10 Things I've Learned The Hard Way About Performing

I learned to take risks with my first number!

1. When you finish a gig, get your money right away or you may never see it!
2. Spend the extra $8 on good pastie tape; your covered nipples are worth it!
3. It may seem like a good idea to whip your clothes in the audience, not so good when the audience member decides to keep it as a souvenir.
4. Stretch!
5. Know your limit, stay within it – don’t drink and burlesque! Burlesque then drink!
6. Three weeks to do a routine doesn’t mean you get three weeks to work on your routine, it means you must use those spare moments in your three weeks to get it done!
7. Take risks! I was so stressed for my first number at the Becoming Burlesque graduation recital because I wasn’t convinced people would think it was funny. I actually almost scraped it last minute but I kept it, had faith in myself and it couldn’t have gone better!
8. Shave!
9. Lay out all of your costume pieces for a show, look at them… see if you are forgetting anything. Go away for 10 minutes, come back, look at them… see if you are forgetting anything and then pack!
10. Realize that many people run on ‘burlesque time’. I still haven’t figured out how that works but it basically means if you show up on time, you’re early.

I also just want to mention that most of these things I was warned about by the lovely teachers of Becoming Burlesque. This is way you should pay attention in class!

Fun with Photo Shop!

Secret's out... I'm kind of a nerd and this week I've been sharpening my photo shop skills with some 'retro/vintage' tutorials. One of my roles as a Van Doll is to be the graphic designerish techie-ish person, and since I want our posters and materials to look awesome, I decided to expand my horizons.

I may have skipped a few steps along the way but I wanted to share my 'shop skills with you! I followed the following three tutorials, and these photos are my first attempts. Playing around with photoshopu can be very beneficial if you need to design your own posters, business cards etc. If you have a chance to click around the program, I suggest trying out some tutorials to achieve the look you want! Below is my attempt plus the example used in the tutorial.

Pop Art Inspired Tutorial

Pin Up Effect

Retro Collage

      

 Comic Pop Art

The Value of Burlesque

Bacon Merkin

In an age where you could Google for 30 seconds and see any sexual antic you please and where you can watch a girl ‘pop her pussy’ on stage for 20 minutes without more than a cost of a beer – why would you pay to go see burlesque? A performance where the closest to full nudity you’ll see is a pair of tiny pasties and if you are really lucky a merkin.

First of all, I want to state that I am a fan of strippers and pornography for the most part. In fact, burlesque dancers are strippers – we both strip but there are differences. I am not saying that burlesque performers are any better than the women that work at strip clubs and porn, I’m just saying that there is so much value in burlesque as an audience member and it provides such a different type of entertainment than strip bars and xxx flicks.

If you just want to gawk at a naked woman and that’s it then burlesque isn’t for you. If you just want to see Victoria Secret model bodies then burlesque is not for you either. So, don’t come to a show expecting that because you will be disappointed. In burlesque a nearly naked woman is usually (not always) the pay off of a comedic, dramatic, cute (insert description here) dance performed by women (and men) of all shapes and sizes whose confidence usually oozes off the stage and captures the audience.

Vermilion and I performing burlesque duo.

Burlesque is all about the tease and the reveal. I like to think of burlesque performances as little skits with characters, plot lines and costumes being just as important as that final pastie shot. Burlesque also isn’t all about the naked person on stage, it’s not all about the performer – it’s about the audience. Audience interaction is one of the biggest differences in burlesque – the goal is to make you feel something other than a boner.

I could go on and on about what I personally believe burlesque is and what it gives to an audience, the best way to find out is to head to ashow and gather your own opinion.

Burlesque is a form of entertainment that knows no bounds and that truly is the appeal.

Burlesque for The Cure

On behalf of The VanDolls, I am very proud to announce The VanDolls last burlesque event of the season as a complete troupe:

Burlesque for The Cure will take place on Thursday, April 21st (it's a long weekend so no excuses!) at the legendary Penthouse in downtown Vancouver. We are very excited for this event, not only do we get to perform at The Penthouse but we get to raise money for Doll Sherry Hymen to represent The Dolls at The Weekend to End Women's Cancers. In fact, 100% of the proceeds of this event go directly to the cause.

The Dolls are working very hard on new numbers to debut at this show so don't miss out! Tickets are available now!

Buy Tickets & More Information.