Dear Constant Reader,
Last day at BurlyCon!
After a quick yogurt, I went to my first class.
Gloves, Arms & Hands (Willy Barrett): I never pass up an opportunity to take a class with Willy (aka Delsarte Master Joe Paul Williams). He’s been a staple at The Expo since the very first year, and you can thank Betty Blaize for luring him into the world of burlesque! His teachings have strongly influenced The Boston Babydolls and I would encourage any performer to take one of his workshops.
This class was packed! I think someone said it was the second-largest class all weekend. There was one marvelous moment when the entire class audibly had their minds blown (it was the wrist-throat connection, for those who know). I heard a rumor he’ll be offering “Legs and Feet” at the upcoming Expo in February…
Power in Simplicity (Perle Noir): Well, I planned to attend. The class was crowded and I realized I didn’t have much concentration at the moment. After the warm up and watching the choreography demonstration I left.
Instead, Scratch and I checked out of our room, put our bags in the holding pen, and had a pleasant brunch with Jonny Porkpie, Jo Weldon, Kristina Nekyia, and some other folks that I can’t quite remember at the moment. The conversation turned to flexibility (as Porkpie showed a photo of his recreation of a vintage Hustler cover involving a bit of contortion). Kristina, a professional contortionist, mentioned that she had an instructional DVD on splits and backbends. I’ve always wanted to be able to do a split and have been unable to find a good training program, so I ordered it as soon as I got home. We shall see how that goes…
And then back to class.
Merkins (Lola Love): For my non-burlesque readers, a merkin is basically a g-string without the string — a little patch that covers the bits that must remain hidden. It’s unlikely that I’ll ever wear one, Boston decency laws being what they are, but I still want to know how to make one. They are really quite simple to construct. Keeping one in place is the challenge.
Then there was a little more shopping before my last class of the weekend.
Dances of the Roaring 20’s (Gin Minsky): So much fun! We learned the Charleston and the Black Bottom and then spent most of the class putting everything together into a choreography. Exhausting! A great way to end the convention.
Then I wrestled my suitcase out of luggage jail, changed into travel clothes, and had a spot of bother returning said bag. But it was okay because I got to hang with Lili von Schtupp while she tried to rescue her bag out.
Then we went out for some dinner with Scandal, Hoi Polloi, Dahlia Fatale, and a brand new burlesquer named Pepper before it was time to head to the airport.
We had an overnight flight, so I was beyond grateful that whoever was supposed to sit between us failed to show up and I could stretch out a little and sleep. We arrived in Boston a bit earlier than scheduled and watched the sun come up as we were chauffeured back to Stately Babydoll Manor. There to be met by a large white cat who missed Scratch terribly.
Next time, it’s all about the shopping!
That amazing robe was made by Catherine D’Lish and I adore it. many people recognized the style right off the bat, so I didn’t even have to brag about who made it. The photo was specifically taken for Corinne Southern who had recently announced that she desired “Catherine D’Lish dressing gowns” and “Boudoir slippers with feathers on them” and when I mentioned I’d be wearing both, insisted on a picture. You can’t see my marabou trimmed mules in the photo. 
Performance Tips (Kitten DeVille): I’ve had the privilege of being in a couple of shows with Kitten and that only made me more appreciative of her sexy prowling and audience-pleasing moves. It’s all in the details, as it turns out. Hand position, eye contact, chin up or down. There’s a lot of subtlety required to really tease the audience. And she made us do this killer leg exercise during our warm-up. I’m totally keeping it.
I did want to wear my Junior Prom gown (yes, I still have it), but alas, my boobs are bigger and my back more muscular than when I was 16 and I can no longer zip it up past my bra strap. Bummer. Despite Indigo Blue suggesting I just let my boobs hang out, I opted for a black cocktail dress that reminded me of the prom gown just a little. I did bring the same clutch I used for the original occasion but decided not to curl and tease my hair into the giant explosion it had been back then. Scratch was dashing in a ruffled tuxedo shirt and a fuzzy tiger print jacket. Pictured is the corsage he gave me, made by Cristal Blu (it can be worn as a fascinator too!). He had a matching boutonniere, but I think it’s still in his suitcase.
This is going to be a long missive, as it was one long day… The drive from Rochester to Cleveland was easy, although there was a *spectacular* thunderstorm as we passed through Buffalo. We got to the hotel with enough time to rest up before we had to be at the Beachland Ballroom. We were at the venue promptly and had time to run our number twice on stage, figuring out the proper blocking. I’ll get back to this later.
Since we were in the headliner block at the end of the show, we could relax and enjoy the whole first half of the show. Scratch was one of the MCs and really kept things moving along, as is necessary with a festival show. There were about 25 acts, plus handing out half a dozen 
We saw stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, and the rare stalag-mouse (supposedly the calcified corpse of a pet mouse). After walking through the caves for a while, following the icy River Styx, we arrived at the Lake of Venus and got into boats. Our boat pilot was a gal whose name I never got, but gave us some fun insider dope about being a cave guide. She and her identical twin sister would sometimes switch groups if they didn’t think anyone was paying enough attention. The picture shows Stella and D.D. gawking at the rock formations. And yes, we were all bundled up in sweatshirts. It’s 52 degrees in the cave.
