Transcript

There are different burlesque styles. You have the classic, and traditional burlesque, and then you have the neo-burlesque, the modern burlesque.

The classic, and traditional, is where it comes from Gypsy Rose, and it’s more about, there is humor, and comedy, and it’s glamorous. You, basically, tease the audience, and come down to pasties, usually.

Then, you have the modern, and the neo-burlesque. That, you can tease the audience, throw it back, went down to pasties, or it’s more like the Pussycat Dolls, where there’s more choreography, costumes, and not so much of the stripping. Maybe a couple of things, like a jacket, or gloves, you could take off.

There’s different styles. The classic, and traditional is more about humor, and the art of the tease, and taking it off one by one, and captivating the audience. Where the neo-burlesque, and the modern, you’re still captivating the audience, but it’s more about choreography, and usually, is more of dance routines.

That’s really the difference, where I would say my company, The Wild Charlies, we kinda mix the both. We add a little traditional, and classic, and a little of the modern. So, we give them a little spicy, modern twist to it.

That is the difference between traditional burlesque, and the modern burlesque.

Transcript

So how do you put on a burlesque show?

In a burlesque show, first, you start off with picking the music, and scanning the girls together, and then choreographing the dance, and the routine to the show.

After hours, and days, of rehearsal, you then pick a location of where you’re gonna have the show. After you pick the location, you set up a date for when you’re gonna have the show. After you set up the date, the location, the dance is done, and the girls are ready, you have to think about your costume.

Usually, when you pick a costume, you’re gonna think about what inspires you. Whether it’s the fashion that’s in, another artist that is performing, or the song may give you some inspiration, and you put the costumes together.

Then, after that’s all packaged together, you then promote the show. You get fliers made, and you tell your family, your friends about the show, and you aren’t, you just promote it.

Then the day comes, and you promote the show, and everyone’s there, so you have to make sure the lighting is ready and set. You have someone doing the makeup, or you’re doing it yourself. Your hair is ready, and your costumes are ready, everyone is set in the audience. Then the lights go on, and your show is ready.

Once the show is complete, afterwards usually, you say hi to everyone. You sign new calendars, usually, you sign calendars and merchandise, and then the show is complete.

But, during the show, is when everything just comes to life, and all the hard work that you put in, you’re there in that moment, when the lights hit you. It’s a lot of work that comes into developing a burlesque show, whether it’s rehearsal, picking the costumes, the choreography, picking the right location, promoting it, but when that night comes it’s all worth it.

That’s how you put on a burlesque show.

Transcript

Picking good burlesque songs. When you pick a burlesque song, you want to feel the music, so the music needs to speak to you, whether it’s the words in a song or the beat that captivates you. So when you’re looking for it, find something that you feel. Because that’s the best way for you to bring it inside you and then you come out and perform that song.

To me, personally, I really like the beats to songs. I look for something that is sexy. So, sometimes it’s slow, sometimes it’s fast. I just like sexy beats that I feel. So, a lot of my routines that I dance to have been, I like “Ruby Blue,” I don’t know if I’m saying her name right, by Roisin Murphy. She also has a song “Rama Llama,” which I love.

On the soundtrack, Burlesque, there’s a lot of songs I like on that. Then there’s the traditional, which is more like — I like New Orleans – jazzy music, when there’s the trumpets, saxophone, just really, you feel sexy. You feel like you’re in a lounge with a piano bar, that kind of music.

There is “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” It’s a little faster, but it’s a perfect burlesque song because they put white gloves on, the diamond costume, and just have fun with it.

One of my favorite classic burlesque songs is “Harlem Nocturne.” That song is just great and sexy. It’s a good song when you get to your bumps and your grinds. It’s just a real classic burlesque song.

So really, when you pick a burlesque song do your research. Find the one that really fits you, whether it’s the words, whether it’s the rhythm, whether it’s the beat. It could really be anything. It could be old music. It could be Latin music. It could be today’s music. It could be anything. Just find that music that suits you. Put that routine together and just feel it. As long as you feel it, you find your song.

