Dearests,
2010 has been a funny old year. As a burlesque performer it has probably been one of my better years; the acts I am producing are stronger, I am driving so getting to gigs is less of a stress, I have had some great bookings this year and I feel I am gradually learning more about what sort of work I want to produce. Unfortunately, outside of the world of burlesque it has been a tough, exhausting and frustrating year and this has encroached into my life as a performer, leaving me with less energy to do the things I love.
Still, 2011 is a new year and a new start, and I thought it might be apt to look at some of the interesting goings on in my burlesque world and to talk about a few of my hopes for 2011. Plus, I get to do it in list form! (I love lists)
The Good
- Finally debuting the finished and updated version of my Jackalope and realising that I CAN do straight acts.
- Driving to gigs. Or more importantly, driving home. I really cherished those 1am drives home listening to Radio 2 on a quiet road. It gave me time to think about my performance that night and really became a little ritual for me.
- Seeing some truly amazing acts from other performers I admire. Some really special ones that stood out include Vicky Butterfly, Joe Black, Missy Malone, Amelie Soleil and Ed Muir, Beatrix von Bourbon, Owen Niblock, Lexi Sexx and Marnie Scarlett (to name the ones that leap to mind right now - there are definitely others that were just as awesome).
- Making my first performance in front of the folks from Ministry of Burlesque. It inspires me how much they have built and I really feel there is a lot I can learn from them. Plus it was a hilarious, boozy night and I had a wonderful time.
- Creating my Emotional Strip act on a tight deadline and realising that it forced me to cut out procrastination, rather than lowering the quality of my work.
- Spending time with some amazing, inspiring and above all fun members of the burlesque community. I'm not a social person by nature but I have had fun being around other burlesque bods this year.
The Bad
- Real-life constraints meant I had to leave my ballet class, at least for the time being. Even though I was the worst in the class I really enjoyed it and I do hope I'll be able to get back to it when my situation improves.
- A lot of people seemed to fall away from burlesque this year. It made me sad to see some familiar and friendly faces move on. I wish you all the best in whatever you do next, if you're reading this, folks.
- The big one for me, especially in the later half of this year has been the result of the resurgent interest in burlesque generated by the film of the same name. It is nice that the media is interested in our artform, and I feel the film could be positive and draw people in, even if it isn't entirely accurate of what most of us here in the UK do. What has upset me is all the sniping, snarking articles online (including on online versions of major newspapers) - 'is burlesque just stripping?', 'is burlesque just middle class stripping?', 'is burlesque really empowering?' etc. These articles more often than not seem to be just an excuse to not watch burlesque, not be involved in that community, but to speak with authority about what a damaging non-artform it is. And that's just the original articles. The comments that follow are usually worse. This year I have found myself getting sucked back in to these debates, even though I know that it is a losing battle. I have decided that in 2011, rather than getting sucked into these slanging matches with people who don't care and just like to troll, I will put what I have to say on this blog instead. That way anyone who gives a bibble can read it and everyone else doesn't have to.
The Inspiring
- Taking a workshop with Beatrix von Bourbon. While officially about branding it felt more like a cross between going to confession or therapy and working with a mentor. I left that workshop with a stronger sense of who I am (and can become) as a performer and with new vigour and excitement for what I do.
- Khandie Khisses. This woman is always on the go! I haven't had the pleasure of working with her this year but her online presence is a constant inspiration as someone who holds down a nine to five but is still one of the best in the game. I swear to god, she must never sleep! Plus, she is one of the nicest people in burlesque.
- My pal Cherryfox, who lives the dream by making a living doing burlesque, photography, costuming and other creative things. I'm not sure I could live that way but I sure do admire it.
- Promoters out there putting on top notch nights like The Wet Spot, Dr Sketchy's Nottingham, and Carnival Divine (all the others I forgot to list). As I will be putting on my own show in February I have been carefully observing how the shows I love performing at most make the experience so pleasant for performers and audience alike.
For 2001
- I hope to make my show ODDBALL BURLESQUE as much fun and as professionally ran as possible.
