2013 review time bitches!!!!!!!!!

So this last year has been an interesting one for me. I spent the beginning of it traveling back and forth from Vegas to San Diego being a major geek. I also struggled with trying to figure out my marriage and it's few struggles, which I think I figured out finally. Then came my burlesque Mama and her lovely smiling face that convinced me that taking the intensive would be right for me. When starting the classes I was struggling with my fat and had a decreased value of my personal value. I also met some of the most beautiful faces I now call friends.  I'd have to say that with all the personal struggles I might have had this last year was a good one.

I've never looked at a year through pros and cons before so here we go

PROS
1. Another year with my adorable lil boo
2. My man and I are still strong
3. BURLESQUE MOTHER FUCKERS!!!!!!!
4. I now have female friends
5. I have gained an awesome and wise support group
6. This has been the year of family for me and I am so grateful to still have my mom as a big supporter
7. I gained my self esteem back
8. I stood up for myself when in the past I would never have done it
9. I learned I may get my BFF back within a short driving distance again


CONS
1. It was the year of fighting between me and hubs, passionately that always lead to weeks of exhaustion
2. I lost a friend
3. I have eaten so much good food I've gained more weight then I would have liked....well I'm not sure if this is a pro or con.

So 2014 is going to be the year of focus on my performance ability, making sure I balance my home and drag life a little better, learn to fucking sew, spend more time with my mom, and it needs to be the year of making shit happen!!!!!!

Song update!!!!!!

So pretend you are listening to bad horn music coming from me.

I heard back from one of the girls I sent a message to over a song I want to use!!!!!!! Yay being polite is not a lost cause. At first I was thinking that I would only tell you from my own words how it went down. But Now i have going to give you the conversation instead cause I was way too happy to see her answer. Now I won't give you what I said because you would know what the surprise number is to be and until I am ready to reveal it not even you lovelies can know about it.

"Thank you for asking. Too many times people just take a song or an idea without even looking into who else might already be working with it. Feel free and if you record it I would love to see it! My act was from the perspective of the girl in the well so it sounds like a whole new approach.

Good luck!"

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....this was so fucking exciting to see pop up in my Facebook message box. This shows you all that if you spend a little time researching you can make sure you aren't "stealing" and gain a little respect from reaching out as well. Woo Fucking Hoo!!!!!!

Doing the troupe thing!!!!!

So I know I have only been in the scene for a short period of time but I have started working on a troupe number with a friend of mine. She is a newer friend since I just got to work with her for the first time back in October and since then we have hit it off big time. She is a great person to chit chat with and has wise words for me from time to time when I need them as well. The same number I worked on with her a few months ago we decided to try and make a larger number out of, add an extra minute, and then apply to BHOF weekend 2014. If you don't have a clue what this is it is the benefit weekend to support the BOHF(Burlesque Hall of Fame) Museum. They hold the biggest competition ever and holds Miss Exotic World the longest running burlesque solo performer competition. So if they get enough group numbers into the competition night then you get to actually compete. My friends number is awesome and we ended up tweaking it together in the end. So I said why not we should do this and we began the process.

So as noobs to the world of getting a group number into a competition we are taking this very seriously. We held an audition to fill some of the spots we had. Set our rehearsals for weekly 2 hours and take no excuses, unless you are sick of course. We even made everyone sign contracts so we saw that people were serious about being a part of this vision we have. Now we have 7 girls and an alternate who have been taught the entire number and we are prepping for costumes, photos and soon a video.  This shit is no fucking joke peeps!

The BHOF competition is no joke either, It is held here in Sin City every year and has been for over a decade now. What I find weird is that not a lot of Vegas performers have gotten into the competition. So finding out what to do was a solo thing I did and decided that we were to be determined to get in this year. We started three weeks ago and have to have our video in by the 27th of January along with videos...HOLY SHIT!!!!! I am not gonna lie this is the biggest thing I have ever tried to be a part of and I am super fucking excited. I am not gonna lie I am a little bit scared a swell.

The one major thing that makes me the happiest is that We ended up wit ha great group of ladies. The one major thing I wanted to see done was several body types being represented so we had a great spectrum of people on stage. It doesn't hurt that all of these ladies are super positive and make our early mornings good ones, even if some of us have hangovers from the burly night before.  They have all help me grow a little in this short time we have been together so far. I am looking forward to growing with all of them and learning some more.

I feel very privileged to be a part of this group and the vision we have going.

Current struggles

So I have been seeing a few struggles pop for me recently. Let me just start with that I am a super social person. I talk A LOT. This is something that I have done my entire life, no joke I got marked for on all my reports cards. I like people in general and judge people based off of my personal experience with them. that being said I have recently come into recent situations where I feel that some people are disliking me at the moment due to personal thoughts of me thinking that I am "better" then others now that I know a lot of my community and talk to almost everyone and help out a lot of people. I also heard things like not showing humility. I hate that anyone out there could think that I am not humble in the new life that I am leading as a performer. Personally I am always trying to show humility by trying to help anyone I can and supporting as many people as I can as well. I have been told in the past that I acted like the mom of the group always there to lend a hand and cheering everyone on as they move forward in their own performing and it is true. This is something that I will never stop doing for others. If any of my local "sisters/ brothers" needed something from me I would be there to assist them in a heart beat. I may do things in a weird way and show my love and support by grabbing all the boobies I can, but I am there smiling and screaming for them to succeed.