That’s how you pick a burlesque song.

Transcript

How to do burlesque makeup.

So I’m going to first start off with the body. So the body you can put body shimmer. Just highlight the cleavage area. And your shoulders. And your arms. And your face. You want to have a smooth complexion. Make sure that you powder. And then false eyelashes. You want liquid eyeliner, blush, and bronzer, and red lips. Always red lips. So, when you’re doing it, just make sure you have a smooth complexion. Put the blush on, red lips, false eyelashes, long, liquid, black eyeliner. And you want to keep your eyes soft, for the most part. You’re going to have big red lips, you want to keep your eyes soft. You’re going to go for a smokey look, you can do that as well. But just make sure you’re concentrating on one area, the lips or the eyes. And that is how you do your burlesque makeup.

Transcript

How to do burlesque hair.

So, when you’re performing, you want to make sure that your hair is away from your face, but also that you have big, loose curls, and there’s some wings to your hair. So, usually what I do is, I start out curling my hair, then I will pin up one side, and sometimes I just pin it, or you could add an accent, like a flower to your hair, or a feather. And you keep it loose just to make sure the waves are flowing, your hairspray and everything is somewhat off your face. Another thing you could do is take the other side of your hair, and you could also pin this up as well, if you like. And that is your burlesque hair when you perform.

Transcript

How to do vintage burlesque. So, vintage burlesque, usually you will start with a prop of some type. So, whether it’s a feathered fan, you can have a cane, maybe a little bathtub, a martini glass. Usually, you will have some type of prop and, as well, you will have a concept. So, whether it is, the concept is, you’re going to be telling a story. So usually, you’re going to think of the story and pick the song, and put it together.

So, you’ll come out in your full costume, and your prop. Then, slowly, you will reveal articles off your skin. So, whether it’s gloves at first, then maybe after that you might take your feathered hair piece off. Then you might take your prop and place it down. Then slowly take off maybe your waist cincher, and tease the audience. Then, after that, you might take off, maybe you have another layer of clothing, or a dress. And then underneath it you’re going to reveal, usually, like a nice bustier, a bra, and panties of some sort. And maybe thigh-high’s, and you’re going to reveal that piece by piece, teasing the audience. Then after that, you might grab your prop. Say it is a feathered fan. Then, you’re going to work the prop with what you’re wearing now.

Then you might reveal the top. Show it, place it down, so now the audience, you make sure your back is to the audience, thinks you’re wearing nothing. And then, at the last moment, you’re going to come up, and you’re revealing your pasties. So, classic burlesque is all about the tease. You might want to add some humor in it, and make it funny, because burlesque does stem from comedy. And you want to make it light.

You want to make it fun. You want to make it engaging and you want to captivate the audience. So, use your prop. Maybe throw it out to the audience or just tantalize them with your boa. So, classic burlesque is all about the tease, little by little, and at the end, you reveal your pasties as you might give them a little tease and then. You hide them right away. So, those are the characteristics that come in to a vintage burlesque striptease.

Transcript

Hi, my name is Elizabeth DeGennaro and I am a burlesque performer and founder of the Wild Cherryz Burlesque. I am here in New York City and I am a professional dancer performing in New York City, as well as teaching. I started doing Burlesque about 6 years ago. My background stems from ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop and then I got into Latin dancing and ballroom dancing. So through that I created my strong dance background.

Through it I was going on dance auditions and I found out that I really was not finding what I thought was me. So every time I auditioned, I was auditioning for somebody else and their vision of their dance and their choreography. Then I realized I want something different so I created something different. So I created my company, the Wild Cherryz Burlesque and I chose burlesque because I looked at it as a freedom of speech. So I can do hip hop, I can do salsa, I can do swing dance, I can do belly dance. I can do whatever I want to incorporate into my burlesque.

