Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

My plan for my second day at BurlyCon was to begin with a Pilates class. When I woke 10 minutes before the class was to begin, I took it was a sign. Instead I had a leisurely breakfast in the hospitality room (Top Pot donuts!) with Scratch before starting my day full of classes.

FAN-tastic Feathers! (Beau Bordello): Obviously I love fans and feathers, so this was a must take. A couple of years ago I bought some fan staves from the instructor and eventually made my own fans (at right). I was hoping for some pointers, especially with stringing the fan. There was a lot of information about feathers and some kits for practicing attaching feathers to fan staves. Unfortunately for me, she doesn’t actually string her fans, so I’m still thirsting for an easier way. The booklet in each kit, also available as a PDF, was very informative on all aspects of feathers.

Take a Seat (Ophelia Flame): As you might imagine, this was a chair dance class. Although we did cover some chair moves, I found the most valuable part of the class was following along while Ophelia “made shit up” to differing types of music. Best was the Sharks/Jets dance off with half the class watching the other half perform.

Teasing Theories (panel): I was delighted when Sailor St. Claire invited me on this panel with Waxie Moon, Kristina Nekyia, and Tootsie Spangles to talk about “Aaaht”. All the panelists are educators with diverse backgrounds in other artistic disciplines and we had some interesting discussions. I have to admit feeling a bit of impostor syndrome in such company!

#pussymagic (Bella Blue): I loved the classes I took with Bella at The Expo and I was intrigued to explore her philosophy of pussymagic. We learned a short choreography and then after a pussy meditation, we performed it again, for a partner, keeping the principles from the meditation in mind. It was an intense experience and I want to thank Sapphire for being my pussymagic partner. I’m still thinking about my take-away from this class.

After classes ended Scratch & I trekked to a nearby Denny’s for an elegant dinner. There we saw the lovely Strawberry Stems from Anchorage having a solitary meal and asked to join her. Pleasant company indeed. I do hope my travels take me to Alaska some day.

That night was the Mystical Menagerie Dance. I was looking forward to it. My first thought had been to wear my satyr costume, which is very impressive, especially the hooves, but it takes up a lot of room in my suitcase and I can neither sit down nor dance. Pass.

Instead I went as…

 The Faerie Queene.

It took longer than I expected to get ready — getting eye makeup just right for wearing with a mask is challenging, despite previous practice — so I missed the class photo. Oh well. Scratch had fallen soundly asleep, so I went to the dance without him.

There were some charming vignettes in the ballroom, particularly the mermaid grotto and the Narnia setting, and a ton of fabulous costumes. Unicorns predominated, matched only by mermaids. I was so glad to see Whisper de Corvo and give her the big hug I’d been holding onto for months. She made my headdress above, by the way.

After a while I was too tired to dance and headed back to the room. On an impulse I stopped in at First Light Photography and took advantage of their Friday the 13th special. I need a good photo of this costume!

I opened the door to our room and caught Scratch putting his pants on to come join me. Instead, we called it a night. Tomorrow is going to be another very full day!

Dear Constant Reader,

My annual pilgrimage to BurlyCon began as usual, getting up way too early to head to the airport, an uneventful and dull flight to Seattle, and arrival around lunchtime. We had hoped against hope that the room would be ready, so there could be a nap, a shower, and clothes changing before classes, but alas, it was not to be.

I’m not crazy about the new hotel. It’s closer to the airport than the previous one, but further from anything else. Admittedly, there were some restaurants within a 10-minute or so walk, but it was cold and raining (more than the usual Seattle drizzle) most of the weekend. Also, the conference center was in a separate building from the rooms, which required a short (although covered) jaunt outside. I think it’s possible that the room block could have been further from the conference center, but it would have been challenging. But that’s enough with the bitching.

Although we got there in time for the first rank of classes, we opted for lunch instead. There was a restaurant a short walk from the hotel. I was hoping the fact that it was open 24 hours meant it was a diner, but alas.

Then one class I attended was Risque Rhythms with Ronnie Magri: There was a bit less about music than I’d hoped and a bit more about generic burlesque history and how to produce a burlesque show than I needed. However, there were some great stories about burlesque back in the day in New Orleans. I appreciated the information on how to work with a live band, something we do from time to time. The best part was a break-down of a typical headliner’s fifteen-minute set.

I had to leave the class early because the front desk called. Our room was finally ready! I was going to go to another class, but punted in favor of a nap, unpacking, and a little shopping.

That was night was the Vintage Meet & Greet. Although I contemplated wearing an actual vintage dress (a Halston one-shouldered gown from the mid-eighties), I decided on my Stephanie Buscema mermaid dress and its voluminous crinoline. Not truly vintage, but it has that look. Scratch had to take his weekly Expo tech team call, so I went down solo and amused myself helping with the icebreaker game — I was able to be someone wearing seamed stockings, who had performed aerial burlesque, and something else that escapes me now. Sadly, I wasn’t one of ones who visited the Goat Farm and oddly for me I wasn’t carrying a fan. I also bumped into Vivacious Miss Audacious, whose signature I wanted for my copy of It’s All the Glitters and of course I’d left my copy upstairs! We had a nice chat nonetheless.

Eventually Scratch joined me. Photographic evidence here:
Photo by Paul O’Connell. Photobombing by Evilyn Sin Claire.

There are some more photos floating around from the fabulous photo booth. It had a camera with a foot trigger, so one could take photos without needing a photographer. And there were silly props too. I’m sure the photos will become available soon. There were a ton of people taking advantage.

After not too long, I was exhausted and ready to skip the peer reviews in favor of bed. And yet somehow we ended up in the Burly Bar… That’s ginger beer from one of the sponsors. An actual cocktail and I wouldn’t have made it back to my room!