As a continuation of the Misty Gaze will Amaze – 100 years of Women’s Rights to Vote show from 2015, Marie Vestergård Jacobsen, Kristina Skovby and I continued to meet up and work with burlesque performance development, for this we also developed a PLUMES Blog for Burlesque and thoughts…
… here of mine:
From the 11th of March 2019.
Why BUrlesque?
At what other time do you get the chance to completely enjoy and celebrate your body in public!
My first experience with burlesque was in London doing a course with the London Academy of Burlesque, and a year later I graduated as a Burlesque Performer from the Burlesque Baby Academy also in London.
Right there in my first class, in my first encounter with performing burlesque, we were 16 women of all sizes, ages, colors, and characters. Even those who came in with a head scarf, put it away, in this intimate safe space. Us women, we danced in front of the big revealing mirror and learned how to turn and twirl, also the tassels, and it was so utterly impossible not to laugh out loud, giggle and have a party with it, while learning these new movements in the body, and admiring the other women in the mirror and in the room doing the same. Never have I felt so free and fortunate, and the feeling of ‘high’ lasted for several days after – and it still does, every time I do burlesque. There is so much cheek and humor in burlesque! Right under the skin, it makes one radiate immensely, automatically.
Burlesque is a performance art for the crowd, it is historically for the hard-working classes, those who dances and performs burlesque to survive. It’s all from a little too vulgar, to an aesthetically beautiful and moving experience to see and engage in.
Besides that it is the world’s best physical training, how cool is it to train in high heels, with feather boa covered in plumes, and in a small negligee. And how lucky can you be to dance and move to the most amazing and engaging music.
Burlesque digs into the parts of the woman’s body, mind, history and the emotional inhibitions, embarrassment, errors and appreciation. Burlesque works with the body at the very best, as an artist works with his or her model. Yet the burlesque performer is both model and artist at the same time and can, just like the visual artist, put her very personal, private, aesthetic vision and expression on her performances. It is a way of expressing one’s inner thoughts, feelings, weaknesses in a straight, glamourous and inviting way. Come into my private sphere and experience me as an individual artist in our theater-burlesque community.
