Dear Constant Reader,
This weekend was just what I needed! I believe we have finally left winter behind and entered spring. The crocuses around Stately Babydoll Manor have bloomed and the tiny lawn tulips shouldn’t be far behind.
Scratch & I drove down to New York on Saturday to take a Delsarte Intensive with Joe Williams (Willy Barrett), and it was amazing. I’m not going to try to explain the Delsarte system (philosophy, teachings, &c.) because it would take a while and I probably wouldn’t do it so well. Thus I’ll just say the principles apply to any form of communication (and what is performance other than communication with an audience?) and I recommend Joe’s teachings to any performer. You can read more here. Some of my Gentle Readers were clever enough to have taken classes with him at The Expo and had their minds blown.
I’ve taken many classes with Joe over the years, mostly an hour long, maybe two, but this was *nine* hours over two days. There was finally enough time to really delve into each topic and explore. Scratch and I were continually having “ah ha!” moments and having little whispered conferences as ideas came to light or the “why” of things suddenly made sense. It was a wonderful mix of students — about equal parts burlesque and bellydance, some other styles of performance, and at least one non-performer, and the differing perspectives really added to the class. There is so much I want to use and share, on stage and with my students. I can’t wait.
(Photo by Kaeshi Chai)
If you ever have the opportunity to learn from Joe, take it. You will grow as a performer. Really. I promise.
The rest of weekend was awful nice too. We got to spend some time with Scratch’s family and also have breakfast with International Superstar Model Sarah Hartshorne. We got to hear abut her latest modeling adventures, stand-up gigs, and the non-profit project she’s working for before she had to go convince someone to loan her a cocktail-dispensing vending machine. I cannot make this stuff up.
On our way back home we went via Brooklyn (which you keen observers of New York City geography will realize is not actually on the way from the Upper West Side to Boston) to meet up with The Italian Stallionette herself, Angie Pontani. I am the proud owner of Angie’s bath tub (the performance prop, not her actual bath tub; that would be weird and kind of creepy), which she delivered at The Expo.
However, there’s a snazzy shipping crate for the tub, which Angie wanted the heck out of her storage unit, but was way too big for her to transport.
It *just* fit in the back of the Babydoll-mobile. And that car can carry 3 dancers, an MC, and all the gear needed for a full-length show. For a little while it seemed like this would be a very squished ride back home until Scratch figured out how to adjust everything so that the crate fit, the back hatch stayed closed, and he didn’t have to drive smashed up against the steering wheel.
Now, it resides in our storage unit, awaiting the day my bath tub act is desired internationally.
And then there was the ritual placation of a large white cat who was quite cranky at our absence.
Here were have, from left to right:
Here are 3 costumes courtesy of Angie Pontani: two vintage showgirl costumes (which were for sale and both of them were snapped up) and her “Madame Pompadour” costume. Next to them is a showgirl costume from maybe the 1970’s worn at the Primadonna Casino & Cabaret in Reno, NV, from Scratch’s collection.
And here we have:
Big Hair, Don’t Care (Maggie McMuffin): We learned how to get enormous volume through fillers and through teasing plus the secret ingredients. I probably won’t even try it on my thin, fine hair, but 
Oh, The Glamourous Life! 