So when I start to think that others feel like I am not who I know I am it hurts me. To the point that it is the only thing I can think about. This is where I hear the words of another mentor i have "I don't want people to hate me."  In the world we live in it is inevitable for people to have people disliking you for one reason or another. I have had people I felt closest too so far make me want to cry for a week and had to give up friendships as well since i have begun. It isn't easy and it never will be. Feeling the dislike of people without them coming up to me and asking me what is up kills. And right now I can't say that I am not doing the same thing with this situation. I have yet to go to the horse and here it from them an instead listen to the words of those around me telling me I can't avoid the anger of others no matter how hard I try and sitting in front of my key pad typing away as well.

I will also say in all of this I am not perfect in anyway possible, but I try to show others that I am a caring person by being there and helping whenever I can. It sucks though when a person I thought was kind of a friend thinks badly of me.

This brings up another situation I am starting to see with others as well. The constant shit talking!!!! Women are notorious for it and it kills me. My "Mama" talks to me in my head when either I choose to voice a frustration to another or get stuck hearing negative talk from others about many people I personally like. Usually though I point out that I personally like them and that shuts them up pretty quickly, but every once and a while it is like they want me to know all that bad they think about this person anyway. So my "mama" has always said that it is better to sit on the out skirts and be an out cast per say then to get mixed up in it all and cause myself more stress and I don't need to be another negative person. In the end those people are the ones no one wants to work with.

She is right though if you are up beat and you keep to being positive then it always makes you the person that people want to work with. Staying positive is the way I need to stay and let the negative roll off my back. I also have to remind myself that I am a good person but I can't make everyone happy with who I am. Those who see the real me though will know me and appreciate that I am there for them when they need it.

This is the world of a mainly female dominated community. Little spats that always have to be worked out. Doesn't mean that everyone is bad cause everyone has good in them and show it in one way or another.

Glitter on!!!!

Where to fucking start???

Okay so lately I have noticed that I have been all shades of fucking serious on this blog. Well today I would like to share with you stupid shit about my own personal burly shit.

I have one fucking number!!!! That's it just one and I am hating that I only have the one. I have many ideas sprouting up in this pretty little head of mine and I am trying to figure out what to go with first. How is a girl supposed to come up with a new act when she can't even focus on one damn song?? this is my current dilemma and it sucks donkey balls that are huge. Now this problem isn't here because I haven't found inspiration that is one thing that I have plenty of. The issue is what song and costume to begin with.

 The other thing that is a problem is that I do not find myself in any way one of the sexy girls in Vegas burlesque. I don't feel sexy and I sure as hell do not make sexy good faces. No I can't even look serious without looking like I might kill a person, I blame being half Mexican and native at that. All I know how to do is smile my shit eating grin and get down with my bad self. Fuck!!!! How these sexy ass bitches do it here I still have not found a way to master yet, I am only a padawan in this department and my Jedi master is still struggling to get this girl to feel confident in her sexy faces. So I get on stage and  groove and it turns out great but being sexy just looks silly for me. All of this being said I don't feel okay being sexy on stage but I love being goofy and naked.

Figuring out what song to start with first is so freaking hard. I have wiwddled it down to three songs and now I just need to start with one. But which freaking song???? I have one that is kind of creepy, another that is a sweet ass parody, and the last one that is just plain sexy. I have costumes in my head for two of the three. So it still leaves me with which fucking one?!?!?!?!

Sometimes life is hard as a burlesques ;)

Time to get cracking so I can figure this shit out.

Remembering your beginnings

So recently I had a friend over for our monthly I do laundry while she catches me up on her life. This is probably one of my favorite times to have because she is a no shit taker animated story teller. She was one of the people I met at the beginning of this crazy fun life I am living now. Of course we always start out by saying we have an hour or two of time to spend gabbing, but it never fails that we spend like six hours talking about everything under the sun. After catching up on normal life we began talking about our burlesque experiences and how some peoples attitudes change very quickly.

Now we are still a growing community that is going through growing pains since burlesque is just now getting stronger and stronger. Now the one thing my girlfriend is starting to see is that some people we now know have changed from the simple beginner performer into a person who believes they are now at a higher level than us because they have been performing now in a few shows. Even those who have been performing for a year seem to think that it's beneath them to hang with us noobs. 

Since I have started I have gotten to know a lot of people in the community, but still love the fresh blood that joins our growing group. I'm not saying this to sound better or worse I'm just a gabber and a supporter of all who love this art form. My friend was saying how people need to remember their beginnings and stay humble. I agree 100% because staying humble is the key. When you start seeming as if you aren't a part of a family but the ones who deserve to be above everyone else you begin to lose a following I think. I feel if I started acting like I was better than everyone else I would lose the support of those I adore. And in all reality why act this way. I am always told how friendly and open the world community of burlesque is and it should be that way in the smaller local communities as well. This only stays this way if we remember where we started and stay humble. 

I just found it interesting when a friend sits and tells how they are feeling about others in the community. And sometimes you only keep your compass pointing in the right direction by making sure you surround yourself by those who remind you to be humble.

I told you my wheels are always turning...

