Diary of a Burlesque Beginner - Week Four

Well dolls, this post will be rather short one as my cold is still lingering and I didn’t make it to last nights class. I had hoped to go and even carted my change of clothes and heels into work so I could head there afterward but after a horrible nights sleep and breathing in the fresh winter air I really didn’t feel up to it. I figured rather then go and simply not enjoy myself (or even possibly make the others girls sick) I was better to give it a miss and renew my enthusiasm next week.

Send in the nurse...

Image from: DiamondsAndDolls.com

I believe we would have been continuing the chair routine and practicing… Lord knows I really could’ve done with the practice but with a fuzzy cold ridden head I would have more likely become frustrated and gotten over it rather quickly. I am going to have to try and get some practice in before next week; but as all the chairs at my house are either antique or just plain old (I mean, squeaky old) my last attempt ended promptly as I would prefer to keep the chair and my skull in tact should the old chair decide to give out.

If any of you are interested in the music we use at the classes though (besides Fever and Big Spender) you can download it from iTunes for I think $16.99. It’s called “How to Strip (Out of Print, Digital Only)”. It has 21 tracks by the Sonny Lester Orchestra that are a great listen even if you aren’t getting your burlesque on. I listened to it while I was getting ready to go out the other week and it was great. It really makes you feel sexy and puts a swing in your step. You can find details here, or just search on iTunes.

Image from iTunes

Fingers crossed I’m feeling better for next week…

Diary of a Burlesque Beginner - Week Three

WARNING: I have a cold and am not in the best spirits.

Ok, now that the warning is out of the way I am hoping that will help you understand why I didn’t particularly enjoy last nights session as much as I did the others. As I mentioned in the first post, I have NEVER done any time of dance in my life and as such have NO experience with counts and don’t have the best memory when it comes to routines. This was definitely a draw back for last night as we learnt the majority of our chair routine.

With a “fuzzy” head from my cold, even the most important of information just won’t stick let alone a sequence of dance steps timed to music. By the end of the lesson I literally just wanted to leave. At this very moment in time I feel I am destined to be a spectator; and after the course is over I should just stick to non-performance arts. However… as much as I just wanted to leave I am chalking that up to my fuzzy head and hoping that next week will renew my enthusiasm.

Very poor quality photo of the room we use

I am not nor have I ever been one of those girls who gets right into dancing. I never leant/copied any moves from a film or a video clip, even when I was like 10 and liked the spice girls. When I go out I need have had several drinks before I will even step foot on the dance floor and even then I will only dance if there is decent music playing (which lets face it, is a rarity in today’s “doof doof” music age). Basically, I have never been much of a performer. I used to dread any oral presentations at school and any excuse would do to get out of it rather then stand up in front of everyone. Basically, any situation where someone/a group of people are watching me, I would turn fire engine red and forget how to talk. It wasn’t until 2006 when I did a modeling course (completely dodgy, buts that another story) that I actually gained some more confidence and am now much more comfortable in those types of settings.

That said, I would still rather not do any type of performance or speech in front of a large group but I am ok with small groups of people and bigger groups if I feel like what I am doing is good enough. My philosophy is, I don’t care what people I don’t know think of me because they don’t know me and I am not worried about what people I know will think because if they are a friend they will simply support me and they are not there to judge.

Sarah and I before the lesson

But… this brings me to my breaking point in last nights session. After learning the routine for what would have been half an hour the lovely Kitty Kemble (the instructor) suggested that we split into two groups and perform for the other group so that we can see what it looks like. Good idea, I would love to see what it looks like even if I immediately felt a little anxious. I decided to give it a shot anyway… All was going OK until I missed one step and realized that someone was filming. That was it. Cold = fuzzy head. Fuzzy head = short fuse. Short fuse = easily defeated/easily frustrated. Easily defeated/easily frustrated = Count me out.

1 I do not think I know this well enough to be performing it for any number of people
2 Even if I learnt this routine and knew it well I really don’t feel confident enough to be performing it to people who weren’t in the class and who attend the class afterward (the more advanced class)
3 I don’t do well under pressure so after learning something for half an hour I would prefer not to be filmed as this is more likely to put me off.

