Christmas Hangover/Nifty Giftys!

Whew! Christmas is done but the holidays are definitely not over. Personally, I still have a few turkey dinners to ingest and glasses to tink together. I sincerely hope you had a wonderful Christmas. It's my favorite time of the year and aside from some of the stress the big day can bring, I had an amazing Christmas day with my family. With my new found obsession with burlesque Santa was kind enough to wrap me up some burl-q gifts. I got....


The Night they Raided Minsky's on DVD
The Burlesque Handbook by Jo Weldon
Burlesque: A Living History by Jane Briggman
and a adorable feathered hat I can wear for performing

My new read!

... I must have been a good girl! I'm saving the movie for when The VanDolls meet this Tuesday and I haven't started on the history book but I am into the Burlesque Handbook and I love it! It makes me want to drop everything and fly to New York to attend Jo Weldon's school. It's one of those books that I want to read through but I can't help to skip ahead, just filled with fun advice and great tips. Yesterday I made around 8 sets of paper pasties to make sure I can get her technique right.

Anyways, I'll stop bragging about my gifts, I'm just so excited! Again, I hope you had an amazing Christmas and it continues into the New Year.

My next performance is January 7th at the Wise Hall. I'll be performing my Becoming Burlesque solo other than that I don't know many details yet... stay tuned!

Rufflesilkskin
www.rufflesilkskin.com

Reading Naked to Overcome Public Speaking Fears

Me being a turd at 14

When I was 14 I entered a city-wide public speaking competition. I was the only entrant from my school and keen on becoming an ac-treese! I felt this was a great opportunity to practice my public speaking and take the stage! As always, I wanted to stand out! Be controversial! Open the judges eyes to something shocking! Statistics! Statistics on teen depression. I dug up all my confidence, writing and researching skills and put together a speech that I thought was a shoe-in for the win. It was relate able, touching, scary... exciting! As my fellow speakers and I gathered to listen and speak my confidence was quickly shattered after 4 or 5 other speeches on teen depression. Apparently I was as original as vanilla ice cream. Finally it was my turn. I grasped my paper, put on the fakest smile I could cook up and repeated statistics to the judges. At the end of the day I did end up going home with the ribbon... the participation ribbon and since then my feelings towards public speaking have never been the same. So, what can I do to get over this public speaking fear? Join a Toast Masters club? Na. Practice in front of the mirror? Pff. Read to my dog? No. Read naked in front of a group of strangers? YES!



NGR at the Beaumont in Vancouver

 What better way to fill the cliche of 'facing your fears head on' by combining some of the most feared things on earth- being nude in public and speaking in public- together in one special event: Naked Girls Reading. On Thursday, Dec 23rd I will be showing those public speaking judges who's boss by putting on my biggest smile and not much else to read Christmas stories to an audience of people who are paying to see just that. Yes, it's scary but what really convinced me to do it (aside from all the great people involved!) is it's the exact reason I wanted to join the burlesque community in Vancouver. It's fun, a chance to perform and a challenge. A challenge I plan to kick ass at non the less.

So, for the next few days I'll be clearing my throat and reading away. I vow that my performance will vouch for more than a participation ribbon.

Tickets for Naked Girls Reading

- Rufflesilkskin
http://www.rufflesilkskin.com/

New People, Places and Things

One of the things I've loved most about joining the burlesque community in Vancouver is all the people, places and opportunities that I've discovered that I never knew existed. A perfect example is last night at New Age Vaudeville in Surrey. I performed a burlesque number in between a wrestling trio and a rock band (not literally). The crowd was pumped and totally into the metal music, chair slamming and tassle twirling.

As a Surrey-ite born and raised, I never knew that this community existed! And that's the beauty of it all. Being thrown into a completely new experience and saying 'Yup, I did that'.

Speaking of new people and new experiences, next up for me before Christmas and New Years is Naked Girls Reading: The Grinch. Yup, it's exactly what it sounds like and again, a new experience. Yes, I've been naked. Yes, I've read The Grinch. Yes, I've performed. All together at once? Soon I can say yes to that too. Cheers to living life as it comes!

Rufflesilkskin
http://www.rufflesilkskin.com/

Burlesque, Brawls and Bands - Oh My!

This Saturday, December 11th will mark my first booked gig since graduating from Screaming Chicken! I will be performing in New Age Vaudeville in Surrey. The show is a mix of pro wrestling, metal bands and of course burlesque.

After seeing posters around the Lower Mainland and even an ad in todays 24hrs newspaper, I have a mix of excitement and fear in my stomach. I will be performing in a wrestling ring (never thought I'd say that) and part of my act is going to be improvised on the ropes! I don't want to give too much away but there are still a few tickets available (email rufflesilkskin@gmail.com). The amazing Melody Mangler will also be performing. Please come out and support, I'd love to see as many smiling faces as possible there!

Rufflesilkskin
http://www.rufflesilkskin.com/

The Taboo Revue - XXX-Mas Style!

T'was the night before Taboo when all through the Wise many creatures were stirring, wearing thigh highs!   Last night was the first Taboo Revue show - the Christmas edition! Missed last night? No worries! There is a show tonight at The Wise Hall in East Vancouver.

