Creating your Burlesque persona.

Thanks to the gorgeous art of dance Burlesque Belle Betty Corbeau (pictured above) for sharing this information that she found on the New York School of Burlesque website. The website has some great suggestions to help you chose your new Burlesque stage name

"Here are some combinations to try, with examples.

A city and a color - Austin Blue

A flower and a cheese - Daisy Roquefort

A fruit and a modifier - Kiwi Dear

A given name and a god - Paul Anubis

An era and a given name - Weimar Sue

A given name and a weapon - Lucy Gunn

A kind of fabric and a kind of music - Velvet Baroque

A modifier and a common last name, with alliteration - Silky Smith

Your hobby and a form of royalty - The Spinning Duchess

A phrase that sounds like a name - Demi Monde

This is just an exercise for a name to use in class. If you are trying to create a name you may use regularly, you will want to do a careful web search with your new name to make sure it’s not in use by another performer (it doesn’t matter whether that performer is in burlesque or not, as we often perform in variety shows), or compromised by being the name of a product, song name, or character in a movie or book. If it’s in use, let it go. You’re a genius and will come up with something new and equally fabulous!

Some names are perfect for burlesque, but are so common they will make it difficult for people to tell you apart from other performers. Some examples are Kitten (and variations on cat nicknames), Cherry, Scarlet, and the like. I recommend avoiding using certain over-identified last names as well, such as L’Amour, Valentine, Tease, Martini—you get the idea! If one of these is your real name, by all means, own it. But if you assume a new name too similar to other artists, you risk getting lost in the crowd."

Thanks to Jo Wheldon from the New York School of Burlesque for this informative piece.

Georgian Gale x x

New burlesque classes

Text from Sam!

"I am delighted to announce the new weekly burlesque classes to be held in the Boudoir at our Plymouth studio, 26 Seaton lane, PL4 6QH. I am also thrilled to announce the formation of our new art of dance burlesque troupe – The Burlesque Belles.

Weekly classes will be held every Wednesday at 7pm and will commence on Wednesday 2nd June at 7pm. Classes last for 1 hour. Classes are limited to 10 participants per lesson.

Burlesque lessons will cost £8 (non – members) per session or you can sign up to our fabulous new burlesque membership scheme which will give you 4 lesson per month for just £24 – that’s £6 per lesson).

Use the link below for details of our membership option or e-mail me for a full info sheet with membership terms and conditions.

http://www.theartofdance.co.uk/membershipburlesque.php

Use this link to book weekly lessons at £8:
http://www.theartofdance.co.uk/burlesque.php

As well as our Burlesque lessons we will be setting up our very own art of dance burlesque troupe – The Burlesque Belles: Any new or existing students can join the Burlesque Belles and we will be holding a quarterly burlesque night for the belles to perform at. There will also be other performance opportunities on the horizon which we will keep you informed about.

If you don’t know what burlesque is all about just read the information pasted below this e-mail.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further queries and hope to see you all soon."

Sam x

Sam Remmer
01752 260020 / 07779 000027



What is burlesque?

Burlesque is traditionally thought of as cabaret although the recent coverage of artists such as Dita Von Teese has put the emphasis on striptease.

At the art of dance our burlesque goddesses Georgina Gale and Miss Amelia B teach a blend of modern and traditional burlesque. Our classes include striptease, chair dancing using props, developing musicality choreography, department, stage presence and developing your burlesque character.

The aim of our classes is to help you increase your self-confidence as well as developing good posture and mobility.

Our classes are fun and friendly and are a great chance to socialise with new people.

We provide a selection of props for you to work with but as your burlesque character develops you will be encouraged to get your own costumes and props and to develop your own stage routines. We will give you the opportunity to perform your routines at one of our burlesque nights should you wish to do so.

We recommend wearing comfy clothes for your first lesson and to bring a pair of heels with. After your first lesson you can start to bring in different items to work with and will end up doing classes in your full costume.

My latest performances

These videos were filmed at Wow in Plymouth as part of a ladies night to raise money for Children's Hospice South West. Hope you like them?

Annabels Discotheque February 2010

my latest Pole dance pictures

These pictures were taken in December 2009 at the Xmas disco for St Luke's Hospice. Thanks to Mike from MP Photographic for taking the pictures.