Thursday, May 13, 2010

Diary of a Burlesque Beginner - Week One

As I mentioned earlier, I started burlesque classes this week. I had no idea what to expect but can now say I am so pleased that I decided to go. So far my lack of coordination and dancing skills hasn’t affected me much at all and everything has been really well explained.

The lovely lady who teaches the classes has been doing burlesque for 11 years and her one of her great-great-great (lots of greats) relatives was a ziegfeld girl. The classes run for an hour and the course goes for 6-7 weeks. I am hoping to jot a little note about what we learnt each lesson on here for you as a bit of a diary.

The week we learnt:
~ Showgirl pose
~ Pin up pose
~ Glove pose
~ Burlesque walk
~ Body Rolls

Example of a Glove pose
Image from DailyMail.co.uk

Unfortunately, though my lack of coordination hasn’t effected me (yet!) my lack of fitness has certainly been a shock to the system. The lesson was on Tuesday night, and today… well, just picture a little old lady struggling to get out of a chair… that’s me. My legs are so tight at the moment I am almost walking funny. At the time I didn’t even feel like it was doing anything but two days later and voila… pain.

I haven’t played a sport or attended a dance class ever, in fact the last recreational thing I did was girl guides when I was under 10! So although I walk everywhere, and quite often in high heels it seems that my body isn’t used to much physical activity. (I do have a treadmill at home which I did previously use, until one particular “incident” which I may or may not fill you in about eventually lol *its embarrassing*)

Another great thing about the class is seeing two of my girl friends during the week. As I said, not since my pre-tween or pre-teen days have I attended anything regularly outside or school/work commitments (except shopping) so catching up with people on a regular basis will be a real highlight of my week.

Anyhoo, stay tuned for next week… we’re learning a chair routine.

Image from iamagreedygirl.com

12 comments:

  1. Exciting! my friend and I are also currently learning Burlesque here in New Zealand. We have also learnt the above poses etc but not a chair routine! Last night we did a glove peel routine on stage which was a lot of fun. Its a great excuse to explore characters and dress up. Enjoy and keep it up.

    XX Rosina Lee

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  2. oh! a glove peel... that sounds interesting. I hope we get to learn that too. I don't know how I would go on stage just yet tho... *scary*.

    It is a good excuse to do just that, and to get a workout in heels with fantastic music :)

    xo

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  3. How exciting! I've always wanted to take a burlesque class. You will have to keep us posted on everything!

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  4. I did a burlesque class here in perth last year, it was such a gasp! It's great to hear that you are having a great time also.

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  5. I did a burlesque once and loved it, unfortunately it was in London and there aren't any near me so i'm not able to go to any regular classes. Keep us updated on your progress!

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  6. Its amazing how many people have actually done burlesque classes, its not something you hear about often...

    I will keep you all updated each week :)

    I did find a instructional DVD set I am thinking of buying after the course finishes, I will be sure to post about it soon for you dolls who dont have a class near you

    xo

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  7. Tha's pretty much the coolest thing ever! Good luck and thanks for being sure to keep us posted!

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  8. That sounds like so much fun!

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  9. How exciting!!! I'm thinking about taking a burlesque class in San Francisco this summer :) Thanks for sharing!

    I'm a new follower!

    XOXO

    http://hardcoremakeupjunkie.blogspot.com

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  10. oooo those classes sound like so much fun! i should try and see if they have them here.

    Nice blog post : ) following your blog ... have you had a chance to follow mine and check out my new post? Would love for you to stop by when you are free.

    www.the-blisslist.blogspot.com

    Hope to see you there!

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  11. This sounds like a lot of fun. It'd be cool if they actually had one of those huge martini glasses for you to practice your routines in.

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