- I want to finish my new act and possibly release two more besides in 2011. One more straight one (to make a triptych with the one I'm currently working on and the Jackalope) and a funny one. At the moment there are two possible contenders for this but I am unsure which I will choose.
- I want to improve my costuming skills and my grace and economy of movement onstage. Some of my acts still have parts that feel a little 'fannying about-ish'. I hope to go back and tighten and rework these parts.
- To see more live performance in burlesque and other genres.
- To blog more. This year my blogging has come in fits and starts, it would be nice to get this more consistent.
- To enjoy burlesque in 2011!
So that's my rundown of 2010. Wishing you all the best for 2011.
'Til next time
x
Emerald
Showing posts with label Emotional Strip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Emotional Strip. Show all posts
Monday, 3 January 2011
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Slinking Back with my Tail Between my Legs
Dearests,
like a wayward tomcat I return to you, slinking back, somewhat guiltily, with my tail between my legs after being away for so long. Where have I been for three months? What have I been doing with myself? Sadly, the Real World (yuk!) has been holding me hostage and making me devote all my time to inept landlords, day-job related dramas, keeping my finances in check (a full time job on its own!), a long weekend in Norfolk and more day-job related dramas.
On the more positive side though, burlesque has still been a huge part of my life during my period in blogospheric limbo.
Firstly the most exciting thing I have to report is my adventures performing three big, exciting shows over the months of September and October. Firstly, there was Enchanted Burlesque's 'Sirens and Scoundrels' event in Birmingham. This show is held at the Old Rep (kindly corrected by James - where is my mind!) Theatre and is the first real proscenium, theatrical venue I have performed in since I began burlesque. I thoroughly enjoyed the show and found it a thrill to be on such a big stage in such lovely surroundings.
This was my first outing of my re-tooled Jackalope act and my slightly re-tooled Emotional Strip act. In my last blog I mentioned that I might add an extra funny bit to my Emotional Strip and I have to say, I'm glad I did. It caused such a reaction! The second I saw how the audience responded, I knew it was the right decision. With the Jackalope I had made some more structural changes. When I debuted the act I had felt it had a bit of an element of 'fannying around onstage' to it. By fannying around, I mean that it had parts that seemed not to add anything narrative or mood-wise, despite my best efforts. I knew what I was trying to say, but I didn't feel I was saying it effectively. This was mainly in the opening part of the act, before I start putting my costume on. So I looked at the act and tried to nail down what I was trying to convey, and how to say it more clearly. What I was going for was 'at home in the forest' and also, I wanted to show the character's shyness and timid curiosity. In the original version of the act I do this by moving around the stage in character but I never felt neat and clear enough. It just looked like fannying around. So I ended up adding in some fan work with fans made to look like autumn tree branches. The idea was, to show that the character was in the forest and also to show her shyly at play in her world. Peeking out from between branches and shrubs. I made the fans myself using regular fan staves, artificial leafy twigs and a LOT of hot glue. I'm quite pleased with the result and feel that it's a real improvement on the original version which, if you read my earlier entries, you will know I was not entirely happy with. Have a look at the video (if you haven't seen it already) and let me know what you think! I have also made a few tweaks to the costume since this video was made - what you don't see in the video is that the fastening on my skirt is not strong enough - right after the lights came down, so did my skirt! Nobody saw it, but imagine if it had happened part way throught the act!
A photo of my Jackalope at Enchanted Burlesque in September
(copyright James Thorpe - www.photoburlesque.com)
After performing at Enchanted Burlesque I also had the pleasure of bringing the Jackalope out again that weekend at Darkteaser's Leamington Spa extravaganza 'The Garter Lounge Grand Show'. The venue, the Assembly Rooms, is a 1920s Art Deco building that has been restored to its heyday's glamorous decadence and it was one of the lovliest places I have performed in to date. I also had the pleasure of being able to watch the majority of the show from the wings and, an extra special treat in a sea of fabulous performers, I finally got to see Vicky Butterly's rocking moon performance in the flesh. I make no secret of the fact that I stood at the side of the stage with tears in my eyes (and I was not the only one!). I felt so inspired watching that act and it was a privilege to get to see it up so close.
