Burlesque is fabulous, glittery, sexy fun for adventurous women and gender explorers! I teach a form of dance that is dictated by your body, and is culled from many years of exotic dance performance (I was a headlining feature performer in strip clubs in the 1990s), watching vintage dance films, and having seen literally hundreds of burlesque performers from all over the world practice their arts at the Teaseorama Burlesque Convention, the New York Burlesque Festival, and the Exotic World Pageant and Striptease Reunion (and performing with them). I have served as both a judge and a judging coordinator at The Miss Exotic World Pageant, and as a teacher at Teaseorama. You could say I know a little bit about burlesque!
While all this may sound intimidating, remember, the most important thing you can do as a performer, whether onstage or in the privacy of your home, is to have a good time. My goal is to give you the know-how and the confidence to have fun while rocking the world of anybody you think you need to rock!
All of the classes are designed to stand alone, which means that you can take any one of them without having taken any of the others, including the two-hour workshop.
Most classes are conducted in a dance studio. However, the classes in costuming and in music and themes are not particularly movement-oriented.
You'll learn how to do classic moves from mid-century burlesque striptease, such as the glove peel, the bump, the grind, the shimmy, the tassel-twirl, and the big reveal. All of these moves are fun and easy to do. I'll lead you through them.
You can wear whatever you'll be comfortable in; there will not be anywhere to change. Absolutely no nudity is required to learn the moves. I do recommend wearing or bringing a standard bra with straps (rather than a camisole or sports bra) so you can practice the "strap tease." You may wear whatever shoes you like to dance in.
During the workshop you'll be playing with gloves, boas, fringe, and feather fans, all of which I'll provide. However, if you have gloves or a boa or other items of your own, I recommend you bring them.
Following is a list of shops where you can purchase items to use in the classes:
Dae Sung Trading Corp. 820 6th Ave bet. 28th and 29th Sts. 212.684.4110 Gloves $10-$15 Get any gloves you like, preferably long (above the elbow).
M&J Trimming 6th Ave. Bet 37th and 38th 212 391-9072 www.mjtrim.com Fringe $3-$15
Get one yard of 3-or-4-inch rayon chainette fringe (the store people will know what that is) and put safety pins on each end and in the very center of the piece of fringe so you can pin it on for the shimmy section of the class.
The Feather Place www.featherplace.com 40 W. 38th St. between 6th and 5th Avenues (go right on 38th if you're walking up 6th, left if you're walking down 5th) Boas $3-$100 Get any boa you like. I recommend getting one or two above the cheapest one, and putting it in a gallon ziplock bag to protect it from moths and mites. Also a good place to pick up a pair of marabou fans (ask the staff about those).
You won't be expected to remove any clothing, although if you prefer to for the tassel-twirl, you may do so. You can wait and see how you feel about it in the class.
The one-hour classes are $15, four for $50.
The two-hour workshops are $25.
A package of two classes and one workshop is $50.
Pastie-making kits may be available for $5, but are not guaranteed to be provided for sale at each workshop.
Reservations are required.
Click here for payment and reservation policies.
Your reservation may be paid for in advance via paypal to rocknycity@aol.com. Sorry, I can't take checks.
When you pay for the class, you'll write down your email address and whether you want to receive the e-handbook in PDF or Microsoft Word. These are the only formats in which the handbook is available.
The handbook includes a brief overview of the moves, plus tips on creating original performances, coming up with a stage name, costuming, where to shop, what music you can practice with, plus a list of recommended movies and books, and information about shopping online and in New York City.
Please note: classes repeat. That means that the two-hour workshop in June is the same class as the two-hour workshop in October. Taking it twice can be fun, but it's not necessary. This is not a college, there are only half a dozen different classes offered.
Back to class description.
Back to the main page.
