Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! Your tip today comes courtesy of Betty Blaize, who, as we speak, is on the west coast with her Bharatanatyam (classical Indian dance) guru preparing for an amazing dance performance she’s going to present in Boston next month.

Betty’s choreography creation metric: one minute of music = one hour of choreographing

For every minute of music in your act, expect it will take you an hour to create the choreography for that minute. Similarly, if you are teaching someone else a choreography, plan on one hour of teaching time for every minute of music.

This is just a rule of thumb. You might be on fire and whip through your creation process. You might get stuck and things take much longer than expected. Once you add more people into the dance, you need to add more time for both creation and teaching.

When you’re figuring on how long it’s going to take you to go from zero to performance, this is a great metric to keep in mind.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! Here’s your tip!

Price your merch at three to four times what it cost you.

If you are making products, remember to factor in your labor as well as the cost of materials.

Like this tip? There are lots more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.

Dear Constant Reader,

As you read this, I am winging my way to lovely, warm Los Angeles, but I would never forget your tip. Here it is!

Done is good.

Sometime we just don’t have the luxury of time, money, or skill to make something exactly, perfectly as we dreamed it would be. You can always go back and fix it, but for now, when you need it, done is good.

Like this tip? There are lots more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a wonderful time at The Expo last week. It’s hard to believe it was a week ago. I’m still recovering and Stately Babydoll Manor is a wreck.

Of course, there’s no time to rest because tomorrow and Valentine’s Day The Boston BeauTease are presenting R&J: A Shakespearean Burlesque. Tickets are almost sold out, so jump on it or miss out!

And now, here’s your Friday Tip!

Pack headphones in your gig bag.

You’ll want to listen to your music and warm up your act before you go on stage. But you don’t want to disturb any of your fellow performers who have their own pre-show rituals with their own timing of them. So, make sure you always have your headphones.

Like this tip? There are more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! Here’s your tip!

For any project, consider the Golden Triangle: good, fast, cheap. Pick any two.

Since you would never give a customer a truly bad product, I substitute “high-end” for “good”.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday!

I am pleased to report that my little book is at the printers! And we hit our 4th stretch goal with 20 hours to go (as of this writing)! I am so delighted at the positive response and I hope you will be equally delighted with the book.

And now for your tip!

Floorwork is not appropriate for every venue.

If the audience is in seating that’s not raked, your floor work will probably be invisible to all but the first rows as you disappear from view behind people’s heads. Also, the stage might be disgusting. Rock clubs are not known for the cleanliness of their floors. Have a contingency plan for these situations.

The simplest solution is to perform an act that has no floorwork. Problem solved!

Bring a set piece that will raise you up so you can be seen by all. This is the sort of thing the legends call a “prop”: a bench, chaise, platform, &c. I have a lovely prop Scratch built for me out of a coffee table.

For the above two solutions, you need to know in advance that the venue is unsuitable. To be prepared for an unpleasant surprise, create an alternate bit of choreography you can substitute for the floorwork. You can do the act even if you get to the venue and discover floorwork would be a bad idea.