In other exciting performance news last month the Ministry of Burlesque came to my home town of Nottingham and I brought my Jackalope out as a 'Battle of Burlesque' guest performer. I felt very privileged indeed to be on the bill with MoB Mother Kittie Klaw and her very talented team of super burlesque and cabaret bods and I found everyone to be immensely friendly, inclusive and fun. The show, by all accounts, went down very well indeed and it looks like MoB will be coming back to Nottingham in December. I am going to try and organise to come and watch this time as the show was so much fun but I was so nervous that it went by in a bit of a blur!
So, with the Jackalope and the Emotional Strip now firmly placed in my repertoire I can start turning my thoughts to new and exciting acts for the future. I tend to always have a handfull of ideas bubbling around in my brain but usually only a couple of those at any one time are in a position to leave the brain and begin work on. A bit like the Jackalope and the Emotional Strip, I have ideas for one funny act and one straight one. It's weird, despite how hard the Jackalope was to produce, something about the way I feel performing it, and something about the way audiences have reacted has made me feel a strong yearning to do more performance in a similar vein. Not exactly burlesque acts per se, but more acts that are lonely and strange and slightly other-worldly. In my mind I picture a dusky forest in which all these oddities live, a kind of Grimms fairytale kind of world where peculiar people live tiny lives. But, when I perform the Emotional Strip I feel like I am getting closer to the heart of British burlesque that makes people laugh and is so much fun to watch and perform. The two aren't really the most obvious fit for eachother but I don't think I could step away from either at this point. So part of me has been wondering about whether I should market the two sides more separately. Perhaps, when I have more performances like the Jackalope under my belt I should group them off under another label, so that I offer people burlesque acts OR these other things, that aren't quite burlesque, but fit in that sort of lineup.
Either way, I am hoping that in the New Year I should be coming out with a new one that comes from a similar place to the Jackalope, and after that I hope to begin work on another funny one. At this stage that's all I'm going to say about my ideas but be assured, dear reader, that you will hear about it here first when I decide to say more.
So, that leaves me with just one more exciting bit of news: I am putting on my own show! It will be my first time doing this and I'm very excited indeed. The event will be called ODDBALL BURLESQUE: More Fruitcake than Cheesecake (click the link to join the Facebook Group) and it will be showcasing the oddest, weirdest and funniest burlesque in the UK. The idea was, that often a funny act or an unusual performance will be just one point in a night of very traditional and classic acts. With this show I wanted to put funny, silly and weird burlesque centre stage and hopefully people will come and enjoy something a little different.
The show will be on February 18th as part of Nottingham Light Night and wil be held at The Central on Huntington Street, Nottingham. Keep your eye on this blog, my website or the ODDBALL BURLESQUE Facebook group for lineup information, ticket prices and other tidbits.
On that happy note, I am going to shuttle off to get on with a few show related bits and bobs!
'Til next time!
x
Emerald
like a wayward tomcat I return to you, slinking back, somewhat guiltily, with my tail between my legs after being away for so long. Where have I been for three months? What have I been doing with myself? Sadly, the Real World (yuk!) has been holding me hostage and making me devote all my time to inept landlords, day-job related dramas, keeping my finances in check (a full time job on its own!), a long weekend in Norfolk and more day-job related dramas.
On the more positive side though, burlesque has still been a huge part of my life during my period in blogospheric limbo.
Firstly the most exciting thing I have to report is my adventures performing three big, exciting shows over the months of September and October. Firstly, there was Enchanted Burlesque's 'Sirens and Scoundrels' event in Birmingham. This show is held at the Old Rep (kindly corrected by James - where is my mind!) Theatre and is the first real proscenium, theatrical venue I have performed in since I began burlesque. I thoroughly enjoyed the show and found it a thrill to be on such a big stage in such lovely surroundings.