And I also love traditional and the old vintage Hollywood glamour, so add a little touch of that. But also, because of my background, I love choreography. So I brought the modern, so I made everything combine into a twist of my burlesque. So I’ve been performing for about 6 years. My company, we performed on America’s Got Talent, Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, we were part of the Gong Show. We’ve performed many many many New York City venues as well as Atlantic City.

We also have been featured in a couple t.v. shows. We have the Wild Cherryz calendar out, 2012, and our website is www.thewildcherryz.com. I’m also currently opening up a dance studio and it will be on Long Island; it’s called Wild Cherryz Dance and Fitness Studio. Now I want you to do some burlesque with me.

Transcript

How to do signature moves from the best burlesque dancers.

Okay, I’m here with Jill and Jess, and we’re going to show you a little combination that a lot of the best burlesque performers use. We’re going to start with a twirl in our hands using our boa. Okay? So you’re twirling in. Alright, so making the boa go nice and around using our wrists. We’re going to do this four times, so here we go. We’re going to go. One, two, three, four. Good. So we’re working out boa. After that our arms are going to come up, then we’re going to slowly come down and pet your boa. Good. So the arms come up and our hands slide down petting the boa. Very good. Putting that together, we have from the beginning: one, two, three, four up, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven eight.

Now we’re going to incorporate our knees. We’re going to start with the right knee. Every time you twirl, you switch knees, so you’re going to go right, left, right, left. Good, let’s try that again. Right, left, right, left. Good. Now we’re going to add the arms. Knee comes up to the right, arms come up, knees stay there, slowly transitioning to the left knee as your hand slowly comes down and you press down and stick your little booty out. Okay? Good.

Let’s put that together using our knees. Here we go. A one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Very good. We’re going to do it a little faster. Five, six, seven, eight, a one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Very good.

Those are some signature moves from the best burlesque dancers.

Transcript

How to pick a good bump and grind song.

So, in the music that you pick, you want make sure there’s strong beats, but then there’s a slow part of the music for the grind part. Okay? So good songs that I recommend that I personally use and love is like Lipstick, by Rihanna and John Lee Hooker is the artist, and it’s One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer. Roisin Murphy’s Rama Llama, and Motivation by Kelly Rowland. So, these are really good songs that you use that you could practice your bumps that I taught you earlier, and your grinds.

Okay? So just look for that strong beat and that slow part of the song so use your bumps, and your grinds. So that is how you pick a good bump and grind song for burlesque.

Transcript

How to dance like Christina Aguilera from Show Me How You Burlesque.

Okay, I’m here with Jill and Jess and we’re going to demonstrate a combination from the movie and song Show Me How You Burlesque.

Okay, so the combination starts when you step out with the right foot, arm is gonna come up, here we go, one, two, three. Okay, let’s do that again, start out with the right foot, my arm comes up. One, two, three. And if you notice your hip has come out like that. Okay, you’re gonna come in right foot meets your left, come in on four.

Okay, good let’s do that again. Five, sic, seven, eight, one, two, three, four, good. Now we’re gonna circle our hips and come down. Five, six, dip all the way down, seven come up on eight, good, and pop that right knee out at the end. Let’s do it again five, six, seven, eight, one, two, three, four, five, six dip seven, eight. Very good. One more time, five, six, seven, eight, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

Very good, and that is how you dance like Christina Aguilera from Show Me How You Burlesque.

Transcript

This is how you put on a burlesque show like Dida Vantis.

So Dida Vantis uses elaborate props. So whether it’s a martini glass or a mechanical bold-looking lipstick. Or a huge feather fan, they’re elaborate beautiful props. Beautiful costumes.

Sometimes she’s in point shows. Ballet shoes. So today, I’m going to be using a chair. So at home you want to put on Dida Vantis burlesque show, you use a prop that you have at home. So we’re going to use a chair. Okay? So we’re going to have fun and do a little chair dance.