A way to avoid shitty ass bullshit

So after seeing people I have been around get super mad and almost want to fight about performer's possible steal of others material I have decided to be courteous and respectful to all those in the art form. So people don't want to work as hard as others and for some reason choose to show a lack of respect for fellow performers. It happens everywhere, shit go watch show girls and see how bitchy people can get over some kind of fame. It is inevitable most of the time and you can either choose to do well choreographed dance fighting over, throw drinks, or be a person who helps change the way things are done.

Let me put this out there I am a no body. I have one number and have been in two group numbers. that's it, but I have ambitions and want to do so much more. Since the act of cat fighting is out of the question for me, I'm more of a boob lover, and the fact that I am not in this to steal fame from anyone I wanted to go about doing things differently.

There are two songs that call to me and say be dirty and get naked every time I hear them.  One is the epic song Red Right Hand and the other I won't name because I have a special surprise for when that one is unveiled. But they both make me filled with glee and want to get naked when ever I hear them. So the steps I have taken thus far to ensure that I am not a person going with their heart and being damned for it later.

1. Listened to the songs over and over to ensure that they are truly songs I want to perform to.
2. Got on good ol' Google and researched the songs with the word burlesque attached to them.
3. Found others who performed to the same song.
4. Got on YouTube to see if what I had in mind was anything like theirs. Luckily for me my ideas are very different.
5. Went a looking for these lovelies on the Facebook.
6. Friend requested or like their pages
7. Sent them personal messages asking them their thoughts about me using a song they have performed to. One of these lovely ladies actually one in a BHOF competition once so I would not like to get cut over a fan of hers being angry at me over it.

This took me a whole 30 minutes of time to do. I haven't heard anything back yet but really people this shouldn't be that hard for anyone else to do. Why ride the feather tails of another burlesques performer when we all have our own talent to showcase. I have seen some crazy shit over the last several months and not a single person has a reason to want to steal something from another.

I may be a mama who bitches, curses, drinks, and is a booby molester but I was raised with some kind of manners that I haven't thrown to the wind.

When I hear from these lovely women I'll let everyone know what they say. Let's hope my point comes through with their responses.

Wheels always turning

It's funny how when looking or seeing or even listening to things is different when you start going down the path of becoming a serious burlesque performer. I see certain materials or outfits and I wonder how those could become something much more than what they are. You see a normal dance performance and you wonder how you could do a strip version of the awesome you just saw. Better yet every single song I hear now becomes some version of me stripping in my head. The other thing that has changed for me is how involved my family life is getting into this. At first it was just me with the support of a few family members, which was big and scary all at the same time. Now I am hoping to make it a family affair where I can't wait for the time I can do a duet with my hubs. And my son isn't a little guy that no one knows. He is everywhere with me and most of the community out here knows who he is and he knows them as well. Along with family there are a rare few who are slowly becoming my family and I fucking love it.

The other thing that I have constant struggles with are do it for the art only or be a professional about it. In our city there aren't a ton of shows with great stages and mind blowing venues. Most of these ladies are pulling the money out of their pockets and not always are they making anything off of what they are doing so we perform where we are welcome. I think I have potential to be a good performer, but I feel as of right now that I am no where near that level. I feel like in a year or so after I have successfully been in more that the Las Vegas Burlesque festival it could be a possibility. I would like to be recognized by other pretty well known performers in this country not just here at home. I have a long way though before I can even think of that. But the thought has crossed my mind, "Do I have what it takes?" is a constant in this little head of mine.


Wheels turning turning turning...

Women

Can I just start with saying that at times I believe I have a small penis hiding somewhere on me because I have never particularly gotten along with most women. my old saying used to be I either hated you or wanted to fuck you and that was all. It isn't the most true saying anymore. Since joining burlesque I have started enjoying the company of women just as friends again. I have found the people who get my sick sense of humor, understand that I will do anything for a person as long as you are there for me, let me grab their boobs all day long and don't take offense. I had started this whole blurb off realizing that I wasn't doing what I wanted to say justice so here I am starting it all over.

I have almost always had dude friends cause women have always just found a way to piss the fuck off. "How can I say this when I am a woman myself "you say? Well I have always tried to make sure that I didn't react in the ways I have seen so many women react in hard situations and I honestly think like a guy in many perspectives. I love beer, I talk dirty all the freaking time, and I don't do what I would consider overly girlie things, not until recently of course. So as you can see me and girls in the past haven't mixed well. It's not that their isn't a single woman in the world that has traits like me I just haven't met many in my life.

When starting burlesque while taking the intensive I spoke about this jokingly and told them that I was happy to announce that I didn't feel either way about the girls I was with, It felt great to know I could actually stand the women I was with weekly and actually want to hang out with them outside of the class as well. These women were similar to me but way more girlie. It was nice being surrounded by women who got my humor, saw my genuine side and didn't take advantage of it, and luckily for me let me grab their boobs all day long. 

Since class I have found more women who take things as seriously as I do when it comes to getting shit done and I enjoy talking to outside of burlesque. It's nice to see that I still have a fighting chance to be surrounded by women and feel at home in their presence. I know this may be weird for many to hear but it's true in the past women weirded me out though I never had problems conversing with them in a group setting. So yay for finding chics who I dig in a nonsexual sexual way ;)

Just the random shit that goes through my head

Crazy week try just fucking crazy!!!!

