If you want to become a burlesque performer, there’s no shortage of advice, tutorials and videos to consume online. After a while, though, you may find yourself encountering the same tips and general philosophy everywhere, and you can fall into some deep rabbit holes on craft and costume that can easily get overwhelming. So let’s get subtle and specific here, courtesy of some of the finest burlesque teachers around. They have some less obvious but very important guidance for you as you dip your toe into these seductive, sparkly waters…
1. Read the Room
Bella De Jac, a former Mx Burlesque Australia approaching two decades in the business, offers excellent tutorials for burlesque beginners on Maison Burlesque’s online learning platform.
“Protect your curiosity,” they say. “Ask more questions than you answer. Observe and listen. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t share your unique perspective – but don’t be afraid of conversations where you’re the least experienced person in the room, and don’t feel you have to pretend not to be new here. Sometimes your greatest contribution to a conversation is your genuine curiosity, and it’s a valuable skill to hone for a performance style where we engage live on stage with a room full of real people.
“Also, never assume that someone isn’t worth knowing because they’re not on stage that night. Burlesque has been around longer than your teachers and the people you idolise right now; you never know who’s in the room with you…”
Bella finishes with a singular suggestion. “Whenever you get the opportunity to be in-person in a burlesque class, or in the audience watching a show, practice paying attention to the body language of your classmates or fellow audience with loving awareness. Engage your empathy. Note how your own body language communicates, particularly boundaries and enthusiasm. It’s your first opportunity to practice being with an audience in a no-fourth-wall artform.”
2. Read the Dressing Room
Award winning classic burlesque siren Velma Vouloir brings the same consideration for observation and etiquette to backstage and show day environments.
“Awareness is a core component of backstage etiquette. As a newer performer you’re likely wrangling a whole host of very real emotions and questions when you arrive at a venue, but always take a moment to consider the whole team you’re working with. Introduce yourself to everyone – producer, cast, tech crew, venue staff, and any volunteer helpers. Assess the backstage area: consider how many performers and crew are using the space alongside you and go from there. Also take into consideration that everyone has a different process when it comes to pre-show rituals. Some people love to chat and socialise to get their energy up, and some people need that calm before the storm to center themselves. Don’t be afraid to ask what others need, and always communicate your own needs, too. Observe your surroundings, be proactive, and give yourself and your fellow performers every opportunity to feel safe and ready to absolutely knock it out of the park!”
3. Read the Crowd
There’s plenty to learn and consider front-of-house, too, as vintage bombshell Valerie ‘Va Va’ Valentine explains.
“A pitfall many emerging performers fall into when getting up close and personal with their audience for the first time is to seek enthusiastic and clear consent from anyone participating. We can all get caught up in our moment and forget that our actions are being received by another person.
“Don’t forget how sexy a simple “Do you want it? Would you like to help me with X?” before you get up in someone’s personal space or climb onto someone’s lap. Give people space and read their body language – let them lean into it first before you do. You’ll always be surprised by how folks react when you give them space to enjoy the connection. That’s hot.”
4. Put it in Reverse
Mesmerising ‘professional weirdo’ Sham, a specialist in act construction, has a counterintuitive tip: develop your act backwards.
“We tend to think of a journey as moving forwards in time, but sometimes working backwards can unlock a new path of discovery. Start with the moment you want to land on: what needs to happen right before that? What does the audience need to understand, discover or witness to make that moment land? The reveal is often treated as the destination, when actually, the act is the anticipation.
“It can also be difficult not to hyperfixate on one section of your act when you’re working chronologically. I know – I do it myself! Sometimes you need to kickstart your creative brain differently. Try developing your ending first, then work backwards through the act.
Sometimes, approaching your act from the opposite direction creates connections, discoveries or possibilities that you wouldn’t have found by simply moving from beginning to end. Maybe you’ll finally solve that section you’ve been staring at for three weeks.”
5. To Stone or Not to Stone…
Maison Burlesque co-director Poppy Cherry can teach you all you need to know about fan dancing – but she’d also like to pass on some of her DIY costuming wisdom about a high pressure topic for burlesque newcomers – the perceived requirement of rhinestoned, ultra glamorous costumes!
“There’s a reason we called our Youtube channel The Humble Sequin – it’s easy to get so dazzled by rhinestones you forget there’s other things out there,” says Poppy. “You can create truly beautiful pieces with dimension by combining different types and sizes of embellishment – think small and large rhinestones, sequins, appliques, trims and fabric types.
“Play with texture and know your adhesives – check that the product matches the surfaces you are working with, and for any safety hazards. Working symmetrically really is a non-negotiable – work evenly across both sides of the garment. This means you can stop at any time and have a piece that’s ready to wear. It also avoids the dreaded trap of not having enough stones to finish. And make sure you always have enough glue that you create a little cushion for your rhinestone that covers the sides. Then after that, don’t be afraid to play and see where it takes you!”