Writing this now does make me realize though that I was enjoying myself until that point, even in my dazed state. It was more relaxed and my stuff ups weren’t a big deal. I could stop and watch to pick up the next step rather then relying on my unreliable memory. (It can be hard to see what you are meant to be doing next when you still have you head between your legs from the step before lol). I guess this just goes to prove that the reason I wanted to do this was to HAVE FUN, socialize, learn something new, and get some exercise. Not particularly to perform. I don’t expect to be the next burlesque queen. I also realized that there may be reason that the chair routine isn’t the natural progression to start learning in week two… its pretty intimidating. Anyway, enough whining...

The routine that we were learning is a chair routine to “big spender”. From what I watched the instructor do it looks really good all put together and performed properly in correct timing… so here’s hoping that I will get it down pat next week (or eventually). I tried to remember everything that we learnt in the right order but short of writing it all down as we went I don’t know how I can check if I have it correct. Here is my uncomplicated notes I am hoping will refresh my memory…

The chairs we use. (and the infamous hard tiled floor I mentioned in week two)

Facing right behind chair
Left hand on chair grind from bust to hips
Slap back of chair with both hands
Holding the back of the chair - Hip wiggle, right, left, right, left out and around to right
Head forward - Hair flip with hips going opposite direction (figure eight)
Walk around chair from left
When back behind chair hold head shake around *whats going on in my mind*
Lift chair with both hands (hold under back rest)
Walk forward
*pop my cork* drop chair to one hand
Slide backwards (facing left)
Drop chair (gracefully – if that’s possible!)
Step to the right walking around chair starting with right leg
2 steps – on 3rd step >
Lift right leg onto chair
Lean in toward chair bring right knee in toward body (bottom pointing out) and rub down right leg
Drop right leg onto knee on chair (steady yourself with left arm on chair back)
Step over chair with left leg
Left leg on ground, right leg (from knee to foot on chair)
Legs together (right knee tucked toward left leg)
Left leg on ground, right leg (foot on chair) right hand on right leg – push leg out so legs are open
Right leg over to right side of chair bottom on chair (close to front) legs apart at front
*fun fun fun* legs together, slap on right leg slap on left leg
Split leg to the right (stretch right leg out, bend left leg and slightly tuck under)
Split leg to the left (stretch left leg out, bend right leg and slightly tuck under)
Split leg to the right (stretch right leg out, bend left leg and slightly tuck under)
Shake front – shoulder towards front (double)
Both legs to the right – crouch down to the ground facing right
# I have a feeling something is missing here #
Stand back up – showgirl pose (rub from legs up body, cupping at breast, lift arms above head – stretched, face palms toward roof with hands pointing out)
Windmill (to standing in front of the chair)
Sit - Legs together
Legs up (kind of like a tuck)
Spin on bottom to facing left
Onto back, legs up (straight)
Right/front leg bend, left leg bend, right leg bend – straight up
Legs going down twist toward front
Facing forward legs tucked slightly under to the right

Keep your fingers crossed for me that I have most of this correct because if I do commit this to memory and it sticks its going to be mighty hard to change something that is already programmed into my brain. I do find it easier to do things having seen them and then reading them through so who knows maybe (if its correct) this will be just the thing to help me. I know that all these steps are in there, I just dont know if they are in that order and/or if some are missing...

I did manage to snap about four photos of the place and the chairs we use and one of me and one of the girls (above and below). Will try and get some better pics next time (hopefully when feeling cheerier) and maybe an outfit pic?

Oh and I can happily report, no sore legs after last weeks lesson AND this week the part of the routine with my back on the seat of the chair and my legs in the air felt much less terryfying :)

Sarah - Doing some sort of show star pose

Diary of a Burlesque Beginner - Week Two

Well, last nights chair routine was actually kind of terrifying. The studio we practice in is a small old place with black and white hard tile floors. I did find this a benefit last week when trying to master the burlesque walk however when your laying on a chair with your legs in the air that hard surface is not so beneficial… especially if you say over estimate your skills and land face first on the ground. Don’t worry I am not typing this with a broken nose, I didn’t fall of my chair hehe. (* please note this was not due to my amazing skills, it was simply because I clung on for dear life lol).

The class started with the usual warm up a quick run through of the poses and basics we went through last week. The showgirl, pin up and glove pose and the burlesque walk had stuck quite firmly in my memory which is bonus. Oh, and we did some “wiggling” and some “grinding”. Our lovely instructor Kitty Kemble unfortunately had an accident during the week and burnt her arm severely. This limited her a bit with some of the poses and the chair routine, but one of friends or students (I’m not sure which) was kind enough to help out and demonstrate with her.

