Dear all,
it's competition time! I'm offering a free place on my January burlesque course (held in Nottingham) if you enter my competition.
Enter on Facebook
Copy and paste this text into your Facebook status:
I
want to win a free place on Drama Queens Burlesque's January course in
Nottingham. Visit Drama Queens Burlesque at
www.nottinghamburlesquelessons.weebly.com
and tag Emerald Ace in your post.
Enter on Twitter
Copy and paste this text into a Tweet. (Or Retweet Emerald Ace's version of this text on Twitter)
I
want to win a free place on Drama Queens Burlesque's January course in
Nottingham. www.nottinghamburlesquelessons.weebly.com #burlesque
#nottingham #lessons
Entries are open until 7pm
Friday 11th January 2013. At this point all entries from Facebook and
Twitter will be put into a hat and the winner will be drawn out and
announced at the weekend.
Terms and Conditions:
You must be able to attend the course in Nottingham (which runs for 6 weeks, starting Wednesday 30th January).
You
are welcome to repost / retweet as many times as you like, but each
person will only be counted as one entry in the competition.
No cash alternative is offered.
Entrants must be over 18 as the class is for over 18s only.
For more information on Drama Queens Burlesque take a wander over to http://nottinghamburlesquelessons.weebly.com/win-a-free-place-on-januarys-course.html.
Good luck all ye who enter here!
Until next time,
Emerald xxx
Showing posts with label Nottingham. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nottingham. Show all posts
Monday, 7 January 2013
Sunday, 25 November 2012
The Big Dork meets the Little Wolf.
Dear all,
It may be two weeks after the fact, but it's taken me a little while to process the experience and find the time to write about it, Saturday 10th November saw me debut my first attempt at a clown performance at the wild and wonderful art happening that was Nottingham's Little Wolf Parade, a totally bizarre and enthralling adventure into live art, curated by the gorgeous and talented Rachel Parry.
This performance was a little scary to me for more than one reason. Firstly, I don't really have a lot of experience performing in front of an 'art' crowd. I really wasn't sure what their expectations would be and, especially compared to the other performers and artists there, my stuff is rather tame and a bit 'nice'. Still, as one of the artists kindly remarked, I would be something of a palate cleanser if I did something cosy after all that mind-expanding stuff!
In the end my sister (who was my date, company and general wine-bringer for the night) and I did not get to see everything that was going on (I had to keep an eye on the stage to make sure I didn't miss my turn) as the event was over several floors, but we did have a fantastic time and were kept thoroughly entertained and amazed all night.
The main reason the performance scared me though is that it was a debut, not only of a new act, but of my attempt to try out a new style of performance, in may ways similar to the type of burlesque I like to create, but in other ways new and different. My new act, called 'Talking to Boys with Griselda Finkle-Pheffer' is about a dumpy teenager, a real big dork, who daydreams about romance from the safety of her bedroom. It has been scary trying to step out of my burlesque comfort zone, in which I have had chance to get used to a formula. For this piece, working in (my own approximation of) clown some of the rules were different, or I found there wasn't a rule that I had in place yet so I just had to make it up as I went along (in the devising process that is, I'm not nearly brave enough to make stuff up as I go on stage... yet).
One thing that I found particularly challenging when creating this act was working with voiceovers (including hearing my own voice on recording) and the logistics of making sure the audience could clearly understand what was being said and not losing the narrative. I also learned a lot about timing. In burlesque timing has never been a large problem for me, but with this act I found there was a lot of tweaking times on the track, experimenting with how long it would take to perform certain sections, moments or even particular gestures. I found that often, soundtrack elements that sounded short when you were editing them were a long time in stage time when rehearsing. Conversely, spoken word elements that seemed at a reasonable pace when I recorded them had to have pauses added when I began to work with the soundtrack on its feet.
I don't know how other people make clown work, I don't even really know if what I have made would be considered clown by purists. For me I suppose it's somewhere between clown and burlesque because in a lot of ways it is similar to what I have been doing with burlesque. The way I constructed the piece was to flesh out the basic narrative including ideas for gags or visual candy bar moments, then record and edit the audio. Once I had a basic audio track I began to run the piece (huge credit to my other half for playing director and pointing out all the bits that looked shonky) then I went back and edited the track again for timing issues and rehearsed some more. Finally I added in a few extra jokes or neat moments that had come to me as I went along. I made the ending last, as I was unsure how I was going to end it. I knew I wanted to end with a little pathos but I wasn't sure how to do it in style, when I finally figured that part out the act was ready to go!
One of the other things that was a little bit of a change of gear for me was the visual aesthetic of the piece. In my burlesque performances I am a huge fan of drag queen-like stage makeup, wigs and elaborate costumes. I haven't performed on stage with my own hair showing in years and I've never performed with it in its natural, straight form. It felt a little odd and vulnerable-making to be there in so (comparatively) natural makeup and with my own hair showing, although this was something I felt more in the run up to going on stage. Once I was up and into character that feeling of self-consciousness and awkwardness about how I looked fed into the character nicely.
The audience seemed friendly and positive and a couple of people said some very kind things about my performance. I know that the first time is always something of a test run, and I feel really keen to bring Griselda out for a burlesque audience so see how she fares there before I decide entirely how I feel. It felt a little odd to be a doing such a family friendly act, but that was outweighed by the feeling that I had more scope to tell a story in my own way, without having to find a way to shoehorn in a striptease section.