Life isn't getting slower it is speeding up though I have been trying to slow it down. It is a hard balance to try and keep and right now I am failing at keeping that balance without falling into a huge batch of glitter and dying in it.

So things that are making it hard for me to keep the balance
1. Keeping up with my beautiful home, no lie my house is huge (I hate even saying this) so taking care of it on my own isn't easy.
2. Two toddler boys who insist in trying to climb out the damn dog door like prisoners.
3. Wanting to see every damn show there is monthly in this town
4. Rehearsing to be an awesome tubby reindeer.
5. Starting rehearsals for a group can can number \
6. Keeping up with a blog I love writing on.
7. Being a loving and supporting partner to Mr. Badcock.
8. Remembering myself at the end of the day.
9. Next years festival
10. A new number for myself

All these things I love doing and being a part of. I just tend to run into one direction leaving all else behind and creating mad chaos for all around me. this sort of behavior is a hard one to manage and I really need to try and figure this damn shit out. So for now I have stopped going to every show there is though I feel like I am missing out on all the fun no matter what. My reindeer gig is almost to its performance so after that it is in the past. Can Can isn't too hard since we are very organized with dealing with it, for now. My kids may just end up in Velcro suits at some point and on a Velcro wall I will gladly put up in my house myself, Just kidding for those who feel the need to call CPS. And as for the me and Mr. Badcock we are trying to figure out how to make it all work and not have me downing a bottle of wine a night, that shit could be going toward costume shit and more eyelashes damn it!!

So here I am trying to show the world what it is like to be a mom who likes taking her clothes off. Hah in this town it isn't that big of a deal but I am sure everywhere else being a performer who likes to get naked and still be a good mom is probably just a crock of shit, but guess what here I am bitches.

So life is hell on wheels and my chaos is brought on by yours truly who just loves being crazy all the time. And I think I want to write more about that on this blog. Being a mom during the day and a glittery doused vixen at night!!! It could be a good super hero for a comic strip, just sayin.

Anyway, I haven't forgotten about this wonderful blog and will try and write more about the crazy glittery life I lead more often.

Las Vegas Burlesque Festival and my experince

Hey look it is a post I meant to post weeks ago....sorry everyone have fun reading.


Let me just say that it was a great weekend and the performers were fantastic every last one of them. This whole post is about my personal experience. I was not only a performer but a volunteer and I was on the "A-Team". 

I learned the hard way that it wasn't the best thing for me to be doing so much that weekend. I performed on the second night which was on the Plaza Stage in their showroom. That my friends was such a treat. The stage makes you feel like a start even if you are a noob like me. It isn't a huge stage, but for me honestly I was so damn happy for it. I have stumpy legs and hauling ass on stage would have looked ridiculous for me. I also had my mom, Mr.Badcock, and my Amazon there to support me. Along with all the other fabulous friends I have in the Vegas community. The dressing rooms were small but it just meant closer to all the lovely ladies and the one gent we had in my room. OH!!!!! I forgot to say I was in the same room with Red Snapper and Mr. Snapper along with Lili VonSchtupp!!! these are people I look up to. They have been doing this for a long time and handle them selves so well all the freaking time. I did get great advice from Lili about introductions and what the first impression is of my name and what someone might be expecting. I introduced myself to Red Snapper and pointed out that I was the girl who posted on her blog and thanked her in person.  Can I just say with the amount of fabulous people that were there I only spoke to like 15 of them. What the Hell is wrong with me????? So many great women that I could be listening to and learning from and I stood around like a dope. Oh well lesson learned on that one don't be shy jump in and talk.

As a Volunteer I did a lot people!! Well I was supposed to do a lot. I housed a great performer Holly Dai from Portland Oregon. She in my opinion is like the Cha Cha Velour of Portland she was there performing before there was really a community and started the classes and everything. She was the sweetest person and taught me a few things while she was here too. I had her for four days and by the end it felt like she lived here :) I also drove people from place to place during the weekend also. I was able to get us beverages for the brunch so I dropped those off as well after the show Friday night around 2:30 am, I was super tired.  I was supposed to be a procession person and drive more people to the bazaar on Sunday, but I had a bunch of personal emotional things pop up during the weekend that caused me not to do the last two. As for all of the volunteering I did I shouldn't have taken on so much because I was also doing all of this while trying to figure out my toddler boys at the same time. I got way over stressed and acted like a douche to those that I am closest too. My husband was the worst one to get it and I shouldn't have done that to him :(  Luckily he didn't give up on me during the whole thing. So my lesson learned from this whole part is to not allow myself to take on so much because I don't handle myself very well.

Being a part of the "A-team" has been such a learning experience into what happens in the background at an event like this. I will never look at them the same way again. People don't know how much work goes into these types of events until they get to be a part of one. I have mad respect for any of the people who put on a burlesque festival cause this shit ain't easy!!

Now as for my opinions about a few things that happened during the weekend.

1. Negativity is seen by everyone. If you tromp around like the world is kicking you everyone notices and that shit spreads fast!!
2. Most people do not have original acts. It was something I was told during my class right off the bat and it is in Joe Boobs book. Someone somewhere has done something just like you are doing. So with that being said calm down about it. You are probably not the only one with that idea. Just be respectful about it and put it out there so no one can get cranky. Also if you are the person getting upset it is never okay to bash and be rude about it. Also don't think about going to the performer and "confronting" them when you are angry you never show a person what you mean.
3. One thing all people need to remember when in Vegas smoke is everywhere!!!! You will never get away from it so please don't get upset that it is in a venue where smoking happens. We are sin city so that isn't ever going anywhere.
4. Have fun for gods sakes this is a great event to just hang out meet new people and learn. No need to be mean in any way.