So we’re going to start behind the chair. Like this. And we’re going to do a little walk. So we’re going to go: One, two, three, four, step, five, turn, six, hit, seven, eight, sit. From here we’re just going to back lifting the right knee. Extend left leg. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, look, eight.

That is a little Dida Vantis burlesque show. So we’re going to do it again. And we’re going to start behind the chair. Our prop is the chair. With the walk start with the right line. We’re going to go: One, two, three, four, set, five turn, six, seven, sit, eight, go down one. Two, three, four, leg extend, leg bent, five, six, up, seven look eight. Okay? So let’s put it together a little faster.

Here we go. Five six seven eight. One two three four five six seven eight one two three four five six seven eight. And that is how you can incorporate a prop in your burlesque routine like Dida Vantis.

Transcript

So this is the second routine and I’m going to use a prop, my feathered fan.

So we’re going to have our hands on our hip, left hand and we’re going to set out our left leg as our right hand comes around. Okay? Let’s do that again. One, two. Again. One, two, and from here we’re going to press going across, three, four. Okay? So again, we’re stepping out, one, two, three, four. So you’re using your right hand for everything. So again, we step out, one, to go across, two, three, four. All right?

So make sure the arm is going around your whole head. That’s one, two. All right? And your left foot is coming out. So we got one, two, three, four. Now we’re just going to milk it down, five, six, seven, eight. Okay? Let’s do that again. Left foot comes out, right hand comes around. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Okay? A little quicker this time. Five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

Transcript

So I’m going to show you three easy routines to get started with burlesque. I’m going to show you first and then I’ll break it down. So how we break it down. We’re going to go out to the right. One and two. To the left, three and four. Come together. Five, six, squat. Seven, up. Eight. And again. One and two. Three and four. Five, six, squat. Seven, up, eight. So you’re going to the right. One and two. To the left three and four. Single. Five, six, squat. Seven, up, eight. Let’s put it together and go a little faster. Five, six, seven, eight. One and two. Three and four. Five, six, seven, eight.

Transcript

Okay, so this is the third basic routine for burlesque. This time, I’m going to use my gloves. I’m going to be doing lots of arms, and I’m going to keep it slow this time. Okay? So here we go.

I’m going to slide up slowly, all the way to the top, and then weave side to side, side to side. Coming back down slow, caressing your body, and then we’re going to press across. Press across. Okay? Let’s do it with the counts.

One, two, three, four, five six, seven, eight; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Very good.

So, it’s really. We’re using our arms, and we’re showing off our gloves. Okay, let’s go a little faster. Caress your body. Keep it sexy, keep it smooth. Five, six, seven, eight; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

Transcript

How to work a boa in burlesque.

You’re gonna get the biggest boa you can find, like mine, mine’s very think. You want a thick, big boa because you really want to be able to do all sorts of movement with your boa. Okay, so you can first start out with the boa around your arms, nice and loose like this.

Then its tale end, you can swing it around, play with the audience, get them wanting more and teasing them. Bank it slowly, bring it down, come up slowly with the boa. You could drape yourself with it, come back down, and then you come back and whip.
Come through your legs with the boa, come up slowly and go side to side, you come around with the boa, and you really just want to play with it, make it feel natural, make it look natural. And that is how you work a boa in burlesque.

Transcript

How to do a burlesque belly dance.

We’re going to use our bellies for our belly dance. These are called “belly rolls.” How we do a belly roll is we stick out our chest, then our ribs, then our belly button, and then our pelvis. It’s a little belly roll. We’re going to stand to the side. Our arms are up. We’re going to do a little belly roll.

This is now your belly dance belly roll. With this we’re going to make it a little sexier. We’re going to stick out our left knee, hip is loose, our hands are up.

If my left hip is up, my right hand is up, and my left hand is out to the audience. You want to roll your wrists to keep it sexy. Okay? With this, we’re going to do a belly roll. That’s how you do your belly roll.