I'm not sure I'll be turning my back on creating more burlesque acts any time soon, but I have felt that working on this performance has helped me break through the creative block I discussed in an earlier blog (for now at least) and perhaps, whether I create more stuff in this vein or move back towards burlesque in the future, the experience I have had creating this act will help me to think of more personal and interesting ways of telling stories through performance.
'Til next time
x
Emerald
It may be two weeks after the fact, but it's taken me a little while to process the experience and find the time to write about it, Saturday 10th November saw me debut my first attempt at a clown performance at the wild and wonderful art happening that was Nottingham's Little Wolf Parade, a totally bizarre and enthralling adventure into live art, curated by the gorgeous and talented Rachel Parry.
In the end my sister (who was my date, company and general wine-bringer for the night) and I did not get to see everything that was going on (I had to keep an eye on the stage to make sure I didn't miss my turn) as the event was over several floors, but we did have a fantastic time and were kept thoroughly entertained and amazed all night.
The main reason the performance scared me though is that it was a debut, not only of a new act, but of my attempt to try out a new style of performance, in may ways similar to the type of burlesque I like to create, but in other ways new and different. My new act, called 'Talking to Boys with Griselda Finkle-Pheffer' is about a dumpy teenager, a real big dork, who daydreams about romance from the safety of her bedroom. It has been scary trying to step out of my burlesque comfort zone, in which I have had chance to get used to a formula. For this piece, working in (my own approximation of) clown some of the rules were different, or I found there wasn't a rule that I had in place yet so I just had to make it up as I went along (in the devising process that is, I'm not nearly brave enough to make stuff up as I go on stage... yet).
One thing that I found particularly challenging when creating this act was working with voiceovers (including hearing my own voice on recording) and the logistics of making sure the audience could clearly understand what was being said and not losing the narrative. I also learned a lot about timing. In burlesque timing has never been a large problem for me, but with this act I found there was a lot of tweaking times on the track, experimenting with how long it would take to perform certain sections, moments or even particular gestures. I found that often, soundtrack elements that sounded short when you were editing them were a long time in stage time when rehearsing. Conversely, spoken word elements that seemed at a reasonable pace when I recorded them had to have pauses added when I began to work with the soundtrack on its feet.
I don't know how other people make clown work, I don't even really know if what I have made would be considered clown by purists. For me I suppose it's somewhere between clown and burlesque because in a lot of ways it is similar to what I have been doing with burlesque. The way I constructed the piece was to flesh out the basic narrative including ideas for gags or visual candy bar moments, then record and edit the audio. Once I had a basic audio track I began to run the piece (huge credit to my other half for playing director and pointing out all the bits that looked shonky) then I went back and edited the track again for timing issues and rehearsed some more. Finally I added in a few extra jokes or neat moments that had come to me as I went along. I made the ending last, as I was unsure how I was going to end it. I knew I wanted to end with a little pathos but I wasn't sure how to do it in style, when I finally figured that part out the act was ready to go!
One of the other things that was a little bit of a change of gear for me was the visual aesthetic of the piece. In my burlesque performances I am a huge fan of drag queen-like stage makeup, wigs and elaborate costumes. I haven't performed on stage with my own hair showing in years and I've never performed with it in its natural, straight form. It felt a little odd and vulnerable-making to be there in so (comparatively) natural makeup and with my own hair showing, although this was something I felt more in the run up to going on stage. Once I was up and into character that feeling of self-consciousness and awkwardness about how I looked fed into the character nicely.
The audience seemed friendly and positive and a couple of people said some very kind things about my performance. I know that the first time is always something of a test run, and I feel really keen to bring Griselda out for a burlesque audience so see how she fares there before I decide entirely how I feel. It felt a little odd to be a doing such a family friendly act, but that was outweighed by the feeling that I had more scope to tell a story in my own way, without having to find a way to shoehorn in a striptease section.
I'm not sure I'll be turning my back on creating more burlesque acts any time soon, but I have felt that working on this performance has helped me break through the creative block I discussed in an earlier blog (for now at least) and perhaps, whether I create more stuff in this vein or move back towards burlesque in the future, the experience I have had creating this act will help me to think of more personal and interesting ways of telling stories through performance.
'Til next time
x
Emerald
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
Thursday, 21 January 2010
Welcome to my blog
Welcome Chaps and Chapettes to the blog belonging to me, Emerald Ace, Nottingham's most rubber-faced burlesque performer.
I have started this blog as, after over four years performing burlesque, I want to up my game, learn some new skills and raise my own personal bar for performance and creation of acts. As part of this I have decided blog my experiences along the way on my quest for burlesque self-improvement.
I hope that my musings on this and the record I will keep of my exploits as I attempt to become a better burlesquer will be of interest to other performers and maybe even to burlesque afficionados.
I have started this blog as, after over four years performing burlesque, I want to up my game, learn some new skills and raise my own personal bar for performance and creation of acts. As part of this I have decided blog my experiences along the way on my quest for burlesque self-improvement.
I hope that my musings on this and the record I will keep of my exploits as I attempt to become a better burlesquer will be of interest to other performers and maybe even to burlesque afficionados.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
