Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday!

Just a reminder that The Thalia‘s Kickstarter ends tomorrow.

And now your tip! This piece of wisdom comes from Mr. Scratch:

Know your roots, folks. You may not like where you came from, but they made you who you are today. For better or worse.

Nobody springs fully formed from the brow of Zeus. All your experiences and relationships, good and bad, made you the performer you are. Ignoring any of them is being untruthful with yourself.

Like this tip? There are lots more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! Just a reminder that The Thalia could use your support. The zoning hearing, which decides if the theatre can actually open, is this Thursday. Please sign the petition, back the Kickstarter (just over a week left!), or spread the word!

Here’s your tip!

Choreography notes are good, but a reference video is even better.

After you have a number in the shape you like it, film it. This doesn’t mean pro-quality, festival-worthy, bells-and-whistles, performance video. Just grab a friend and your phone. This is for your future use, to jog your memory. When you start warming the act up again, you don’t wonder “what went here?” or “what did I mean by ‘tricky little step’?”. You can see exactly what you did.

The BeauTease are rehearsing an act we created almost four years ago and never performed. Betty created the choreography and has extensive notes, but we also took a video right before we shelved it. Being able to see what we did is so valuable, especially those little things that never made it into the notes.

Like this tip? There are lots more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! Before I get to your tip, I just wanted to remind you all that The Thalia has 2 weeks left to raise $8,500 on their Kickstarter campaign. Please support them. If you can’t financially, then by spreading the word!

Here’s your tip!

Every once in a while, take a risk.

You may fail, but then again, you may not. You’ll never know unless you do it.

Like this tip? There are lots more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! Here’s your tip!

Support the arts!

Joyce Kulhawik gave a great speech last night at The Thalia fundraiser on the importance and power of the arts. She’s so right. And yet something so vital to thought and creativity and community is perpetually underfunded. I mean, we naturally assume “starving” precedes “artist”. Here in Massachusetts the governor recently announced that he’s going to slash the arts funding budget by more than half, back to where it was 20 years ago.

So, please support your local arts scene, especially the smaller and fringe artists. Donate, go to shows, buy artworks, &c. If you can’t support artist with your dollars, do so with your voice. Spread the word about events, tell your friends about your favorite artists’ projects, actively seek out new artists, &c.

Like this tip? There are lots more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! A few commercial plugs before we get to your tip…

1. This coming Thursday there’s a fund raiser for The Thalia. It’s going to be great time with music, an auction, and a dessert bar. Get your ticket here. If you can make it, please consider donating to the Kickstarter campaign. Please support The Thalia — we desperately need more performance venues in the Boston area!

2. Applications to The Great Burlesque Exposition of 2017 (#BurlExpo) open August 1st! For the first week, they’re completely free!

3. The Boston BeauTease are taking over The Teaseday Club! If you’ve missed seeing us (and we’ve missed performing for you), come to The Davis Square Theatre on August 2! Tickets available here.

4. I’m teaching THREE costuming workshops in August! Learn to make pasties, a shimmy belt, or a g-string. Come in with nothing, leave with a beautiful costume piece that you made yourself! I’ll probably show some burlesque movies while we stitch. Register here.

And now for your tip…

Unplug.

I know many of us are always hustling — looking for gigs, promoting, communicating with clients, &c. — and our computer and mobile devices are a lifeline. But they are also an anchor. Take some time to get away from that tether. I like to take a walk every day sans phone and let my mind wander. It helps so much with relaxation and creativity.

Like this tip? There are lots more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! Sometime very soon I’ll tell you all about my trip to Chicago (spoiler: it was fantastic), but for now I’ll just give you your tip!

Wear kneepads when practicing floorwork.

It is so much easier to effectively learn and drill floorwork when your knees aren’t bruised and aching. Since I started using kneepads, I can practice longer and get more out of a rehearsal session and really refine my technique. I got these great looking zebra-striped ones. You’ll want to stop using kneepads when you are actually running your number as you would on stage, so you get used to the feel in bare knees.

Of course, there’s a exception to every tip…

In “The Duel” which was part of R&J: A Shakespearean Burlesque, I have to drop to my knees to crawl between some legs and then again to duck a punch while simultaneously ripping off Betty’s breeches. I was wearing kneepads in rehearsal, since I was crashing to my knees over and over again as we developed and rehearsed the choreography (and we were rehearsing twice as much because Devora was performing at The Expo and Brigitte took over the role in R & J). Scratch decided that I should just keep wearing them, just in case, and it’s a pretty silly number, so that just adds to the ridiculousness. D.D. is wearing her own pair, since she also hits the deck in the act.

Like this tip? There are lots more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.