Too Hot To Handle

So at the end of every moth there is an awesome show called Live Burlesque in Las Vegas. It's held in a small venue inside a bar called Boomers. I have gone to many of the shows and have had a blast every time I have been in the audience. Well I was lucky enough to perform in the September show Too Hot To Handle.

I was told by a friend that it was going to be amazing on the stage due to the energy in the room. Let me just say how right that person was. Just think you are in a room filled with burlesque enthusiasts. These people need no lesson on etiquette at all, I should know I am usually sitting out their with them.  The people in the audience played back with me as I performed and I I got tot grace the stage with some awesome performers.

So here are the great photos that were taken of me. The photographer is MHA photography. She does a ton of the events in the community so go onto facebook and check her out!!

Working on a festival

So this year marks the first ever Las Vegas Burlesque Festival. Yes our city hosts BHOF (Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend) but our festival isn't anywhere near like BHOF is. And because of this we also didn't want to be in competition with this amazing weekend either. Honestly all of us want to be there so why would we want to start a burly rumble with them. Since this is the festivals first year they needed a lot of help getting things done. Honestly when they were first starting I had no idea how I could help so I didn't initially volunteer, but thanks to my dear friend Kiki, we make lots of trouble together, I became part of the festival just two months ago.

What goes into a festival is crazy!!!!! I had no idea how much work it was going to be and didn't care either, because I was able to help. I became a sponsorship person for the festival since they needed the help and I am a helper. Now only being two months away from the festival this job is harder than I think it would have been if I had started a few months back, but I have done everything in my power to gain us assistance in any way I could. I was able to get us some assistance, but not as much as I think I can next year.

Now all the crazy that goes into a festival is bonkers. Luckily for us we have a fearless leader she has a vision and wanted to stop at nothing to make it a reality. And so far we are making it a great reality. We have three days for performances, which I am in one of those nights, starting at our local place the Boom Boom room inside Boomers bar and than we head downtown to The Plaza showroom for the other two nights. We have performers coming from all over the place including other countries. To be a part of it all three nights is ridiculously exciting. We even have a day where we are having a party at Du Barry's store. Now if you don't know Du Barry's you should damn it!!! Du Barry's has great dresses and jewelry. I bought a dress from their after seeing all the fabulousness at BHOF the one night I went. Their dresses aren't for the normal crowd. I am talking beads galore and jewelry that would make your glammed out grandma proud. AHHHHH...I love this place. Anyways, we are even having a bazaar that Sunday and Thursday night where you will see tons of amazing glittery things to purchase. How exciting is this gonna be!?!?!?!?

So I got a little side tracked with explaining the hard parts behind the scenes. Can I just say Money! Money is always the huge factor with all of this. We have gained a few thousand from our generous donations that our community here in Las Vegas. But we have had to deal with absorbing most of the upfront cost, which is something I am hoping to solve next year. A lot of our money comes from tickets sales, and we are doing amazing with those!!!!! I am hoping we have a packed house the whole weekend showing everyone that locals are loved too. Now many other festivals hold competitions and we made the choice not to do that, but to just celebrate the amazing art that we bring. Housing performers and getting them around is a whole other thing as well. I am looking forward to being a tittie taxi that weekend (I'm even painting my car for it) so that many of the ladies and gents that will be at the hotel will have rides to the other events that we have going on. We are even offering a brunch to the performers. That was a whole other thing that had minor complications to it, but we solved those as well. It's crazy how much work gets put into all of this before it even happens.

Then end product I honestly can't wait to share with all of you after it's over. The people I have gotten involved with are allowing me to really see what this community is all about. It's amazing to see that so many will band together for a weekend of good times for all. I'm so freaking excited for this event to fucking happen I might pee a little when I wake up next Thursday morning knowing that it is the beginning for the weekend.

Negative opinions

Now I will state this if you think differently than I do that is fine. We all have the right to our opinion, but lately I have been reading articles about how degrading burlesque performing is to women and that we are still kneeling to a patriarchal society. But take a moment and think about what legends have done and during the time they did it. They worked their asses off and most of them had children to care for as well. They did what needed to be done and beyond that as well. They showed women that it didn't matter what we did, because whatever it was we could prove to the world that we will do it our own way. They have given many women the strength to stand up and say we love ourselves. If you think about it a patriarchal society is not about us loving ourselves and being happy in our own skin. It is about loving what a man thinks and what he says is okay.  Granted I am glad my hubs likes his chubby bunny it's an added bonus ;)

But if you sat with any of the women and men who perform now our stories start off very similar. We didn't love ourselves when starting our classes for one reason or another. Either it was physical appearance or emotional turmoil something that kept us from loving ourselves was happening. Now through our own journeys we began to see ourselves in a different light. We started looking in the mirror when we were naked and saying hey this isn't so bad. For me personally I had had a baby boy who left his journey across my lower body and that can't be changed. I love my son to the point of pissing him off when I ask him for a kiss because I do it so often. But it didn't leave my self esteem in tact. I cried thinking my husband didn't find me attractive anymore and the fact was I didn't find myself attractive at the time.