After your belly roll, you can do a hip roll. These are also called “bicycles” in belly dance. You’re going to come around with your hip. Good.

Now with this, we’re going to combine it. We’re going to do four belly rolls and then four hip rolls.

Five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, adding the wrists.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

Very good. And that’s how you do a burlesque belly dance.

Transcript

How to use burlesque tassels.

This is the fun part. Now, these actually have the tassels where it’s easier for it to spin, right? So when you put the tassels on, you’re going to put it on the areola, right? And how you put it on is by pasite glue which you could buy, or eyelash glue. So you want to make sure you put it on the back of your tassel. And you want to hold it there and press hard so they’re secure and you might want to jump around a little bit, to make sure they’re not going anywhere. And that is how you use your tassels and you put them on.

Transcript

How to do burlesque dancing for a beginner.

Okay, so I’m going to teach you a little beginning step to start up a lot of your burlesque dancing. We’re going to start with our hands up and then we’re going to caress our body as we come down half way, turn your legs and come back up as you stick out your tush. OK, let’s do it again. So we’re going to look at our hands, up, feel and caress your body as you come down the side, switch your knees to the other side, stick out your tush, and come up.

Let’s do it again. So the counts are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Okay, so that is you’re beginning steps. So really you can go faster, you go slower, it’s up to you. You just want to caress your body, feel the music, and just feel sexy. And here’s another beginning move for burlesque, you’re going to come out with your right leg, slap your legs, come down make it all the way down low, pop your hair and come up. Okay, so again you start with your feet together.

You step out, slap, down, flip up, and then come in. Good, let’s do it again. So we’re going to step out with the right, slap, slowly come down, and flip up and then come up and bring your legs together. Okay? That’s 2 beginning burlesque moves Okay? To start out with, I’m going to give you 1 more. Okay? This 1 we’re going to come up, you’re going to come all the way down, you’re going to open your legs, come together and come back up Okay? So you come up, slowly come down, open, close and up. Again, the last 1. Up, slowly come down, open, close, and up. Okay, so you have 3 beginning basic burlesque moves.

Transcript

How to do a reverse striptease in burlesque. I have Jill here who’s going to demonstrate.

The whole concept for the reverse striptease is to start with what you would normally reveal and then put your items on top. So your clothing, your props will come on after. So the audience is going to see you strip down and then we’re going to tease them and put everything back on. Okay?

So first, nice and sexy, we’re going to slowly come down and grab our corset. So Jill slowly teases the audience as she slowly puts on her corset. So as she’s doing it, she’s put it on, she could turn, kind of show her back to the audience, they don’t really know what she’s doing. She’s putting the corset on nice and slowly and then she could wiggle tush or then she could turn around and tease them, look at the audience, as she’s putting on her corset.

Then, even if the corset isn’t on all the way, she could slowly come back down to grab the gloves and then she’s going to slowly put on her gloves. Okay? That’s one of her props that she would normally use later on. She’s going to put the gloves on now.

So her corset is on, her gloves are now going on and as she’s doing it she’s smiling, she’s winking at the audience nice and playful. Okay? As she’s done with this, she’s going to put her hat up, slowly put her hat on, smiling at the audience and now she could finish her corset, teasing them. She could slowly pick up her boa, put it around her, and then she could tease the audience.

So she started out with what she would normally and then she put on her full costume. So that is a reverse striptease in burlesque.

Transcript

How to bump, and grind, like a burlesque dancer.

We’re gonna use a lot of hips in this, and a lot of motion in your hips, Okay? So we’re gonna start with a little bends in our knees, and we’re gonna use our right hip, and hit, hit, hit, hit. These are the bumps. Okay? We’re gonna hit our hips nice, and hard, and these are your bumps. Okay?

You keep your legs closed, with a little bend in your knees, or you could step back with your hips. Okay? These are your bumps.