This was my first outing of my re-tooled Jackalope act and my slightly re-tooled Emotional Strip act. In my last blog I mentioned that I might add an extra funny bit to my Emotional Strip and I have to say, I'm glad I did. It caused such a reaction! The second I saw how the audience responded, I knew it was the right decision. With the Jackalope I had made some more structural changes. When I debuted the act I had felt it had a bit of an element of 'fannying around onstage' to it. By fannying around, I mean that it had parts that seemed not to add anything narrative or mood-wise, despite my best efforts. I knew what I was trying to say, but I didn't feel I was saying it effectively. This was mainly in the opening part of the act, before I start putting my costume on. So I looked at the act and tried to nail down what I was trying to convey, and how to say it more clearly. What I was going for was 'at home in the forest' and also, I wanted to show the character's shyness and timid curiosity. In the original version of the act I do this by moving around the stage in character but I never felt neat and clear enough. It just looked like fannying around. So I ended up adding in some fan work with fans made to look like autumn tree branches. The idea was, to show that the character was in the forest and also to show her shyly at play in her world. Peeking out from between branches and shrubs. I made the fans myself using regular fan staves, artificial leafy twigs and a LOT of hot glue. I'm quite pleased with the result and feel that it's a real improvement on the original version which, if you read my earlier entries, you will know I was not entirely happy with. Have a look at the video (if you haven't seen it already) and let me know what you think! I have also made a few tweaks to the costume since this video was made - what you don't see in the video is that the fastening on my skirt is not strong enough - right after the lights came down, so did my skirt! Nobody saw it, but imagine if it had happened part way throught the act!
A photo of my Jackalope at Enchanted Burlesque in September
(copyright James Thorpe - www.photoburlesque.com)
After performing at Enchanted Burlesque I also had the pleasure of bringing the Jackalope out again that weekend at Darkteaser's Leamington Spa extravaganza 'The Garter Lounge Grand Show'. The venue, the Assembly Rooms, is a 1920s Art Deco building that has been restored to its heyday's glamorous decadence and it was one of the lovliest places I have performed in to date. I also had the pleasure of being able to watch the majority of the show from the wings and, an extra special treat in a sea of fabulous performers, I finally got to see Vicky Butterly's rocking moon performance in the flesh. I make no secret of the fact that I stood at the side of the stage with tears in my eyes (and I was not the only one!). I felt so inspired watching that act and it was a privilege to get to see it up so close.
In other exciting performance news last month the Ministry of Burlesque came to my home town of Nottingham and I brought my Jackalope out as a 'Battle of Burlesque' guest performer. I felt very privileged indeed to be on the bill with MoB Mother Kittie Klaw and her very talented team of super burlesque and cabaret bods and I found everyone to be immensely friendly, inclusive and fun. The show, by all accounts, went down very well indeed and it looks like MoB will be coming back to Nottingham in December. I am going to try and organise to come and watch this time as the show was so much fun but I was so nervous that it went by in a bit of a blur!
So, with the Jackalope and the Emotional Strip now firmly placed in my repertoire I can start turning my thoughts to new and exciting acts for the future. I tend to always have a handfull of ideas bubbling around in my brain but usually only a couple of those at any one time are in a position to leave the brain and begin work on. A bit like the Jackalope and the Emotional Strip, I have ideas for one funny act and one straight one. It's weird, despite how hard the Jackalope was to produce, something about the way I feel performing it, and something about the way audiences have reacted has made me feel a strong yearning to do more performance in a similar vein. Not exactly burlesque acts per se, but more acts that are lonely and strange and slightly other-worldly. In my mind I picture a dusky forest in which all these oddities live, a kind of Grimms fairytale kind of world where peculiar people live tiny lives. But, when I perform the Emotional Strip I feel like I am getting closer to the heart of British burlesque that makes people laugh and is so much fun to watch and perform. The two aren't really the most obvious fit for eachother but I don't think I could step away from either at this point. So part of me has been wondering about whether I should market the two sides more separately. Perhaps, when I have more performances like the Jackalope under my belt I should group them off under another label, so that I offer people burlesque acts OR these other things, that aren't quite burlesque, but fit in that sort of lineup.
Either way, I am hoping that in the New Year I should be coming out with a new one that comes from a similar place to the Jackalope, and after that I hope to begin work on another funny one. At this stage that's all I'm going to say about my ideas but be assured, dear reader, that you will hear about it here first when I decide to say more.
