Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

(My adventure started on Thursday)

I woke nice and early on Friday to start with an 8AM class. One of the smartest things I did was bring some instant oatmeal packets so I could use the coffee maker in my room to have a hot breakfast.

Morning Ballet Warm Up (Paris Original): I’m not an experienced ballet dancer by any stretch of the imagination, but I can follow along. I was a little daunted at the thought of a 90-minute class, but I’m tough. As it turned out, I lasted for half of it. It wasn’t that it was too hard for me (although it was challenging), but I was near the back of the room and I couldn’t see the instructor’s feet most of the time, thus making it difficult to properly follow what he was doing. Also, Paris has a tiny little voice and it was difficult to hear him from where I was. Maybe next year there could be a platform like in the ballrooms and a microphone. I’ll be back.

Seeing as I had a free 45 minutes before the next class, I went to hospitality and allowed the Boise Bombshells to ply me with a chocolate muffin and mini-mimosa, thus spoiling all the virtue of my early morning ballet.

Intermediate Modern Dance for the Burlesque Performer (Cherdonna Shinatra): I’m not familiar with modern dance, but the Babydolls asked that I take the class and report back. We did a lot of movement work, not surprisingly. The one that sticks in my mind right now was the “baby zombie walk”. We ended with a really interested movement exercise. I’m not going to give any details because I want to spring it on the Babydolls when we have a little down time (whatever *that* is).

After this were the keynote speeches. It’s always so crowded in there that I decided to take advantage of the quiet and have lunch by a fireplace. BurlyCon had to scale back their outrageously lavish hospitality (not surprising — I’m surprised that the hotel let them get away with it for so long), but the hotel stepped in with a lunch buffet, so we could get something quick & hot.

Massage: This year saw the first BurlySpa and I was going to take advantage of it! They were offering manicures, hair styling, massages, and sugaring, and maybe some other services I’ve forgotten. I had hoped to get my brows done, but at the time I made my appointment (soon after I arrived) they were only offering underarms and brazilians (later they added brows). So, I got a massage. I can count the number of massages I’ve had in my life on both hands and still have fingers left over. Sad, no? So I had my shoulders pummeled for 20 minutes and it did a *lot* of good.

Burlesque Floorwork (Peekaboo Pointe): I love floorwork and Peekaboo is so good at it! I took a class with her at BurlyCon many years ago and could hardly walk the next day. This class covered different material from the previous one, so I learned new stuff. Yay! I brought a pair of kneepads this year and it made a huge difference. We did the same combination several times to different music and it was a really useful exercise.

Basic Fan Dancing Using Marabou Hand Fans (The One The Only Inga): I use big fans and have for a long time. My intermediate students have started asking for a fan dance class and I don’t want anyone to have to invest in big fans for their first class. The technique is very different, so I sat in on this class to see if I could pick up some pointers for using the little ones.

Then I dropped in on the end of the music video class and discovered not only was it going to be much harder than I could handle, but that session only taught half of it. I thought it was that you took whichever session was convenient for you, but it was actually a weekend commitment. Okay, cross that off the list.

Can Can Kick It (Ariel Helvetica): This was so much fun! And so exhausting. We learned the basic moves of the can can: entrances, kicks, turns, and the importance of screaming. I’m glad it was the last class of the day because it’s unlikely I could do anything after that. And here we all are!

So I went back to my room, took a hot bath, and then passed out for a while. I missed the class photos. Oh well.

The theme of the dance this year was “Lust in Space” and I couldn’t come up with anything really spacy to wear. Brigitte suggested the Spaaaaace Apron (a strange costume piece we picked up somewhere). In the end I went with this evening gown because silver = space, right?

There were a lot of really creative costumes from a variety of fandoms and original concepts. I felt quite under-dressed, but at least I could move around easily & dance. There may also have been a Princess Farhana cocktail (pineapple rum, coconut water, and pineapple juice).

And tomorrow is yet another full day!

Dear Constant Reader,

Thursday morning came way too early and Scratch went above & beyond by driving me to the airport before dawn. I was shocked when I went through security that I could keep my coat & shoes *on*. I was sure I was in the wrong line…

Before I knew it, I was in Seattle (that’s a total lie — it’s a 6 hour flight and I didn’t sleep very well during it) and off to the hotel. To my utter horror, my room wasn’t ready. Big thanks to the hotel people who managed to get me a room only an hour later. I hear other folks had to wait much, much longer.

Hearing Your Choreography: Dance Making for Beginners (Jeez Loueez): I admit it — I’m a terribly choreographer, so any guidance helps. We did a useful group exercise in creating a short combination with certain parameters — we started with 4 poses and had to connect them while including a reversal, a level change, and a turn. Then we we had to present the combination with an assigned emotion. My group got “really pissed off”. That was fun.

Bump and Grind (Kitten DeVille): I know this sounds like a super basic class, but I was not going to turn down the opportunity to refine my moves with The Queen of the Quake! And my advanced students are studying hip work this month, so it seemed fortuitous. Kitten’s idea of a warm-up would count as a workout for most! Our glutes got quite a lot of attention…

Then it was time for the Vintage Meet & Greet and Birds of a Feather Caucuses.
This is my ’40’s-style dress worn with seamed stockings and Fluevogs. I made it myself, so I was quite flattered when someone asked if it was vintage. I attempted victory rolls which turned out okay considering my hair was very clean and I had forgotten to pack either hair spray or Betty Blaize.

The first set of caucuses were for length of time in the biz. I went to the “Seasoned” group (8+ years) where The One The Only Inga served us all chamomile tea (because we’re old ladies) and presented us with badges of honor. We all knew one another and probably could have sat chatting for a long, long time, but before we managed to get all the way around the circle with “how I got started” stories, it was time to move along.

Next up was “Eastern Seaboard” where Cherie Sweetbottom & Anja Keister made us play college RA games, silly fun. I discovered I was the sole representative of New England (who showed up — I know there were a couple more at the event).

No one showed up for “Gardening & Glamour” except Whisper de Corvo and myself, so we went to “LTRs”, mostly because I was wondering what it stood for. Answer: Long Term Relationships. And then “Crafters/DIY” which I left before it ended. It was a large group and the introductions kind of devolved into “my life story via crafting” and I was too tired to keep sitting.

There were peer reviews after that, but I’d gotten up 18 hours before and my enormous bed was calling me. Lots more tomorrow!