NEW YORK SCHOOL OF BURLESQUE STUDENT SHOWCASE!
Our next student showcase is November 5 at The Bowery Poetry Club, NYC! Come see New York's newest performers show off their fresh skills!
Doors 7.30 show 8 pm $7 at the door
At the Bowery Poetry Club
305 Bowery at Bleecker
Featuring a mini-fashion show with our new partner, Lola Star!
One of our performers had to cancel and we have room for you! If you've been taking classes at NYSB and you're ready to hit the stage, email schoolofburlesque@gmail.com.
In the meantime, read below for details about our showcase from August:
It's our first showcase since the Slipper Room closed for renovation, and it's gonna be a big one! We're bringing on 11 of New York's newest burlesque performers, some of whom are taking it off in public for the very first time!
Read about one of our earlier student showcases on Cultural Capital!
Their responses to the preshow questionnaire were so much fun I'm sharing them with the world! Read on...
Anita Fox
A list of which classes you have taken
Hula Hooping with Miss Saturn
Essential Burlesque series with you
A list of any performance experience
Professional actor/dancer/director/performance artist. Recent credits:
Acting in Gormanzee & Other Stories at The Flea Theater (July 2010)
Dancing in Sit, Stand, Walk, Lie Down... (dir. Phil Soltanoff) on Governors Island - LMCC Sitelines series (July 2010)
Solo Performance - The Backroad Homeshow - workshop at The Kitchen, performance at Lost Horizon Night Market (May 2010)
A list of any burlesque experience
Former performer with the Southern Jezebelles in the Shim Sham Revue in New Orleans, LA
What inspired you to become interested in burlesque
My college dance professor asked me to audition to be her understudy in the Southern Jezebelles when I was still a teenager. I fell in love with it immediately.
Audrey Bloom
classes: Flirting With Burlesque, Classic Beauty Showgirl Act Development, Fan Dance, Choreography of Events
experience: ballet, tap, jazz, modern, swing Indonesian dance, CalArts Dance major; play bass and sing in the band El Jezel
shows: Classic Burlesque Showcase and Pin Up Club Classic Show- Slipper Room, Luvely Rae's One Night Stand- Sapphire Lounge, Ixion's Weimar Burlesque- Sideshows by the Seashore, Jalopy Theatre, and Public Assembly, kitten & gogo girl for Rhinestone Follies- R Bar
inspiration: the sheer class that exudes from classic film stars and dancers of the 20s-60s is a big inspiration, and demure, charming dolls like Audrey Hepburn & Audrey Tautou inspired my name. I love being playful and coy and playing a character!
Carole Climax
A list of which classes you have taken: This August's Essential Burlesque Series, 3 Flirting with Burlesque classes
A list of any performance experience:
Singing, Performance Art and Theatre for years...
Trained in Musical Theatre and Multicultural Performance Styles...
Notable St Louis Performances: PRIDE St Louis, Ragged Blade Players, The Royal Dumpe, The Venice Cafe, Beale on Broadway
In NY: Iridium Girls Gone Wild Broadway After Dark, Iridium Jazz Vocalist Festival, Sidewalk Cafe Valentines Cabaret, Ellens Stardust Diner, sang with Les Paul before he died...
A list of any burlesque experience:
Mostly really only hints at Burlesque thrown into other pieces I've done while singing as seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPlVtxVfSy0
and here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nhSAaYfsVg
I haven't actually performed a complete Burlesque number as Carole Climax yet. Tho I am ripe with ideas :-)
What inspired you to become interested in burlesque:
Though my first big show was actually Gypsy when I was 13 (I was Agnes and learned "meet ya round the corner in a half-hour" from Tessy Tura), I think I definitely consciously observed bits and pieces of Burlesque probably first notably some years ago when looking at body image celebrations - I was a big girl, a Feminist, a Queer activist and fascinated with expressing politics or social agendas through performance. Benchpress Burlesque in St Louis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6mpC2CnUVA) was a favorite first foray as I was involved in the Radical/Anarchist community there - very neo burlesque... and I think I was mostly an observer at that point and excited about wrapping my brain around the possibility of contributing- But I know I felt the beauty of it and envisioned myself fitting in the scene as Lola van Ella's work grew (I had done a musical with her before she got into Burlesque so followed her work as she got her stuff going there in St Louis... And also knew Katie and Michelle from Gravity Plays Favorites) If I had stayed in St Louis, I likely would be performing there - She actually was the one who noted to me first she thought it would serve me well to be a part of the scene and perform and had a lot of kudos to give me in that regard.