So, that leaves me with just one more exciting bit of news: I am putting on my own show! It will be my first time doing this and I'm very excited indeed. The event will be called ODDBALL BURLESQUE: More Fruitcake than Cheesecake (click the link to join the Facebook Group) and it will be showcasing the oddest, weirdest and funniest burlesque in the UK. The idea was, that often a funny act or an unusual performance will be just one point in a night of very traditional and classic acts. With this show I wanted to put funny, silly and weird burlesque centre stage and hopefully people will come and enjoy something a little different.
The show will be on February 18th as part of Nottingham Light Night and wil be held at The Central on Huntington Street, Nottingham. Keep your eye on this blog, my website or the ODDBALL BURLESQUE Facebook group for lineup information, ticket prices and other tidbits.
On that happy note, I am going to shuttle off to get on with a few show related bits and bobs!
'Til next time!
x
Emerald
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
Delicious and a New Act
Dearests,
Like a fair-weather friend I am back again after promising my blogs would get more regular and then getting distracted as life got in the way. Over the last few weeks many occasions have arisen where I have found myself exclaiming – ‘I must blog about this!’ but between issues with internet access and busy times at home and at work it just hasn’t happened. Now I have so much stuff to blog about that I figured I had better get my act together and make a start – even if I don’t get it all down. So – here goes!
So, the first thing of note worth mentioning is that I have now completed the new act I was working on in the last-but-one blog (and it’s available to book – hint hint!). Incase you can’t be bothered to go back and read the past post, the idea for this act (or at least its working process) was to rest all the areas that had been stretched (almost to breaking) when I worked on the Jackalope and stretch different areas instead. The focuses of this act were: using music to convey emotion; physical performance and comedy; conveying mood through mime/clowning techniques; and in the costuming area – improving my grasp of colour theory and working quickly and simply without getting too bogged down. It was always meant to be a quick project and the goal was to finish it (once I got into the actual working stage) in a month. In reality I probably took a little longer than that but not much!
The outcome of this little experiment is my new act ‘The Emotional Strip’. I trialled it out at an event about a week and a half ago and I can safely say that it looks like it is going to be one of my favourites to perform. I didn’t allow myself to get bogged down or stressed out by it and I really feel that shows in the final product. It’s not the deepest or most complicated narrative or character work but it still feels like it fits within my repertoire and has an essential me-ness that I wouldn’t have expected with something that came together so quickly. Also, although I did not in any way want to be slapdash with the costume, I tried just to make it look fun and pretty but not to be too precious, it seemed that I didn’t make too bad a job as more than one person complimented me on it. I was most flattered that my friend and fellow performer (and photographer, and costumier, and all round busy boots!) Cherryfox said she felt that my costuming skills are showing improvement! Coming from someone who makes all their own costumes that made me feel quite chuffed!
I imagine that over time the act will probably need the odd tweak here and there, and I already have a good idea for another joke I can add to a certain part of it but over all I am really pleasantly surpised by how quickly and easily it has happened. I think in future I may try and reuse this quick and simple technique from time to time, especially if I find myself coming to the end of another act with a heavy workload and feel I need a break but still want to keep working.
In other news – I was going to blog about a very peculiar gig that I had recently but I think that it might tie in better with some other general stuff I planned to write about when I had the time so I think I will save that for my next entry. In the meantime, if you see me ask me about my interesting gig!
Next thing I couldn’t blog without giving a mention to is the adventure for the senses that was Delicious Burlesque in Derby. For anyone (or at least anyone who likes burlesque enough to bother with my blog) who has been living under a stone for the past couple of months, Delicious Burlesque is an absolutely huge burlesque all dayer with market stalls, workshops, a newcomer’s competition and a big evening show. It was held on Saturday 31st July and word on the grapevine is that it may well be becoming an annual event. Well, with an event this exciting practically on my doorstep I just had to go so my sister and I made plans to attend (and she event generously shelled out the extra tenner for VIP tickets so that we’d have a great view of the show!).