Burlesque was an eye opener for me. It reminded me that I should love me I earned every mark I have. Some showed me that I could over come my own demons, others reminded me that I was given a miracle, and the rest reminded that I gained them through truly finding happiness in my life. So why not be ecstatic about finding an art form that allows me to do two things I love, dance and being naked. Yes I love being naked...I get made fun of for it all the time by my hubs. I grew up dancing in a world where I was too big and short, which caused me to have years of eating disorders and many suicidal moments thinking I was never going to be good enough. Now I get to dance and have fun doing it in my own skin that I earned.

So when bashing us performers for the art we bring to the stage I will say this...Kiss my fucking ass and all the other naked asses you have seen. If you hate this art form and laugh at me for calling it that DO NOT go to a show. Stop allowing your friends to drag you to shows and shut your damn mouth already. Also remember you are the reasons many of us got into this art in the first place. We were constantly told we weren't worthy of what we were doing just like you are trying to say. You know what our responses have been slapping glitter on us and twirling our pasties to our hearts content. We love the skin we are in now and laugh at people putting us down.

Burlesque is our courage and our way of telling the world we are finally happy.

Legends

So being in Vegas those of us in the community are surrounded by many women who started this art form and many who were and are chums with them. Now for me I find them intimidating. So far though none of them have been nothing but nice to me when I do speak to them. So far I have met Tiffany Carter, Tempest Storm (whom I love), Dusty Summers, and I was lucky enough to perform on the same stage with Gypsie Luise this past weekend.

After performing with Gypsie I told her how great she was and what an honor it was to share the stage with her. She gave me a hug!! Really I was not expecting that at all. Seeing these great women on stage still shaking their shit like no tomorrow makes me proud to be a part of it all.

None of these women came from easy lives and for any of us who now do this as a full time hobby have nothing in comparison to these ladies and their lives. If you don't know who some of these ladies are you should look them up. I am personally waiting for Dusty's book to come out and for the documentary to be done on Tempest Storm. These ladies paved the way in my opinion for women's liberation and a path for women to love them selves again.

I know it's short but I wanted to put it out there anyway.

glittery kisses to you all.

Figuring Festivals out

I just want to start out with... this is the third time I am trying this out cause my pad crapped out on me in the middle of me writing it and it didn't save :(

So over a month ago I decided to apply for my first festival. Let me tell you these applications are no freaking joke peeps. When I filled it out I had no idea what I was having to fill out. At first glance I started freaking out, but decided why the hell not and did the best I could. I went for one close to home since I didn't want to try for something across the country. So I applied for the Hollywood Burlesque Festival. If you are anywhere near them go to their event I keep seeing those who re getting in, including a few Vegas peeps as well.

As a new performer I was not ready for all the items they were asking for, but did as good as I could for the moment. Now let me say that when I filled out the application I knew as I was going through it that I wasn't going to get in. I knew this because one I had performed my number at that point twice and as I learned quickly I didn't have most of what they needed.

So now that everything is all said let me point out items for all you burlesquers who may want to apply for a festival and have no clue what the hell is going on.

Research festivals and what they are about before ever thinking of applying for one. Know the dates and don't stress if it doesn't work out in your favor. There are festivals going on all over the place just smile and try again. Getting denied to a festival isn't the end of the world it just means work harder and try again.

All righty all the things to realize before applying for a festival. I apologize now if I forget anything.

• First there is a fee. Nothing big just enough to cover whatever they need to cover in the process.
• If you enter a festival DO NOT go into it thinking about money. This is a way for you to get your name out there and meet new faces. In my humble opinion unless you're so well known around the world and have done this for many many years you should be doing this for the art not the cash.
• Give them at least a month to get back to you about your application. This isn't an easy process and sometimes they end up with a shit ton of applicants, that's a lot of videos to go through.
• The video you send in should be professionally done. Make sure you have a video that has good sound, good lighting, and doesn't miss any of your number. I sent the only video I had at the time and the lighting wasn't good and there was a section of my number that you couldn't see. So it is better to have a good video than an ok one.
• Get professional photos taken. If you are as lucky as we are in our community in Vegas you should know a ton of photographers who are willing to help a sister/brother out and give you a discount. We all know that we aren't swimming in cash so anyone willing to assist deserves a big kiss for doing so. Also your photos for festivals are used for programs, social media, and anything else they may need for the festival.
• Do your social media. I've known plenty of people who are hesitant when it comes to this part. None of us want to deal with weirdo's and some are fearful for their jobs. You would be surprised how helpful this is to have. Festivals want to have the ability to promote you so having a social media site assists with that. It also allows for them to check you out and see what kind of performer you are. This means, a word to the wise, don't post emotional crap online and don't start fights with other performers through social media it is petty and childish. This also means once you have yourself established and feel that you want to take your performance to the next level think about putting together a website. This way you can link your music to your site and all your videos, accomplishments, and photos as well. DO NOT put shitty videos from someones phone on your site it doesn't look good at all.
• Know what type of performance you are giving. I know this may sound weird, but it is something to think about. Is it a classic burlesque number, Neo-burlesque, shimmy and shakes, bumps and grinds? You will need to give a quick description of what your number is. Honestly I had no idea what mine was until I was forced  to think about it.
• Know the difference between a bio and an introduction. I am now learning this due to getting into another festival that is coming up. I ended up getting help from a mentor of mine. Bios are what are read in the programs and websites. They can be a bit personal if you want. An intro is what the Emcee says before you go on. No one wants to hear the 100 things that you will be doing or your life story. So be creative about this and have fun. I may have to post the info a friend wrote about dealing with all this in the near future. She is a wise woman.
• Tag lines!!! This isn't a necessary thing to have but can be fun. Research other performers and like you should have done with your name make sure you aren't mimicking another performers tag line. It's all about respect for everyone remember that. My tag line is the "Naughty Nerd of Burlesque." This gives people many things to think about like "are we getting to see the stereotype nerd number?" " what kind of nerd are we talking about?" Now for me it's all about the fact that I am a huge geek (nerd rhymed) so I love this culture and it is my life outside of burlesque so why not.
• And again remember it isn't the end of your life if you don't get in. You are good enough and as long as you are still loving what you are doing don't give up.
• http://snapperburlesque.blogspot.com/2013/09/what-i-learned-being-festival.html If you want to know even more you should read this blog post and you will be educated far more than what I just put out. :)

