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Today’s tip comes from Devora Darling:
For good posture, keep your collar bones lifted. Imagine you’re wearing a sparkly necklace and you want it to reflect light onto your face.
Dear Constant Reader,
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The Happy Stripper: Pleasures and Politics of the New Burlesque by Jacki Willson.
I think I met the author at the after-party for The Immodest Tease Show in London back in 2006, but I’m not 100% sure — there were a lot of people there. But that’s neither here nor there.
Ms. Willson became interested in exploring the display of women’s bodies in a post-feminist world after seeing a piece of performance art involving striptease. She wonders if burlesque can be both sexy and subversive. Although the performers are putting their bodies on display, are they also fully empowered? Her focus is the examples of Ursula Martinez (performance artist), Immodesty Blaize (UK burlesque superstar), and Dita von Teese (no introduction necessary).
The book is quite academic and densely informative. I suspect it’s was originally the author’s dissertation. It’s not so much about burlesque as an art form but as the background for discussing the social implication and political ramifications of stripping. To really get the most out of this book, it’s helpful to know something of the different waves of feminism and the major players in each.
The focus is predominantly UK-centric, although she does use some US and Australian sources. The bibliography is exhaustive. If you’re looking for a light read on neo-burlesque, this isn’t it. If you’re interested in delving into the philosophies of stripping and feminism, this is your book.
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We’ve been having so much fun trading off who runs warm ups that Betty jumped back in — with something completely different. She practices an Indian martial art called kalaripayattu and she ran us through some drills to make us think differently about dance moves.
We practiced high kicks and turns, which are done differently from the dance equivalent. As I remember, kicks involve recovering the momentum by taking the leg back and you should be trying to hit a target, not just lifting your leg high. When turning with a kick, the pivot is on your heel, not the ball of your foot.
Many of the Babydolls have a ballet background and much of these exercises were totally counter to their instincts. I didn’t have to fight against previous training — I just thought it was hard. And since it was just a 10-15 minute warmup, Betty didn’t inflict the jumps or squats on us. That’s probably next time.
It’s so useful to try other forms of movement and apply them to burlesque. I think it improves us all as performers.
Dear Constant Reader,
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A History of Burlesque by Ettore Rella (1940).
During the Great Depression, the Work Projects Administration put many unemployed people to work. The common image is of hard physicval labor, like roadwork, but the WPA employed artists and writers as well. One such WPA sponsored project was the San Fransico Theatre Research monograph series. There were at least 15 manuscripts published on the history of theatre in San Francisco, specific theatres, performers, and theatircal genres, including burlesque.
Mr. Rella looks at burlesque from 1850 until the present day, that being 1940. His focus is obviously on appearances of burlesque in San Francisco, but it’s still a good overview of the evolution of burlesque over almost a century. He studies individual shows as well as performers and frequently quotes from the scripts.
If you’re interested in early burlesque, this is a great resource.
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The Boston Babydolls are working on a brand new act that we are going to show for the very first time at The Rhinestone Revue on Friday, April 6th. I need a smashing gown, but none of the ones I already had fit the bill. We tried a couple at rehearsal on Wednesday, but no dice.
In a fit of bravado, I decided to make a new one. Before rehearsal on Sunday. Scratch often calls me the Fastest Needle in the East, so why not test the veracity of that title once again? He thought it was a bad idea, so of course I had to run with the plan.
I had a pattern I wanted to use, but the last time I tried it, the bodice gaped badly. Fortunately I have a new dressmaker’s mannequin to help with fitting.
Friday night, I cut the bodice lining and started altering it. Saturday I bought my fabric, cut everything out, and started sewing everything. Eventually I broke 4 needles sewing the skirt together, quit and went to sleep. Sunday there was more bodice fitting, zipper setting, and the creation of a wearable garment. A pretty nice one, if unfinished.
Because I was both arrogant and under the gun, I started on the hem treatment. What I really needed to do was set it all aside, take some time to think, and go to rehearsal with a partially done, but wearable dress. What I ended up doing was cursing a lot and making some really dumb decisions.
At rehearsal, my dress was duly admired and I was given some good suggestions for fixing the hem treatment and some additional improvements.
What am I doing today? Ripping off the hem treatment. What will I be doing before Wednesday? Fixing my dumb mistakes. When do you get to see the dress? April 6th.
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A number of my friends have recently blogged about training and improvement (most of them were taking about business, but I apply everything to burlesque), which inspired this tip:
Never stop learning. There will always be something new that will help you improve your art.
I love taking classes. My definition of a successful class is one in which I learn one useful thing. More than that, and it’s a great class. And I don’t just restrict myself to burlesque classes — next weekend Betty Blaize and I are taking a bellydance workshop on Wings of Isis.
The 6th annual Great Burlesque Expo is coming up Easter weekend (that’s April 6-8) and the Conference is full of great classes for new & experienced burlesquers and performing artists in other disciplines. There will be teachers from all over the country! It’s a great opportunity to learn something new.
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I’m very excited to share this treat with you. This potentially NSFW treat…
I’m dancing on the back of the banquettes in the VIP area at Oberon. Orignially I was a little concerned about having mirrors behind me, but I think it enhances the performance. I’m very happy with the fans, which were custom made just for this act.
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About a month ago I wrote about an exercise we use for warm ups. Usually Betty runs warm ups for us but we all decided to give her a little break and the Babydolls have been taking turns leading warm ups.
So, far we’ve had burlesque/ballet combinations from Devora Darling, calisthenics and balance exercises from Evie Sphinx, and last night, an introductory tap lesson from Brigitte Bisoux. It’s been so much fun trying different things! Not to mention hurting different body parts. Betty usually kills us with shimmies, but Evie tortured us with squats.
Eventually it’s going to be my turn, so I had best figure out what I’m going to do.
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If you’re having trouble unfastening your bra, the hooks might have gotten squeezed shut. Use a pair of needle-nose pliers to bend them back into shape.
Dear Constant Reader,
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Weeki Wachee, City of Mermaids: A History of One of Florida’s Oldest Roadside Attractions by Lu Vickers (2007).
You might remember that I spent a little time learning to swim like a mermaid. For my birthday my mother gave me this history of Weeki Wachee Springs and their famous mermaids. And it’s even signed by the author to “Mermaid Mina”!
It covers the history of this unique attraction from underwater entertainment before Weeki Wachee opened, through the glory years of the City of Live Mermaids, to the decline into kitch, and the recent (successful) Save Our Tails campaign. Many mermaids and others intimately involved with Weeki Wachee contributed interviews as well as memorabilia.
Hardly a page goes by that doesn’t have photographs, postcards, or ads from all eras of Weeki Wachee’s history. I was particularly thrilled to see some of the Former Performing Mermaids and pick out the wonderful women who trained us to swim and pose in a tail.
I know I said I had a lot of burlesque books to review before moving on to other topics. This book does have pictures of Bambi the Mermaid and Julie Atlas Muz in a tail. Does that count?
It’s obvious from this book that those who worked at Weeki Wachee, especially those who have swum in its crystal-clear waters, consider it a magical place. I have to agree — sometimes I still dream of the spring and my short time as a mermaid.
Oh, The Glamourous Life! 