We went and we were not disappointed! The market had loads of exciting things to buy from the many talented makers and charming purveyors of glamorous goodies. My wallet forbade me from partaking but my sister bought a very fetching hat. I think we both could have easily spent a small fortune on all the lovely things. After perusing the market and popping out to one of the local pubs for a spot of lunch we went back to the hotel to get gussied up for the evening section of the event. I went for a silent Movie Era starlet, meets black and white Minnie Mouse, in black hotpants and braces, a white wife beater, a huge black hair bow and heavy black eye makeup and black lipstick with a pronounced cupid’s bow. Sis also went for a 20s inspired look including a gorgeous finger-wave hairstyle.
When we got back to the venue I went to a workshop I had pre-booked (more on that in a moment) and Alex went and got her portrait drawn by one of the talented bods representing Dr Sketchy’s Nottingham (it wasn’t Charlotte, not sure of the chap’s name!).
After that it was time for the seated entertainment. First came the newcomer’s competition. I have to say, I was amazed that the performers being showcased had only been performing a year. The costumes were gorgeous and clever, the dancing was incredibly accomplished (mind you, all dancing looks accomplished to me, but these were particularly good!) and the concepts were sophisticated. I don’t know how the judges came to a decision as there were so many acts that charmed me! I particularly enjoyed the quirky fun dance moves in Elle Amour’s cupcake act, the hilarious facial expressions in Jeu Jeu la Foille’s Mary Poppins, Peski DeVille’s innovative magic flowers and skilful fan throwing and Nix Le Noir’s gorgeous costume (especially the headdress!). All the performers were super and I don’t feel I could have competed with most of them despite having been on the scene somewhat longer.
The main show was nothing short of spectacular, and jam-packed with fantastic performances. Not that I’m a critic by my personal faves are as follows: Joe Black’s cabaret set had me laughing throughout and clapping, stamping my feet and generally behaving like a burlesque lager-lout and his Defying Gravity act was a treat. I have seen Joe on Youtube so much that I almost felt I had seen him live already but it turned out I had seen nothing yet. As much as I enjoy Joe’s videos it is no patch on seeing him live – his energy, inventiveness and charisma cannot be matched.
Vicky Butterfly performed two acts I had never seen before and reaffirmed her place in my heart as one of my absolute favourites. I was mesmerised by her graceful movements, innovative costuming techniques (I can’t really describe what she did costume wise as I don’t have the technical knowledge, suffice to say that it was really amazing!) and beautifully odd music selection. Vicky’s performances inspire me so much and make me wish I was more dancerly in my acts. Kittie Klaw from Ministry of Burlesque did a fantastic Rule Britannia performance that had me laughing one moment and feeling a little lump in my throat and a patriotic tear in my eye (and I never get patriotic, ever) the next. Finally, my other fave of the night was Beatrix von Bourbon. I have been a fan of hers for some time and watching her performances I was genuinely moved. I love the way her performances register emotion so clearly and really admire the fluidity and economy of movement she uses. Her Winter act I especially enjoyed and the audience was delighted at the finale of the act when it began to snow onstage!
I also had the pleasure of taking a workshop with Beatrix von Bourbon. On the subject of Burlesque Branding. I enjoyed the workshop very much found it left me with lots to mull on and also some practical goals to start tackling. I would recommend the workshop highly to any performer but especially if you feel you need a little help pinpointing where you are or where you or your acts fit. Beatrix was warm and friendly and allayed a lot of the worries I had about talking frankly about burlesque with someone I admire, and the whole experience left me with a different perspective on what I do and renewed enthusiasm to do it better.
So what am I up to now? Well, in the wake of my consultation with Beatrix I have decided to bite the bullet and do something I have wanted to do for a while. I am going to retire my Rubber Ducky act for re-working. I have always been very pleased with the costume for that act but less happy about the act itself. I always felt it had neither a strong narrative nor a strong sense of character, and those are the parts of an act I enjoy most. The plan is to take the act off and work on completely re-writing it, but I wouldn’t like to say how long that will take as I am not sure yet which direction I want to take it in.