Yay hope you enjoyed it!!!!

Feeling like a teenage dancer all over again

So many may not know I grew up dancing. I was classically trained in ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, and modern. I also did hip hop, belly dance, and a little of Irish step dancing. In my early 20's I competed in Scottish highland dance as well. 

Holy fuck that's a lot to tell. I never go into how much dance background I actually have with any performer because it makes me feel like I'm showing off. In reality I am far from that girl anymore. I rebelled in my late twenties and started tattooing myself instead. Where I came from I was the stocky short girl who never had the body type that was needed to be picked in an audition. So to say the least auditioning for anything makes me incredibly nervous. Now coming from my background I tend to get very serious in auditions, size up the competition and begin telling myself how I'm gonna fail. Yes my self confidence is in the hole I know.

Now to the real story.

A few weeks back I saw a post on the main group page for burlesque in Vegas about an audition for 4 performers to be reindeer in an Xmas show. First glance I got excited, than I began thinking so I was not about it, than a friend said she was going so I decided to do it as well. Being new I still doubt my abilities from time to time. Now if you know anything about me when I'm nervous I play with my bangs none stop....I mean I don't stop and by the end they are plastered to my forehead. So here I am in this audition and there is only one performer I am intimidated by so I focus hard on what im doing. 

The choreography was fun and the concept the choreographer has is really cute. So I do my best, with a bum ankle as well. And hope that I am one of those cute little reindeer. I did get to audition with some great people though so that part did end up being really fun. Now when I get home I explain to the hubs how if she goes for a look I'm probably not on that list. But if I did get picked and wasn't part of the look I would beg to have a gingerbread cookie in my mouth as we went on. I don't deny I'm a bigger girl I actually love me for once since I've started this journey so why not play on it? 

But low and behold I was not the only big girl picked....I'm actually a little disappointed I can't be the chubby girl eating food while dancing. 

So now I will be a stripping reindeer this December!!!!!

I guess all the dance my mom paid for all those years ago are finally paying off. Lucky for me she is proud she has a stripping daughter. I'll have to post a pic of that little old lady soon.

Journeying through a galaxy of rhinestones baby!!!!

Busy busy busy

Wow....life has taken off recently. Since my showcase I have been performing my one number around my fabulous city. It's been a great ride so far. I even have a concept for another number thanks to Sugar Shagmore. I even was asked to perform a group number for a show inside a major hotel/casino, the Mandalay Bay inside the foundation room. I have met some new people who warm my heart with glittery joy. The latest is I became a part of the first ever Las Vegas Burlesque Festival!!!!!!!

So yes life has been crazy busy for me. I'm loving every minute of it too. Performing has been amazing because I have started sharing a stage with some amazing performers that I am now getting to know. In the mists of it all I was able to be a part of a number that allowed me to now know Sugar and May Blush as well, I love all our drag names. Anyways, because of that performance we are now looking to expand it and try and get it into a festival!!!! Also I auditioned to be a reindeer for an Xmas burlesque show and I got it!!!!! So I will be doing that in December. 

The festival is going great. We have a great venue downtown. The Plaza is an older hotel that screams old Vegas and we have  the privilege of being in their show room for two nights of the festival. The first night is at our usual spot the Boom Boom room at Boomer's Bar. I had the opportunity to perform there for the first time this past weekend and let me say it was amazing. So three nights of great performers taking their clothes off is gonna be amazing!! 

I've only been a part of it for a short period of time, thanks to my girl Kiki, and couldn't be more excited about it. I can't wait until next year so I can do more for the festival. This being our first year doing all of this has been a great learning experience for me to see what really goes into making a production happen. It isn't easy ladies and gents let me tell you now. 

So to say the least today I am cramming out a bunch of posts today to make up for the lack of info I've put up.

Cheers to titties and glitter!!!!

My own personal guilt

Okay I am putting it out there cause it is an emotion I don't live without sometimes. I am the person who wants every person I know to succeed. Especially in burlesque. I love all of my girls and want to see all of us do well. On the other hand too I know I work very hard to gain what I have gained so far as well. And when I have been picked without doing anything first I work twice as hard to make sure that I don't fuck up the opportunity I was given. So in the end I know I deserve what I have been given and the shows I am in.

