Dear Constant Reader,
Please vote for the Boston Babydolls!
If you are planning a stocking remove, pumps slip off easily and you don’t have to worry about unfastening buckles or untying laces. And you can put the shoes back on with little fuss.
Questions and Answers
Dear Constant Reader,
Please vote for the Boston Babydolls!
In response to my Friday tip, my esteemed colleague, Mr. Scratch, asked why performers shouldn’t pick up their own costumes. Well, in my opinion…
You want to leave your audience with a strong positive impression. Scrambling around, partialy clad, trying to quickly pick up your discarded costume before the next act comes on is probably not how you want the audience to remember you. Exit in character.
Also, bending over or crouching down to pick things up puts you in a subservient posture. Burlesque legend Toni Elling said to never look like you are ashamed of what you do. She wouldn’t even lower her head to acknowledge the audience’s applause. Also, you’ll look better standing up straight.
My mother (who reads this blog) asked how to wish a burlesque performer luck rather than saying “break a leg”. I’ve heard “break a nail” and “break a heel”, but most commonly “pop a pastie”.
Scratch tends to say “Good show”, which works for any kind of performance.
When we were in a commedia dell’arte troupe, we stopped saying “break a leg” because someone did. Then we used “In bocca al lupo” (“into the wolf’s mouth”), which is the Italian equivalent, without the fear of fractured bones. The proper response is “Crepi il lupo” (“may the wolf die”).
What good luck phrase do you use? Does any one use “merde”?
Friday Tip!
Dear Constant Reader,
Please vote for The Boston Babydolls for “Best Burlesque” of 2012. You can vote every day. Thank you!
Never pick up your own costume.
If there’s absolutely no other option, bring an attractive basket (decorate it if you have time) and drop your garments in it. It’s still not fabulous for you to carry it off stage, but it’s better than crawling around at the end of your act grabbing all your costume bits.
Friday Tip!
Dear Constant Reader,
Please click and nominate the Boston Babydolls for “Best Burlesque” and Naked Girls Reading for “Best Literary Gang”. Thank you!
This week’s tip comes from Betty Blaize:
Dance is not just movement, it’s motivation. Whether you move fast or slow, small or big, in circles or straight lines – it all depends on why you are moving. A dance number doesn’t have to be a story, but any dance has a mood or tone. Understanding the desired spirit of the piece lets you refine your moves and puts the finishing touch on any number.
Friday Tip!
Dear Constant Reader,
Please click and nominate the Boston Babydolls for “Best Burlesque” and Naked Girls Reading for “Best Literary Gang”. Thank you!
This tip is courtesy of some parasol repairs I made this week. (See the parasols in Unlucky in Love, opening tonight!)
When using with E6000 or similar adhesives, work in a well-ventilated area and let the item stay some place well-ventilated and far from your bedroom overnight.
I know E6000 is a favorite amongst the burlesque community for attaching rhinestones. Sometimes it is the only choice, but its vapors are toxic!
Open your window when you’re working with it. Then stash the stuff to dry somewhere far from where you’ll be breathing, like the garage or porch. Or at the very least put it near an open window.
Friday Tip!
Dear Constant Reader,
Please nominate the Boston Babydolls for “Best Burlesque” and Naked Girls Reading for “Best Literary Gang”. Thank you!
Now that that’s out of the way, here’s your Friday tip!
Always be aware of your hands. Having energy and liveliness through your hands will improve a number, even if the audience doesn’t notice why – they will notice if your hand seems limp or “dead”.
2011 recap
Dear Constant Reader,
My friend Holly Rebelle of Burlesque Noir (New Mexico) recently blogged about her year past in burlesque and I thought it was a great idea. Let’s see how much I can remember.
January
The Boston Babydolls put on a light revue called Hot Dates with a calendar theme. Highlights for me are introducing my “Champagne on Ice” act and wearing my mink coat in the finale. Betty choreographs it such that at no time did the coat ever touch the ground, but was passed from hand to hand until hung up by the stage kitten.
February
Naked Girls Reading Boston participates in the chapter-wide theme of “Love Stinks!”, sponsored by Great Philosophers Who Failed At Love. We are the only group to have the (clothed) participation of the author.
March
Mr. Cupid’s House of Love brings us a couple of milestones. Evie Sphinx becomes an official troupe member. The sultry songstress Alissa joins us for her first show. I perform an aerial act. Scratch is in our finale, dancing.
April
The Expo! I finally perform my tribute to April March. I’m not sure I have ever been so nervous in my entire performing career, trying to do April’s act in front of her.
Also, the Boston Babydolls win “Best Burlesque” from the Boston Phoenix.
And we perform at the launch party for the new comic Teenage Satan.
May and June
We throw a victory party for our Best of Boston win from the Phoenix, but mostly we begin preparations for Madame Burlesque: An Evening of Tributes, our most ambitious show at the time. We launch a Kickstarter campaign, build a giant oyster, and have fabulous photos taken. But most importantly, we cast Brigitte Bisoux and Corinne Southern.
July
Madame Burlesque at home and on the road! It’s our first real tour and we have so much fun. 4 states in 4 weeks! Whose idea was it to bring a giant oyster? That thing doesn’t exactly pack small!
August
B.A.B.E. moves! A larger space, just down the hall, opens up in our building and we take it. Scratch spends most of the month turning it from drab industrial space to a lovely dance studio, including a new dance floor and storage room.
September
At long last The Wrathskellar has a home! After months of searching, Scratch finally finds a vacant storefront in which to build our creepy tavern. He and a very small team of talented carpenters along with a lot of very unskilled labor from the Babydolls do the impossible in about two weeks.
October
It’s all The Wrathskellar all the time. We come to see that dirty, chilly space as our second home. Also, the birth of Sunday Socials. We welcome Brigitte Bisoux as an official Boston Babydoll.
November
We win “Best Burlesque” from the Weekly Dig and arrive at their award party in Scratch’s 1956 Packard.
Scratch thinks it’s a good idea to hold the Burlesque Marathon again. Much sleep deprived fun is had by all.
December
Naked Girls Reading presents an epic marathon reading of A Christmas Carol. We had no idea it would take so long…
And what are we up to now? Getting ready for Unlucky in Love. Live music, live singers, partially-clad dancers!
Friday Tip!
Dear Constant Reader,
Checklists are your friend. Make one for each act and use it to pack your costume and props before the show. Then use it again to make sure that you got everything back after your performance.
We’ve all had that moment — that panic when you get to the show and realize part of your costume is still sitting on your bed. Or that sinking feeling when you discover later that you’re short a rhinestoned glove. Checklists can help prevent that heartbreak! You may find yourself crawling under the stage with a flashlight after the show looking for that missing glove, but you’ll go home with it! And you won’t be rushing around begging someone to loan you a g-string either!
Friday Tip!
Dear Constant Reader,
Fake flowers, like real flowers, are seasonal. The craft shop won’t stock cherry blossoms in the fall or poinsettias in the summer.
Fortunately, on-line shops defy the calendar. It won’t be instant gratification, but it’s better than waiting for the next season to roll around.You can probably get some deals when the seasons do change and the craft store is trying to get rid of their now out-of-date inventory.