With out giving too much away, the show features all the Christmas classics - a rendition of Jingle Bells, a nativity, a brawl between Jesus and Santa and of course boobies. Although I will not be performing in this show, you will see me on stage in my underwear picking up other peoples underwear! I am an official stage kitten which requires me to set up and take down for all the performances.

Perfect for the burlesque virgin or a long time fan! Check out the Taboo Revue Facebook event for more information and to get tickets.

See you tonight! HO HO HO!

Clowning Class - well, that's different!

Priscilla Costa

If you were to ask my what I did today the answer would be something I never thought would come out of my mouth, 'Oh, I have a clowning class from 1 - 3'. Yes. Today I was lucky enough to take part in a bouffant clown class taught by Priscilla Costa who has been studying clowning for over 6 years and performing numbers such as 'pre-pubescent pussy power' in Vancouver.

Pussy power? That doesn't coincide with the spotted jump suit, creepy Ronald McDonald that I know?! 


No it doesn't. And that is a good thing. I came to the class today completely open minded hoping that learning aspects of clowning could help improve my comedy for future burlesque numbers. Priscilla taught our class of crazy ladies stage presence, how to be comfortable with your 'flaws' and how to turn uncomfortable emotions into something entertaining.

Flaws, emotions... wahhh... that doesn't sound funny!


Oh but it is when you address 'flaws' by dressing up in ridiculous costumes and making them louder and dealing with emotions by making duck noises and flailing about. While the entire class was great, (honestly, it was better than I expected) my favorite part was picturing passerbyers below our open window... walking their dogs on a quiet Sunday afternoon and hearing girls yell 'MUTHER FUCKER', farting and quacking above them.

Now don't worry mother, I'm not going to run away with the circus and become a clown but what I will take away from this class is how to laugh things off. For example, HA I HAVE TINY BOOBS! And how I can take that comedic confidence to the stage.

I must say that being in this world of burlesque and being a part of the Screaming Chicken community has opened my mind to so many different things and for that I am very grateful. I hope to say 'Oh, I have a clowning class from 1-3' again very soon.

Burlesque + Hip Hop = Eeekk...Stripper?

Since my only performance in the burlesque world was been a comedic piece, I wanted to try my hand at something a bit sexier. I have my first burlesque gig on December 11th in Surrey (Come watch! Contact me for tickets). It's a Vaudeville show with pro wrestling, metal bands and burlesque and as I picture the crowd as little bit rougher than that at the Wise Hall I thought spicy is the way to go!

Before burlesque, I loved hip-hop dancing. Something about the hard hits and upbeat music is so much fun, I wasn't great at it but I was good enough to enjoy it. So, for my performance on the 11th I wanted to combine my new love for burlesque with my old love of hip-hop. The song I've chosen is Crawl by Kings of Leon, a song that I personally think oozes sexiness on its own. The costume is all black, with bits of leather and spikes, a very 'hard' look.

I've choreographed most of the number and I love it. However, I fear that maybe... just maybe... the costume, the song and the hip hop influence may give off a stripper vibe? Or maybe I am fearful of trying to be sexy when I haven't convinced myself that I have the ability to? I would love to know if any other burlesque dancers out there have done a number of this effect or have ever had this fear? I don't feel like a stripper doing it but I just...don't know.

Would love to hear thoughts and advice!

www.rufflesilkskin.com 

My Becoming Burlesque Solo - Costume

On November 13th at the Wise Hall I nervously and excitedly took the stage for the first time as burlesque dancer Rufflesilkskin. For the past two months my classmates and I worked away on our solos piecing together music, costumes and characters with a huge boost from our teachers Melody Mangler, April O'Peel, Voodoo Pixie and Violet Femme.

In the end my pieces were the Pink Panther theme song, an array of reversable costumes and me playing a nervous bank robber. The number seemed to go over well with the audience and I was relieved to hear laughter in all the right places! A few people asked me how I decided to put together that number. My response is Aya Tsukioka, a Japanese fashion designer who designed clothing to help protect from attackers. One of her pieces was the vending machine skirt.

That's where I got the idea to make all my costume pieces disguises. Melody and the gang told us to create a reason to take our clothes off and disguises became mine!

My costume consisted of:

- A forearm/moustache
- A shirt/stop sign
- A bra/glasses
- A skirt/vending machine

With help from a handy glue gun and my mummy I was able to put my first burlesque costume together!

My version of the vending machine skirt

Double the bra, double the fun!

The Postess with the Mostess!

Hello out there! Welcome to my blog and my first official post! My name is Rufflesilkskin, I am a new burlesque dancer in Vancouver, BC and a fresh graduate from the Screaming Chicken Becoming Burlesque program. With my debut performance only 2 weeks ago, I have been bitten by the burlesque bug and am eagerly pursuing more opportunities in the burlesque community.

Here I hope to provide some insight as a newcomer to the burlesque scene in Vancouver and tell of my wiggles, giggles and woes of making it and breaking it in the burlesque scene.

Come by and visit often!

www.rufflesilskin.com