The other thing I am working on is making the first initial changes to my Jackalope. In light of its debut performances there were some things about the costume and choreography that I wanted to change. I have finally got my perfect trunk (thank you Colwick car boot sale!) and I now just need to get the rest of the tweaks and small changes finished. I have a couple of fairly big engagements coming up over the next few months and I hope that the act will be ready in it’s 1.1 version by then.
If you have read this far to the bottom, I commend you! It’s been another long blog. Hopefully, when I get my netbook back from the shop the blogs will get closer together and not quite as long!
‘Til next time,
X
Emerald
Like a fair-weather friend I am back again after promising my blogs would get more regular and then getting distracted as life got in the way. Over the last few weeks many occasions have arisen where I have found myself exclaiming – ‘I must blog about this!’ but between issues with internet access and busy times at home and at work it just hasn’t happened. Now I have so much stuff to blog about that I figured I had better get my act together and make a start – even if I don’t get it all down. So – here goes!
So, the first thing of note worth mentioning is that I have now completed the new act I was working on in the last-but-one blog (and it’s available to book – hint hint!). Incase you can’t be bothered to go back and read the past post, the idea for this act (or at least its working process) was to rest all the areas that had been stretched (almost to breaking) when I worked on the Jackalope and stretch different areas instead. The focuses of this act were: using music to convey emotion; physical performance and comedy; conveying mood through mime/clowning techniques; and in the costuming area – improving my grasp of colour theory and working quickly and simply without getting too bogged down. It was always meant to be a quick project and the goal was to finish it (once I got into the actual working stage) in a month. In reality I probably took a little longer than that but not much!
The outcome of this little experiment is my new act ‘The Emotional Strip’. I trialled it out at an event about a week and a half ago and I can safely say that it looks like it is going to be one of my favourites to perform. I didn’t allow myself to get bogged down or stressed out by it and I really feel that shows in the final product. It’s not the deepest or most complicated narrative or character work but it still feels like it fits within my repertoire and has an essential me-ness that I wouldn’t have expected with something that came together so quickly. Also, although I did not in any way want to be slapdash with the costume, I tried just to make it look fun and pretty but not to be too precious, it seemed that I didn’t make too bad a job as more than one person complimented me on it. I was most flattered that my friend and fellow performer (and photographer, and costumier, and all round busy boots!) Cherryfox said she felt that my costuming skills are showing improvement! Coming from someone who makes all their own costumes that made me feel quite chuffed!
I imagine that over time the act will probably need the odd tweak here and there, and I already have a good idea for another joke I can add to a certain part of it but over all I am really pleasantly surpised by how quickly and easily it has happened. I think in future I may try and reuse this quick and simple technique from time to time, especially if I find myself coming to the end of another act with a heavy workload and feel I need a break but still want to keep working.
In other news – I was going to blog about a very peculiar gig that I had recently but I think that it might tie in better with some other general stuff I planned to write about when I had the time so I think I will save that for my next entry. In the meantime, if you see me ask me about my interesting gig!
Next thing I couldn’t blog without giving a mention to is the adventure for the senses that was Delicious Burlesque in Derby. For anyone (or at least anyone who likes burlesque enough to bother with my blog) who has been living under a stone for the past couple of months, Delicious Burlesque is an absolutely huge burlesque all dayer with market stalls, workshops, a newcomer’s competition and a big evening show. It was held on Saturday 31st July and word on the grapevine is that it may well be becoming an annual event. Well, with an event this exciting practically on my doorstep I just had to go so my sister and I made plans to attend (and she event generously shelled out the extra tenner for VIP tickets so that we’d have a great view of the show!).
We went and we were not disappointed! The market had loads of exciting things to buy from the many talented makers and charming purveyors of glamorous goodies. My wallet forbade me from partaking but my sister bought a very fetching hat. I think we both could have easily spent a small fortune on all the lovely things. After perusing the market and popping out to one of the local pubs for a spot of lunch we went back to the hotel to get gussied up for the evening section of the event. I went for a silent Movie Era starlet, meets black and white Minnie Mouse, in black hotpants and braces, a white wife beater, a huge black hair bow and heavy black eye makeup and black lipstick with a pronounced cupid’s bow. Sis also went for a 20s inspired look including a gorgeous finger-wave hairstyle.
