Hottest day of the year so far and I'm doing a two hour burlesque class. You could argue I've picked a good day to take a class that involves taking clothing off but the first thing we are told by our teacher (Miss Storm. E. Knight) is that Burlesque's origins were actually in cabaret and vaudeville skits of comedy. It was the Americans who took the art of the tease and added the Strip.
Before we could start we needed to have our Burlesque name or rather we would be picking each others. Awkward when I had never met the girl before. A
couple of questions like favourite flowers or things and Daisy Von Bling was born whilst she picked for me...Starlight Blue on account of the blue shorts I'm wearing she wasn't sure where the starlight came from! We're informed that this name is our Burlesque persona and that when you are that persona you can get away with anything!
A quick change into some wedges and a brief warm up which included hip swivelling and we were ready to learn poses. We learned the "S" pose the standard starting pose, the swimsuit which was a classic Marilyn Monroe pose and of course the Betty Boop cutesy style poses. We then tried a routine to practice our poses along with a slink or a strut. Slinking in wedges it appears is not easy and I felt and (lm sure looked) more constipated duck than sexy seductress and lots of giggling ensued.
Next up was gloves. We each put on a pair of sparkly sequinned gloves. The key to this dance was to make lots if hand movements and show how much we loved our gloves. My friend took this a bit too literally and was oohing and ahh ing at hers whilst everyone else was busy peeling them off and swinging them above their heads. We then got to try our moves and the soundtrack was the very apt "The Stripper'. As soon as the famous dah dah tha dah started the posing and peeling came naturally. As if on cue the bar manager walked in and everyone joked about what a show he was missing. Funny, until he replied the room had CCTV!
We were fast running out of time and were given the choice of doing another routine or using the nipple tassels. Tassels was the unanimous vote and we each gleefully applied the tassels over our clothing whilst Storm.E. Knight went for the traditional look. There was a lot of bouncing and hilarity as they began to twirl in different directions. Before we knew it the two hours had come to an end.
I would highly recommend a Burlesque class. Not only is it great for hen dos or girlie nights but its also a great confidence booster. As our teacher explained, in Burlesque everyone is beautiful and the poses are designed to slim the body, accentuate what you like and use distraction to hide what you dont. It doesn't take itself too seriously and is simply a great giggle. There were eleven of us, aged from early twenties to fifty and everyone joked about putting what they learned into practice...... No not that! I meant slinking around the kitchen in Marigolds and posing whilst washing up ;)
Storm E Knight was from Charm School and two hour classes cost approx £220
They offer a variety of dance classes for parties in various locations so there is bound to be something that tickles your fancy!
www.charm-school.co.uk