Now, for your grinds, you want to keep your legs closed, cause you want to keep it classy, and pretty. This is how we grind. So your hips are now going around in a circle. Okay? This is how we grind. All right. You could lift your arms up, and grind, or you keep them around your hips. Okay?

We’re gonna put it together. We’re gonna do four bumps, and four grinds. We’re gonna go one, two, three, four, and around, five, six, seven, eight. Again, one, two, three, four, around, five, six, seven, eight. Okay. Good.

We’re gonna use our hands with them, so we keep our hands this side for the bumps. One, two, three, four, and slide down for the grind, five, six, seven, eight. Again, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Good. We’re gonna do it one more time, a little faster. Hands to the side for the bumps, come down your legs for the grind. Okay? Five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

And that is how you bump, and grind, like a burlesque dancer.

Transcript

How to do a glove peel in burlesque. I have Jess here to demonstrate. She’s going to show you how to peel off your glove, nice and sexy, in burlesque. So, usually long opera gloves work best. And she’s going to use her right hand first, and use her teeth, starting with her pinky, to slowly bite and tease to peel off the fingers of the glove. After she’s done, she’s then going take the middle finger with her other hand and peel off the glove as she arches her back and sticks out her tush. Let’s do it again to the other hand. And we got the pinky, next finger, nice and sexy, teasing the audience. Good. And then when you’re done you peel it off as you arch your back, stick out your tush. And that is how you peel off your glove in burlesque.

Transcript

In burlesque, we use lots of props. I’m going to show you how you can incorporate all your props in one routine. I have my feather fan, my boa. I have a chair that I’m on, and my hat. In this routine, we’re going to use each prop and my gloves, and I’m going to show you how you do it slow, sexy, and seductive, and teasing the audience.

First, we’re going to use the fan, nice and slow. From here, you might just take you leg off the chair, slowly and sexy. Then slowly you could put down your fan on the chair. From here, work your boa. Tease the audience. Slow, sexy, whip it down, bring it up and place it on the chair. From here you could slowly take off your gloves one by one. You could either use your fingers to pull it off, or you could use your teeth. I’m choosing to pull it off with my hands. Slow, reach, whip it down. Nice and slow. As you take your glove off, tease, whip.

Last is your hat. Now you want to play a little bit. So, you kind of give a twirl, nice and sexy. Caress your body, take the hat, come around with it, maybe put it back on. Have fun with it. Take it and throw it at the audience.

That is how we use our props in burlesque.

Transcript

How to shimmy your shoulders in burlesque.

So we’re going to open up our arms, loosen up our shoulders, and that is how you shimmy. So again you could, just… You want to be loose, you want to open up, and shimmy your shoulders. Okay.

So this can be done in many ways. You can either do a long shimmy, and you can play it up, you can play it down, sideways. Or you could do a quick, and a little staccato, kind of shimmy. It’s really up to you. So you can add this to your burlesque routine.

So again you open up, your hands are loose, and just give a little shimmy to your chest. Okay. This is done by loosening up your upper body. Okay. You always want your hands open and loose, and shimmy away. Okay. And that is how you do a burlesque shimmy.

Transcript

How you do a Burlesque Quiver.

Now the Burlesque Quiver is just like the Shoulder Shimmy, it’s just called two different things. Most people call it a Shoulder Shimmy but a Quiver is the same thing and Quiver is great. You have a fringe costume on so really when you shake, you want to really see the fringe go, so you want to keep your arms open, loose and you want to shake away. Okay, when you do this you want to make sure you smile and you flirt with the audience, you keep your shoulders going , shimmying away or you can do it quick and quick or you can do it slow. And you could lift with it you come up, you could come down with it. It’s really up to you what you want to do but definitely fringe costume is best for a Quiver, also called a Shoulder Shimmy. Again, open up, loosen up and that is your Burlesque Quiver.