Cheeky Lane
A list of which classes you have taken: The Essential Burlesque Dance Series, Ballet With Miss Dirty Martini, Flirting with Burlesque, Music and Choreography with Jezebel, and a pin-up workshop with Dale Rio.
A list of any performance/burlesque experience: My only experience with both performance and burlesque is stage kittening for Gal Friday's Fistful of Pasties at Coney Island and Calamity Chang's Drunken Dragon Nights at Macao's.
What inspired you to become interested in burlesque: The week before I signed up for my very first class, I was really depressed. As in, couldn't get out of bed and couldn't stop cyring in public depressed. I was so miserable from being miserable, that I had to stop and ask myself, "okay, what will make you feel better?" And this sounds so cheese, but my genuine answer was "to dance." Someone had mentioned taking burlesque classes a long long time ago, so I think at some strange hour of the night I started researching on the web burlesque dance classes in NYC. I found the NYSB, signed up for the immediate next class (I think it was Ballet with Dirty Martini and Flirting with Burlesque), and I've been fine ever since!
Franny Fluffer
A list of which classes you have taken: Classic Moves & Dr. Lucky's Act Development.
A list of any performance experience: singing, dancing, improv comedy
A list of any burlesque experience: I have done shows at Nurse Bettie, Kitty Nights, Hard Candy, Left Hip Burlesque, Drive Thru as well as go-go at The Slipper Room, Shaken & Stirred & many other places.
What inspired you to become interested in burlesque: It all started with a pasty-making workshop at a female-owned sex shop in Boston and a burlesque troupe that I became involved with there but it really blossomed in NYC where I was inspired by some of the best performers at Corio. Now so much continues to inspire me: music, comedy, dance, music videos, film, Solid Gold, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Dolly Parton, David Bowie, David Lynch, Bettie Page as well as the many talented performers that I have had the luck to see and meet.
Josephine Nudini
NYSB classes taken: Flirting With Burlesque, Jo's Girlboygirl Gender Burlesque Class; Classic Beauty Showgirl.
Experience:
Show performance: Classic Burlesque Showcase and GirlboyGirlboy Showcase- both at The Slipper Room; Luvely Rae's One Night Stand- at Sapphire Lounge; Ixion's Weimar Burlesque- at Sideshows by the Seashore, Jalopy Theatre and Public Assembly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pikFiVojVL4
Inspiration: Drag; playing with gender, challenging viewers' perception of what they believe to be ''beautiful." And I love to dress up & adhere to the rules that 1. You can never have "too much" fringe 2. More (sparkle) is always better!
Kitty Cavalier
A list of which classes you have taken Flirting with Burlesque, Burlesque Ballet with Dirty Martini, World Famous Bob's Self Confidence, Spellbinding Burlesque with Veronica Varlow, Private Lessons with Jo and Jezebel Express
A list of any burlesque experience: Nurse Bettie, Mo Pitkin's, The Blue Owl, Vicar's Vice, The National Hotel, The School of Womanly Arts
What inspired you to become interested in burlesque - What most inspires me about Burlesque that a performer's success is not dependant on costume, dance moves or body type. What makes a performer most irresistable is the amount of fun she is having onstage
Minx Arcana
A list of which classes you have taken: The Essential Burlesque Dance Series
A list of any performance experience: This will be my big burlesque debut! Having danced for most of my life, I have training and performance experience in ballet, jazz, Chinese dance, and modern dance. Most recently, I performed as part of a student showcase for The School of Toronto Dance Theatre's summer intensive program.