When we got back to the venue I went to a workshop I had pre-booked (more on that in a moment) and Alex went and got her portrait drawn by one of the talented bods representing Dr Sketchy’s Nottingham (it wasn’t Charlotte, not sure of the chap’s name!).
After that it was time for the seated entertainment. First came the newcomer’s competition. I have to say, I was amazed that the performers being showcased had only been performing a year. The costumes were gorgeous and clever, the dancing was incredibly accomplished (mind you, all dancing looks accomplished to me, but these were particularly good!) and the concepts were sophisticated. I don’t know how the judges came to a decision as there were so many acts that charmed me! I particularly enjoyed the quirky fun dance moves in Elle Amour’s cupcake act, the hilarious facial expressions in Jeu Jeu la Foille’s Mary Poppins, Peski DeVille’s innovative magic flowers and skilful fan throwing and Nix Le Noir’s gorgeous costume (especially the headdress!). All the performers were super and I don’t feel I could have competed with most of them despite having been on the scene somewhat longer.
The main show was nothing short of spectacular, and jam-packed with fantastic performances. Not that I’m a critic by my personal faves are as follows: Joe Black’s cabaret set had me laughing throughout and clapping, stamping my feet and generally behaving like a burlesque lager-lout and his Defying Gravity act was a treat. I have seen Joe on Youtube so much that I almost felt I had seen him live already but it turned out I had seen nothing yet. As much as I enjoy Joe’s videos it is no patch on seeing him live – his energy, inventiveness and charisma cannot be matched.
Vicky Butterfly performed two acts I had never seen before and reaffirmed her place in my heart as one of my absolute favourites. I was mesmerised by her graceful movements, innovative costuming techniques (I can’t really describe what she did costume wise as I don’t have the technical knowledge, suffice to say that it was really amazing!) and beautifully odd music selection. Vicky’s performances inspire me so much and make me wish I was more dancerly in my acts. Kittie Klaw from Ministry of Burlesque did a fantastic Rule Britannia performance that had me laughing one moment and feeling a little lump in my throat and a patriotic tear in my eye (and I never get patriotic, ever) the next. Finally, my other fave of the night was Beatrix von Bourbon. I have been a fan of hers for some time and watching her performances I was genuinely moved. I love the way her performances register emotion so clearly and really admire the fluidity and economy of movement she uses. Her Winter act I especially enjoyed and the audience was delighted at the finale of the act when it began to snow onstage!
I also had the pleasure of taking a workshop with Beatrix von Bourbon. On the subject of Burlesque Branding. I enjoyed the workshop very much found it left me with lots to mull on and also some practical goals to start tackling. I would recommend the workshop highly to any performer but especially if you feel you need a little help pinpointing where you are or where you or your acts fit. Beatrix was warm and friendly and allayed a lot of the worries I had about talking frankly about burlesque with someone I admire, and the whole experience left me with a different perspective on what I do and renewed enthusiasm to do it better.
So what am I up to now? Well, in the wake of my consultation with Beatrix I have decided to bite the bullet and do something I have wanted to do for a while. I am going to retire my Rubber Ducky act for re-working. I have always been very pleased with the costume for that act but less happy about the act itself. I always felt it had neither a strong narrative nor a strong sense of character, and those are the parts of an act I enjoy most. The plan is to take the act off and work on completely re-writing it, but I wouldn’t like to say how long that will take as I am not sure yet which direction I want to take it in.
The other thing I am working on is making the first initial changes to my Jackalope. In light of its debut performances there were some things about the costume and choreography that I wanted to change. I have finally got my perfect trunk (thank you Colwick car boot sale!) and I now just need to get the rest of the tweaks and small changes finished. I have a couple of fairly big engagements coming up over the next few months and I hope that the act will be ready in it’s 1.1 version by then.
If you have read this far to the bottom, I commend you! It’s been another long blog. Hopefully, when I get my netbook back from the shop the blogs will get closer together and not quite as long!
‘Til next time,
X
Emerald
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