A little post about body modification, elective surgery and the joys of changing your body in the age of the Internet. This was spurred by comments I see on Instagram on people’s…
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It all started when I received yet another message from a newer performer wanting to get out there in the scene, wanting to do festivals, wanting to headline. Then I wait for…
How many of us book those last minute gigs and the idea of sending a contract beforehand just seems too much hassle? Or how many of us actually chase for the signed…
Required burlesque reading, courtesy of Dr. Lucky. Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. “I didn’t know you still perform,” a young performer said to me at…
“Who are you? What is your distinct contribution? That is so valuable; whether it gets you anything, trophies, doesn’t matter… The greater your contribution to the community, the greater your expression of…
Nasty Canasta invites you to undertake an End of Year Burlesque Self-Assessment… 2013 Year-End Performance Review: Self-Evaluation (With thanks to the several naff business-form-online sites that provided inspiration and/or wording.) This Self…
Lola Frost shares her thoughts on another year in burlesque as 2014 approaches… Last December I posted about my intentions for entering 2013 and my mantra being “I am a wild success”…
New York burlesque performer Dangrrr Doll shares her thoughts on burlesque festivals and how to make them enjoyable and worthwhile for performers… Over the course of the past year or two, I’ve…
In an exclusive, special piece, Imogen Kelly (Reigning Queen of Burlesque/Miss Exotic World 2012) discusses her battle with breast cancer, the ongoing struggle for progress in treatment, and looking to the future. …
Sydni Deveraux gives advice on bad burlesque behaviour to someone dealing with an unprofessional performer… Hello world! It’s Stripper Talk time again! This is a place where I field questions and answer…
Sydni Deveraux advises an anonymous writer on unwelcome criticism… Hello world! It’s Stripper Talk time again! This is a place where I field questions and answer them to the best of my…
Enjoy this New Year message from the heart and mind of Lola Frost… My greatest fear is holding back. The holding back of any expression possibly lost due to fear and the…
by Lola Frost. There is a danger to the word sexy. It’s like a preloaded gun that someone handed to you to use but you didn’t ask for it in the first…
Sydni Deveraux tackles ‘Bullies in Burlesque’… ** Note from the editor: The decision to publish full or extracts from email correspondence is made on a case by case basis. All names and…
Welcome to the new edition of Stripper Talk! Sydni and Holli-Mae have decided to join forces to bring you Sydni’s popular question and answer series to 21st Century’s audience! To ask Sydni…
Log on to any of the countless social media network platforms out there and do you groan like I do at all the self-serving tosh you read? ‘Oh wow I totally rock,…
Hello world! It’s Stripper Talk time! This is a series where I field questions and answer them to the best of my ability, hopefully giving anyone who’s interested in burlesque some insight.…
I have a friend – a rather opinionated friend – who believes that to be ‘truly international’ as a performer you must be paid to do gigs in places beyond Europe. ‘International’…
When I first sat down to write this piece, I planned to write an article about the challenges and issues regularly faced by an established performer. As I began to pull my…
Gosh who hasn’t had it?! Someone makes a comment and before you know it you are staring in the mirror questioning yourself. Burlesque is no different from life in that respect. We…
It’s a tricky business this burlesque malarkey. Whilst your talents may get you so far, any professional performer will tell you that networking is key. This isn’t simply spouting on Facebook or…
There’s so much information out there that it’s impossible to ever reach a point where you’ve read, seen and heard everything there is to know about burlesque. By keeping engaged with your art, you keep your ideas moving, you keep your inspiration fresh and you keep your passion alive. By sharing your research you also help to inspire others to do the same, to keep learning, growing and becoming a better performer.
Burlesque and Tattoos There’s no denying that I’m heavily tattooed. By the time I chose to have my fourth tattoo I’d simultaneously resolved that my passion for tattoos was something I wanted…
My lack of inspiration regarding new acts was beginning to cause me worry. While I have been furiously beavering away at honing/fine tuning my old acts (paying particular care to the Rabbit…
Tease, tease, tease, STRIP… And then? Over the last few months my burlesque focus has shifted toward movement and on-stage imagery. I’ve become preoccupied with thinking about how I link my movements together on stage; how I can present near-static moments with elegance and power; how to add grace to elements that teeter dangerously on the edge of ‘stripper repertoire’. In seeking to develop these aspects of my own performance, I’ve been paying close attention to the performances of others, analysising their successes and weaknesses.
“Find that person who will tell you what your strengths and weaknesses are. Who will give you feedback. Who will tell you that there’s spinach in your teeth and that your g-string is ill fitting. That you might not want to bend over that way … it’s hard. And you don’t always want to know. And yes – you might cry.”
“I was thinking of doing a [insert your own burlesque cliché] act…” Over the past year I’ve noticed an increase in the number of emails I receive from performers who are anxious…
I’ve been creating burlesque costumes by customising off-the-rack pieces for approximately four years. The hot-fix rhinestone applicator was one of the first tools of the trade I discovered via the burlesque community.…
Many performers find that during their burlesque career, they are specifically asked to perform a fan dance. With the proliferation of fan dances on the circuit, it’s common to feel a pressure…
I recently received the following question from a performer based in the Midlands, UK: “How do you make the jump from middle of the bill to top of the bill, it seems…
(Khandie graphic by Em Eato) Okay, so we all dread it – we work for decades (okay maybe not that long) on an act. We rhinestone the costume until our fingers are…
The combination of the popularity of burlesque, the financial crisis and the growing popularity of variety events means that the competition for burlesque jobs is tougher than ever. Emailing event promoters to…
Introducing our Burlesque Correspondent, Beatrix von Bourbon, with the first in a series of guides and articles… Although that niggling voice in the back of your mind tells you that you really…
(Khandie graphic by Em Eato) Do you teach burlesque? Where can I learn? These are often questions I get asked at shows. It has made me stop and think lately whether there…
The bad side of burlesque? Does that really exist in this day when women know their rights and stand up for themselves with the assertion of a warrior going into battle? It…
A wee while ago, yours truly was parked in a mate’s living room watching the telly when a conversation cropped up. Sparked by the news coverage of a fashion show in some…
For some women it’s shoes, for others it’s handbags – for me it’s corsets. Corsets, corsets and more corsets! Now I am not talking some flimsy boned piece of cotton contraption bought…