Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

This weekend was the spring B.A.B.E. student showcase. We ended up calling it “Spectacular” instead of “Student” because we had a couple of instructors on stage too. We hold these recitals twice a year so our Burlesque Your Way students can show off their new creations, but also to give our alumnae a performance opportunity.

Scratch hosted the first part of the show — distinguish alums and instructors.

First up was Sadie Hunter, bringing back her first Burlesque Your Way creation, a fierce chair dance to Beyoncé’s version of “Fever”.

Kitty Levesque brought a touch of glamour with her Marilyn-style “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend”.

Elsa Riot reprised the fire-themed act she had debuted at The Teaseday Club. And despite her fears, her merkin stayed on again!

I was sorry I couldn’t see Alice Azul‘s new number since I was fussing backstage. The bit I saw in rehearsal looked super-sultry and she had a lovely feather-trimmed robe (that she made herself).

Lucie Luxe, our alumna-turned-instructor has been away from the stage earning another Master’s degree. Her return was heralded by a re-work of one of her Teaseday Club favorites, to “Toxic” from Melanie Martinez.

Devora Darling demonstrated her boundless energy and dance skills to The Puppini Sister’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing”. It was a great advertisement for her class next month where she’ll teach a complete burlesque routine of her own creation.

Mina Murray: That’s me! I presented my revamped version of The Faerie Queene. This is the third iteration, and I hope it’s finally the one! The evolution deserves a post of its very own.

The second half, which I hosted, was devoted Burlesque Your Way students.

This is Honey Bee‘s third creation with a B.A.B.E. program (she took Burlesque Your Way once before and the Mystery Box class). She stripped out of a peacock-feathered costume to Amy Winehouse’s “Love is Blind” and ended by pulling off a scarf that was draped atop her corset and wrapping it around her eyes like a blindfold in her final pose.

Lucky Penny presented her very first burlesque routine! She was a jewel thief who distracted a hapless guard by taking off her clothes. Her friend playing the guard really hammed it up and made a great foil to her naughtiness. The song was, appropriately, “Wikked Lil’ Grrrls” by Esthero.

Pearl Buttons has been working really hard! She created two numbers for her debut at The Teaseday Club plus her class assignment. This was a high-energy dance-intensive striptease to Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s “The Boogie Bumper”.

Devastasia, who made her debut last fall in the Mystery Box class, went classic with Frank Sinatra singing “Mack the Knife”. She played it up as a hit-woman who removes concealed weapons as well as her clothes and packed them all neatly into a suitcase. Then she put on a totally different outfit and got out of town.

We closed the show with Jeannie Martini, also a Mystery Box veteran. She brought down the house with her fan dance to Doris Day’s “I Only Have Eyes for You.” I don’t want to give away the punchline, but it was hilarious and clever!

And here’s almost everyone! From L to R: Lucky Penny, Mina Murray, Lolita the Stage Kitten, Pearl Buttons, Devora Darling, Devastasia, Jeannie Martini, Kitty Levesque, Alice Azul, Sadie Hunter, and Elsa Riot. (missing: Honey Bee, Lucie Luxe and Scratch). Photo courtesy of Elsa Riot.

Big thanks to Allison in the tech booth and Lolita the Stage Kitten! And of course, Scratch who produced the show and handled the box office, as well as hosting.

B.A.B.E. students will be back in the Fall for the next showcase!