A list of any burlesque experience: I have always loved burlesque but have mostly been an observer and audience member. Some of the shows that I have recently attended include Kitty Nights in Vancouver, CripTease (NYC), Sex & Taboo (NYC), and Beatles Burlesque (NYC). I am now taking The Essential Burlesque Dance Series and practicing my moves with The Burlesque Handbook in hand!
What inspired you to become interested in burlesque:
Burlesque involves a combination of so many things that I love and am passionate about - sex-positivity, body empowerment, dance, costume design, performance art, sharp comedy, and a very healthy dose of sass. I have been dying to perform and the combination of all these aspects of burlesque makes me think that it is the perfect art form for expressing myself. I also like to think that earning my Women's Studies degree in a building that formerly housed a brothel and lesbian bar has something to do with it.
Kara Melle
List of which classes taken: Classic Moves of Burlesque
List of any performance experience: None.
List of any burlesque experience: None.
Inspiration to become interested in burlesque: Creativity, feminine expression, confidence in one's own being and empowerment when an entertainer shares this talent amongst their participants/audience!
Performances attended: NY Burlesque Festival; Revealed; Le Scandal; Queens of Burlesque at Le Poisson Rouge; Filthy Gorgeous Burlesque at Two Boots in Bridgeport, CT.
Lola Briuse
Classes: Essential burlesque movement series W/ Jo Boobs, Character development W/ Dr.Lucky.
Performance Experience: Stilt Walker for Sticks and Bones Collective, Fire performer/ribbon dancer for Bread and Puppet Theater.
Burlesque Experience: NYSB Student Showcase, Kitty nights, Geek Girl Burlesque, Inbred Hybrid Collective Book Club Burlesque.
What Inspired me to become interested in Burlesque: The descriptions of the world of burlesque given by Characters such as Henry Miller, Allan Ginsberg and Tom waits; definitely had a huge impact on my life. Places where a woman could be as sensual, outspoken (on the stage specially), rough as she wanted (and not criticized but encouraged); where wine and jazz music inundated the attendees, places where a woman could be a woman or a man and vise-versa. Reading about this places was like reading about heaven, and I really wanted to go to heaven.
Madame D'Lux
Classes taken: Essential burlesque series, Dr Lucky's Beginner and Intermediate Character and Act Development Workshops, Self-Confidence Workshop with World Famous Bob, workshop with Michelle L'Amour.
Burlesque experience: I've performed in two student showcases (Dr. Lucky's Workshops), and I've been a stage kitten in the following shows: Beatles Burlesque, Drunken Dragon Nights, Spreading the Curtains at Coco de Mer (Calamity Chang), and Brian Newman's After Dark at Duane Park. I'll be the stage kitten for Rhinestone Follies in September/October, and I'm performing at Fem Appeal's Kitty Nights October 17.
What inspired me: The first burlesque show I ever saw was a holiday-themed NYSB student showcase at the Slipper Room, and I sat right in the front! Kismet? Maybe. Watching these amazing women bump and grind on stage rubbed off on me in the right way, and all I wanted to do was bottle up all that confidence, creativity, sexiness and glamour and give it a shot, too (And yeah, I kind of have a not-so-secret love of glittery things, too, so that didn't hurt.) Started taking classes and the rest is history.
Added bonus: everyone involved in the burlesque community is amazing and unafraid to be exactly who they are. Special thanks to Calamity Chang, who's been my biggest, sexiest cheerleader-- she is a constant inspiration to me.
Tess Truehart
A list of which classes you have taken: Catherine D’Lish and Jo Boob’s infamous lap dance class! The Classic Burlesque Showcase, Veronica Varlow’s Spell Binding Burlesque, Costuming with Catherine D’Lish, Gal Friday’s Flirting with Burlesque, etc
A list of any burlesque experience: Jo Boob’s Classic Burlesque showcase in March, Ixion’s Weimar Burlesque, and Luvely Rae’s One Night Stand.
What inspired you to become interested in burlesque: I was inspired by strong female performers- Dirty Martini, Little Brooklyn, World Famous Bob, Margaret Cho to name some and the thought that I too, could completely encrust underwear in Swarovski crystals. ;)
