Everyone has a different story of how they got into burlesque, but we are here is a quick and brief way on how you can get into burlesque.
To start of you do not have to go to classes if you do not want to, but I recommend you to do so especially if you have no experience. Before we get into classes first of ask yourself is this something you really would like to do, because reality is costumes can be an expense along with classes and travel to shows and are you prepared and happy to travel around to shows out of your city, also would you feel comfortable performing on stage in front of many people? They are just a very few questions to ask yourself before starting.
Now you don’t have to be a travelling performer, you can just join a local novice class which you attend weekly and simply go to enjoy yourself, but today we are looking at going into the industry itself, ooh exciting! Lets get back to classes, there are many burlesque classes in many different cities and all it takes is a Google or Facebook search. Always look into the classes and the teacher, you want to be taught by someone who helps solo performers, who shows they care about their students progress, who has students that are performers and check they have the right experience and that you like their style.
Do not be afraid to contact the teacher or the school to discuss what you are wanting, this way you will know for sure if they are the class for you and it also helps the teacher to know your goals if you do decide to join them.
There are also workshops all over the UK that you can attend for the day and taught by professional performers and they teach all different skills. Remember to never stop learning because ‘knowledge is power’.
Another great way to learn and to support the industry is to go and watch shows. Enjoy the live entertainment, but at the same time analyse what you are watching and when you get home write some notes and remember to be inspired and not to copy. Not only that producers are always in need of stage kittens (these are the people who set up and clear up the stage) it is also a great way to make connections with producers and other performers.
An extra way to get yourself out there is by creating your own social media account on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, you can also keep up to date with fellow performers and you can start promoting yourself.
When you feel ready to create your solo act don’t feel the need to get it done in one week, spend time on it and don’t rush it as it is not a race and you want to be prepared and confident when performing your first act, to help with that record yourself as often as you can and record yourself from different angles as your audience sit on the left, middle and right of you and don't forget audience engagement.
You can book a session with a teacher to get some feedback and always remember any critique given is to help you.
Costumes can be a big part of acts and you want to feel confident in your costume and today’s costumes have gone up a level since when I started years ago, but a good costume is nothing without a good act, but you can have both. I find drawing or writing out your costume idea with colours helps and start finding relevant websites for your gems, trim and costume pieces, if you can afford to support fellow burlesque costumiers then Etsy is a good place to go to. Do not be afraid to be bold with your ideas as this is burlesque and cabaret after all, to help you there are books on burlesque costumes you can buy and it is the 21st Century you can follow costumiers accounts and hash tags on Instagram for instance #burlesquecostume to get inspiration.
Feel ready to start applying for gigs? Awesome! You will need a good video of your act to apply with and the best way to do this is to hire a studio or even a hall with a stage, many phones come with decent cameras that will be okay for recording, it doesn’t need to be a big expense.
There are many pages on Facebook which you can join to find castings and you can also join agencies. Always read the casting in full to make sure you are suitable for the job and so that you send everything they are asking for, most people ask for your bio, links to your act (YouTube is the best platform) promo photos, fees and some will ask for proof of insurance. I will go into detail about applying for gigs another time, but you can always book in with a teacher who can explain this in greater detail until then.