With some of the warm up and run throughs there are points where you are stood on one leg with the other stretched out in the front you, last week I had no problems with this but this week I seem to have left my balance at the door. I didn’t fall over or anything to exciting, but I did have that wobble you get, from well, standing on one leg in heels. All limber and ready we then grabbed a chair and “went to town”. The chair routine is apparently not the usual progression for the second lesson but as we all showed much interest in it our instructor shuffled things around a bit for a treat. Now, from my first paragraph you may think I am being a little dramatic about the tile floor but as I am not the most coordinated person, things that wouldn’t be hard for some can sometimes be quite an effort for me. I don’t have the best balance in general even when wearing flats, so whack some heels on me and ask me to stand one leg and look out! Let alone putting me on a chair on my back with my legs in the air… lol.

Dita doing a chair routine
Image from BurlesqueDaily

The chair routine is actually lots of fun and isn’t particularly hard (if you can balance) so far. You start sitting normally with you legs together, then spread them, put your head down between your legs in front of you and touch the ground, lift you bottom into the air, sit back down, lift your legs up and hold them (kind of like a tuck), spin your bottom on the chair so your facing the other way, drop your legs to the ground, stand on the edge of your heel and lift you body up arching your back (apparently think flashdance, but I haven’t seen it), lower your body back down to a seated position and spin on your bottom again until your facing the opposite direction, lower your body so you back in flat on the seat of the chair making sure to have enough support to lift you legs, lift both legs up stretched out completely and bend one at a time, slowly lift your self back up (gracefully) on the chair, leave your legs to the side but flat on the ground and point your toes with your legs bent slightly. Now, please keep in mind this is just a general gist of what we got up to and please do not attempt this from my simple interpretation of an attempt of explaining. We did also do a few variations were you lift your legs after tucking them up and holding them, then spread them apart in the air... which does sounds simple enough also but it certainly gets the thigh muscles pulsing.

The majority of this was painless enough (well, it was at the time but I give it until tomorrow to kick in) and easy to follow but the part where you are flat on your back with your legs straight out in front of you is kind of daunting when the only place you have to fall if you mess up is the tile floor. I believe I made a few comments along the lines of “shouldn’t we have safety mats or something” during this part but I was concentrating so hard on trying take in all the info. Apparently it’s better if you can find your centre, but after my extraordinary lack of balance in the whole class last night I am beginning to believe I don’t even have one… lol.

Overall the lesson was great but I am going to definitely going to need some practice though. The instructor was kind enough to tell me the name of the iTunes download of the majority of the music use at the lessons which I am going to download tonight. The music is great in general so it will make a nice addition to my iPod playlist. The album is called “how to strip” and costs $16.95, unfortunately though it is only available in digital form via iTunes so the only way to get it is to download, so you can’t get a hard copy (ie disc).

I didn’t mention this in my first post about this but last week I wore my work clothes to the lesson as I wasn’t sure what we were meant to wear. I had on my sailor pants I bought from Betty Jane Boutique at the Rock n Roll Rendezous and a red and white striped long sleve skivvy with mary jane wedges as I wasn’t sure if I should wear stilettos or kitten or heels or what not. I ended up cooking in that as I was dressed for the weather outside and when doing the class you certainly work up some heat. So, this week I wore some high waisted black capris, my bettie page t-shirt and red bandana rosie style with a brogue/gangstar style stack heel. This was much more comfortable to move in and much cooler when things heated up. However, now I am pretty much stumped for ideas of what to wear… I am thinking high waisted shorts and tights/fishnets and a loose-ish but nice top. Any suggestions?

I’m not sure what we will be up to for next weeks lesson so it will be as much as a surprise to me as it is when you read about it. I do know that we will be doing a “knicker routine” and I believe a “glove peel” in the coming weeks though, which sounds very interesting.

Opera gloves
Image from CompareStorePrices

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

Movies and Sewing

I have just been on a bit of shopping spree in Myer’s DVD section…

Image from Blog.VintageMoviePoster.co.uk

Image from Meredy.com

Image from ImpAwards.com

Image from WesterlyLibrary.org

I’ve have seen most of these movies numerous times (probably on day-time TV on a Sunday) but was yet to own a copy so seeing as they were going out for $10 each I stocked up.

With the weather being pretty miserable at the moment and most of my cash going towards paying for my driving lessons (should finally get my license by the end of the month) and starting burlesque classes next week I figure I had to spend money to save money. By spending money on movies I will stay in on the weekend and save money that I would otherwise be spending if I were out and about. I love my logic…

I will tell you more about the burlesque classes once I get started but at this stage I’ve got at least one of my girl friends coming with me so even if my “dancing” is beyond disgraceful it should be a laugh.