6. Man to Man
Boylesque expert and choreographer Egson Ham has some advice for new boylesquers trying to find their spot in the burlesque world.
“Firstly, Boylesque is just a term that we made up. It’s not real. Go create what you want, you don’t need to copy anyone else, it’s truly not that deep. Just be entertaining. That said, taking off clothes can have different implications for different people. When making acts, think about the experience for the audience members who are attracted to you, as well as how to entertain and include the people who aren’t.
“Go see lots of shows. Also, go see lots of types of shows. Then, go and be the show you wanted to see. There’s no one guaranteed path to success, so don’t forget to enjoy the journey – but there IS a guaranteed path to failure, and that is to be ‘unreliable, unprofessional, uninvested and uncoachable’ (John Cena).
“P.S. Your face and your hands give away everything about how you’re feeling.”
7. Talk to the Hand
Speaking of hands, The Forbidden Nüwa, previously known as Chloe the Cocaine, wants to draw attention to a body part that can be so convincing and the mark of a true professional, but is often neglected when it comes to executing your first routine onstage. She teaches a focused burlesque class just on this key skill.
“Hands do not just move around, they are the visual poetry of the soul,” she explains. “Every extension and rotation of the hands is an expression of the performer’s emotions and energy.”
Here are her core points for making your hand gestures special:
1. Warm up and stretching: Strong palms, flexible knuckles and lengthening finger exercises will help with increasing your range of movement and making unique shapes. Stretching your hands is also beneficial for training with your props (fans, veils, ribbons, etc.). Imagine these as extensions of your fingers.
2. Continuous intention: Movements originate from the core/waist, travel through the shoulders and arms, and finally, channel the inner breath into the fingertips, helping create precise wrist techniques like lifting, sinking, and leaning. The physical movement may pause, but the artistic intention flows on.
3. Balancing hard and soft: Gesture transitions embody a hidden internal strength within soft movements. Even a gentle touch of the leg requires energized, alive fingertips, reflecting the true electric feeling of skin-to-skin touch.
4. The eyes follow the hands, and the hands move with the heart. Your gaze tracks the hand movements, drawing the audience’s attention to the fingers and amplifying the emotional tension of a tiny gesture.
8. Get your Head in the Game
Domino de Jour is your hair and makeup guru – on hand with some sound advice for nailing your stage presence and polish from the get go.
“I don’t want to see the same hair for every routine you do,” she begins. “It’s an integral part of the costuming of your character and should receive the same attention to details and understanding. At the very least, just do something intentional with it – don’t look like you came straight from the gym or have somewhere else to be afterwards (unless that is what you intended). As an extension to this, if you are doing an act that is linked to a time period, please try to research what hair styles would make sense with that time period. I don’t want to see victory rolls with a 1960s styled routine.
“I sometimes have people tell me that they are no good with their hair or makeup,” she continues. “The same rules apply if you can’t sew: learn to outsource, or take the time to learn with lessons or videos online, get a wig or hairpiece styled professionally; this is all part of your craft. I am a big wig or hairpiece fan because it saves time getting ready, reduces damage to my hair, and allows me to be flexible in my day to day with my own hair but keep my stage self platinum blonde.”
9. Body Talk
Bella de Jac is back to remind you that it’s not always about the moves – but how it feels.
“Societally there’s real pressure to move faster, hustle harder, ‘keep up or get left behind’. Social pressure impacts the body, and we work with our bodies in Burlesque. Many burlesque artists spend years trying to undo that feeling of ‘If I’m not moving, I’m not entertaining’ that has them rushing choreo and skipping the moments just to hit the beats. Tuning into body awareness, breath, pacing moments of speed with stillness and slowness, delivers our most powerfully engaging, sensual performances.
“Know that all the work you do to listen to the pace your body actually needs to go isn’t just critical access (which would be enough), it’s also critical stage craft.”
10. Invite Anxiety to the Party
We couldn’t conclude without tackling anxiety and stage fright – all the advice and preparation in the world can be derailed by a pounding heart and trembling hands! But what if stage fright is actually just excitement in disguise? Comedy queen and burlesque jester Lauren Bok has this to share with you:
“I get asked if I get nervous. Of course I do. I should. Nervousness is just your body’s way of telling you that you care. So, I’m nervous because I care, and it would be weirder to not care. So don’t worry about being nervous, it’s just your body starting the party, and you’re the beautiful host. It would be weirder if you didn’t care.”
Check out the classes from all these instructors and so much more from a range of burlesque experts at MaisonBurlesque.Online. A subscription gives you access to over 400 classes on a range of skills and subjects – including beginner sessions. Thanks to the whole team for their time and efforts on this guide.