  At the same time, I know body hair is distracting (which is why I shave when I wear tank tops to dance class).  I don’t want to squash opportunities on such a trivial matter even though my sensitive skin is beginning to make this problem much bigger.  The community overall seems okay, but I don’t know about Dallas specifically.  I’m reminded of a quote from Ender’s Game that really kept me going during my rough adolescent years: “There's only one thing that will make them stop hating you. And that's being so good at what you do that they can't ignore you.”  The question is: as a newbie, am I good enough?

Workshops and Pride

When the Dallas School of Burlesque opened in May, I was eager to check out the classes.  I still wanted to study at the Ruby Room, but it was time to expand my repertoire with the different styles DSB offered.  Plus it’s nice to get a different perspective on old bump and grind moves.

Over the summer, DSB offered two workshops: chair dance with Stephan and tassel twirling with Black Mariah.  In my many years of dance classes, I’d never had a male teacher until Stephan, the Southern Fried King of Burlesque.  He had a very free-spirited approach, which was just what I needed.  I’d been spending so much time focusing on being sexy, and I’ve always been a counter.  Both were holding me back, and I was happy to work on improvising and just feeling the music.  I could use some work on strength and flexibility, but I still learned a few chair tricks for a future routine.

my first pair of assels and tassles
made by Black Mariah

Tassel twirling was something I’ve always thought was cool even before I knew that they were part of burlesque.  I went into Black Mariah’s class a little bit cocky.  All that shimmying I did in Ginger Valentine’s classes must account for something, right?  Well, it turned out that my technique could use some work.  I had also placed the tassels too low at first, but I was also trying too hard to make my boobs move.  Ironically I discovered that I was better at shimmying with my arms held straight up, which is a more difficult position than with your arms held out.  As with hula and belly dance, I always seem to master a harder move before getting the basics down.  Black Mariah also taught us how to twirl assels, which was equally challenging and fun.

During the latter half of the summer, I started to wonder if I was rushing into things too quickly.  My double weekend of shows with the Ruby Revue and Lemme Addams’ Stardust Revue wore me out.  I also didn’t want to come on too strongly in my eagerness to stage kitten.  As a result, I decided to take the time to focus on classes and figuring out who Hana Li is.

Bellilona Fatin, me, Carmen St. Cloud, and Raven
By Lecroix Photography
www.facebook.com/lecroixphotography

That didn’t mean I wasn’t involved in other community activities.  When I learned that the Dallas School of Burlesque was invited to march in the Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade, I knew had to participate.  I’d never been to a pride parade, and I really wanted to show my. . . well, pride in being queer and my support.  What better way than to march with friends in fabulous showgirl costumes?  The Dirty Blonde made costuming really easy for those of us who were busy.  We just had to pick a color of a rainbow, get a swimsuit (or in my case, a bra) the color of the rainbow, and embellish.  I picked red because I already had bottoms of that color from my Wonder Girl costume (and because it’s a common bra color).  However, I wanted to wear my socks that are the colors of the asexual pride flag: black, grey, white, and purple.  With some advice from Lily Lecroix and fringe from Black Mariah, I was able to add a bit of purple to my bra.  I also learned how to rhinestone.

Through both the costuming sessions and the parade itself, I got to know more members of the burlesque community.  It was hot and a long walk, but the energy and enthusiasm was unbelievable.  My only regret came from my feet, which did not like the long walk in my gold wedge sneakers.  Still, that was nothing compared to Jade Vivian and MayMay walking in real heels.  They definitely get my admiration.  Pride was a nice way to end the summer, and I even got a stage kittening gig out of it.  That’s a story for another post.  In the meantime, you can check out more photos over on my facebook page.

By Susan Migdol, EDGE Dallas
edgedallas.com