I have to apologize for my lack of blogging recently, I have not been feeling my best and have been flat out at work… which means I haven’t really done anything note worthy (or even watched anything noteworthy). I did go to a party on the weekend though so I should have an outfit post for sometime soon, although my self photography skills are still not up to par.

I will try and get back into the “3 a week” blogging habit shortly, and with my next project I am sure I will a lot to say. Once I get my license out of the way I am planning on learning how to sew…

The idea of being able to make my own clothes from vintage patterns just sounds perfect to me so I want to give it a whirl. I have a friend who works at Spotlight so when the machine she said was the best for beginners was on sale I went in and picked one up. This was roughly 3 months ago. It has since sat there in our spare room, lonely, still in its box mocking me…

It’s a Brother BM2600.

Image from here.

When I was in Spotlight picking it up, I was full of inspiration so I got some patterns too. Of course I was drawn to the retro patterns and all of them were quite nice, but not getting to ahead of my self I picked the easy ones.

Image from here.

Image from here.

Image from here.

I have no idea how this little adventure will go, but I am sure it will be an interesting one. I will be sure to keep you update once I get started.

If you’ve got any tips for beginners would be really appreciated. Oh, and keep your fingers crossed for me for my license test.

Screams on Screen

Image from The Invisible Agent.

Image from Pal-Traux Wordpress.

Well, I have just come across a rather interesting little piece of info! It seems there is wonderful new events business called "Smokin’ Betty’s Events". I saw something about them on Facebook and promptly became a fan, but I didn’t realize any events were coming up so soon… As I currently can not access Facebook I googled “Smokin’ Betty’s Adelaide” and found this on the Sparci site here.

~=---------------♥---------------=~

Screams on Screen - 1950's inspired double feature sci-fi film night

10th April 2010

Live: burlesque performer Miss Cherry Valens

Official after movie party at Crown & Anchor Hotel 196 Grenfell St Adelaide SA 5000

Venue: Mercury Cinema 13 Morphett St Adelaide SA 5000

Tickets: $25.00 (+ b/f) from Venue Tix

Time: 7pm - 10:30pm

"Smokin’ Betty’s Events presents their first events, “Screams on Screen” for all lovers of 1950’s films and culture.

After months strategic planning, set-up, and establishment, Co-Proprietors, Jessi and Phil have finally turned their vision into a reality and have released to Adelaide their first of many unique and exciting events as part of their fresh new business, Smokin’ Betty’s Events.

Screams on Screen is a 1950’s inspired double feature sci-fi film night with as much of the added culture in between, taking place as a one night only show on Saturday April 10th 2010 at the Mercury Cinema, 13 Morphett St Adelaide SA 5000.

From an era where Sci-Fi films were so bad, they were good, Screams on Screen will show two of the most iconic films of this genre. Forbidden Planet (1953) and Robot Monster (1954) both possess everyone’s favourite qualities in a low budget film – the hilariously dodgy special effects, corny one-liners, monsters, robots & the classic kidnapping of the damsel in distress scenes!
Amid this will be a performance from Adelaide’s burlesque sensation, Miss Cherry Valens, Tommy Kaye from Six O Clock Rock Coast FM 88.7 will be presenting door prizes donated from generous sponsors. Moxie Minx, Adelaide’s finest pin-up designer is dressing Screams on Screen’s usherettes for the evening who will be directing patrons to their seats as done in the 50’s.

Leading sponsor, The Crown and Anchor Hotel (168 Grenfell St Adelaide SA 5000) will be hosting Screams on Screen’s official “After Movie Party”. The Mercury Cinema is also a licensed venue so be merry while you sit back and enjoy a night of classic cinematic entertainment. Suffice to say, it’s going to be a fantastic night.

Smokin’ Betty’s Events look forward to formulating more exciting, fresh and uniquely vintage and retro inspired events and music festivals locally and nationally later into 2010 and further into the future.

Proudly sponsored also by Caffe Primo Mawson Lakes, Adelaide comic Book Shop & Adelaide Theatre Costume Shop. "

~=---------------♥---------------=~

I am thoroughly looking forward to further Smokin’ Betty’s Events and am going to make every effort to attend this one. Will take some piccies if I do and keep you up to date :)