Tried and tested: burlesque lessons
Who wouldn’t like to be a burlesque dancer, a beautiful temptress and goddess-like stripteuse. But would you have the talent? QueensOfVintage.com editor Lena did a four-week beginners class to see if she could be the new Dita von Teese.
I admit I’m ever so slightly nervous as I sit down in a basement room of a posh London hotel awaiting my first ever burlesque lesson. There are around ten other women here, some of whom are sipping cocktails from the hotel bar. I make a mental note to have some alcohol next time to take the edge off .
The lesson kicks off with everyone introducing themselves and stating their reasons for signing up for burlesque. Most are just curious, some love the vintage glamour of it and one lady explains it’s on her list of things to do before she hits 40. Everyone is lovely, and, most importantly, completely normal.
Katja, our teacher, sets out the lesson plan. In the first week we’ll learn the basics of burlesque: how to walk, pout, pose and strut our stuff in style. Week number two will be all about the strip and how to peal off for your audience. In week three we will learn a military routine (two words: riding crop), and week four will be all about nipple tassels. Nipple tassels? I somewhat panic at the thought of having to stand in front of all these strangers in little else than my knickers…
Burlesque is all about the art of striptease. As Katja points out, “Even though the tease is more important than the strip, it does help to know how to remove your clothing and look glamorous at the same time. ”
It’s also all about celebrating femininity and the female form. Burlesque dancers enhance their shape with corsets and suspender belts, they are unashamedly proud of their bodies. This again is something I’m struggling with. Me, Little Miss Diet who’d let a day be ruined by the number on the scales. Only in the last few years I’ve gradually started to realize that it could, possibly, be quite ok to have boobs and hips.
Back to the lesson: we start off by warming up and stretching and then move straight into learning different walks and facial expressions. It feels a little silly to pout like Bettie Boop or emulate the puzzled look of Twenties silent film starlettes, but we soon get into it and everyone’s having a giggle. The day finishes with a floor routine. Think fanning your legs, seductively pointing up and down your knee and plenty of winking.
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Category: Events, Vintage news
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It sounds like a laugh!! Glad you had fun!
Sounds amazing! Do the intermediate course! x
I was the lady with the list of things to do after becoming 40! It was an amazing course and I thoroughly recomend anyone who has got into a rut to do it. I have quite tight hamstrings and burlesque requires quite a lot of flexibility but I have managed to adapt some of the moves and it’s great to have the chance to dress up and have a laugh with the girls!
Nikki Bocker sur le feu French translation (Knickers on fire!)