So back to the guilt. I hate when something has come up for me that others don't get. At times I feel like I should tell people no thank you so that my friends can gain a chance at doing something. I don't want to cheat myself at what I love, but I don't want others to get upset either. I also know that there are plenty of other shows and future festivals that I will not get into as well.

The whole process just makes me sick sometimes. I don't want to be hated and I want their success just as much as my own. I don't ever wish badly on anyone and am their biggest supporters too. In the end it is a feeling I bring upon myself most days.

My advice to others about this. Support everyone and take your own success or failure with strides. Just be proud you are part of a community that is a ton of fun and filled with super sexy people.

Bourbon Bombshells and Burlesque

So on the strip the word Burlesque gets thrown around all the time. And really they don't have any real burlesque in their show. This past Thursday there was a 100% authentic show at the Mandalay Bay in the foundation room. I have never set foot into the location prior to that evening.

So the Foundation room is above the 62nd floor of the hotel. And it faces the strip so the view is amazing. The show was produced by a fellow performer in Vegas named bourbon Rose in conjunction with the private club. the performers were some of the best here in Vegas, including my crush Billy boylesque. I was privileged enough to play a small part in the evening with a few other pretty ladies. We were the preshow entertainment that night. There were four of us dancing for thirty minutes swapping stage time and at the end of our time we did a three person can can number. We rocked it!!!!!!

the show overall was great the atmosphere was really cool, they had themed drinks, yummy appetizers,  and just overall was great.

I spoke to Billy a few times and introduced myself to his husband. They are too cute!

 

Billy is so freaking pretty!!!!!

 

the woman in yellow is Sugar Shagmore and she was the one who came up with the concept and allowed May Blush and I to be a part of this great night.

 

 

Getting shit ready!!!!

So this month I have a few different performances. And let me tell you they are kicking my ass. I got involved in being a dancer for a preshow and there is a choreographed routine that is very close to being traditional can can. Let me say I have been hurting since I learned it. I get the chance this month to do my number twice. Once in Nerdlesque and once in Live Burlesque in Las Vegas!!!! I'm excited for the chance to be in both of these shows. It does mean my ass needs to practice, practice, practice.

Wanting to look good for performances is hard damn work people. I don't want to embarrass myself or make the producers of these shows regret choosing me to be in their shows either. So practice it is!!!

On another note I get to see some of my friends perform this month as well. It's exciting to know that I'm starting to go to shows to see my girls perform or just to hang out with them. It's funny how I wanted to know the lovely performers I saw monthly so bad for so long. And now when I go to a show I talk and hug and squeeze hands with many of those performers now. It makes me so happy to know these women now. At the last show I was at our own Blanche DeBris knew my name!!! I know my name is one that sticks with you but I don't think I have said more then 10 words to her and she knew my name!!!! She is on my A-list of the Vegas community of burlesque personalities. So far me and the A-list people just make me smile like a kid and not know,what to say. Which after saying yes I'm Chastity is exactly what I did with Blanche.

Life is grand in the burlesque world.

Not your normal hobby

Most hobbies are all about the money put out and only the personal satisfaction you gain from it. My husbands is like that in a way. He spends tons of money on it and doesn't really show it off all that much, though he is amazing at it. I'll explain his in a little bit. Now mine is is all about the showing off. The more I am learning the more I realize it's an arts career. Most artists bust their ass showing their artwork and getting some to little return at times, but every once in while you hit the jackpot. You spend a lot of time as an artist creating your work with love and care then showing it hoping it receives good review from peers and audiences. 

So for those who haven't figured it out yet in my house being a geek or nerd are what we are all about. I said I would explain my hubs' hobby. So he plays table top games that involve small to somewhat large miniatures. He gets them unpainted and he has to paint them before he decides to use them in a game. The game he plays is called War Machine. It's beyond the focus I have but he loves it and his painting jobs are ridiculous. So now yah know how big our geek side is.

Being new to the art I'm still hesitant to take big chances and won't fully glam out yet either. 

Burlesque Festivals

Burlesque Festivals are no joke people!!!!!!

Now I know that many producers behind these festivals would not take inexperienced performers into their festivals, but you have to start seeing the sweet words of rejection sometime right? Now I am not saying this as if I think I suck so bad I can't get into a number, but I would rather be prepared for rejection and surprised by acceptance. Also my number now I don't really think is the right number for festivals, but again you have to start somewhere. This is also just my opinion though who knows what I have may be what someone wants I dunno.

So when finding a festival that sounds up your alley or fun be prepared. I had no idea what was to be expected in an application. First there is a fee, I knew that one. Then you have all your personal info, knew that too. They want your video and song as well. These were all the things I knew about. But then they want photos!!!!! Ahhhh shit peeps I have no head shots or photos that really show off my costume. I have the few from my first performance, but my second performance had hardly any. So I was stuck at this point then they want them from a server,and because I am a bit slow on the roll sometimes, when I saw this I was lost. Hello!!!!!!! Website!!!!! OMG I was embarrassed for myself after I figured it out. So here is something else I don't have. As you can see filling this application out wasn't going so well for me. 

I did it all anyway!! What I didn't have I didn't put on the application. So I don't think it's filled out correctly, but I had the courage to do it and that makes me super happy for myself. I have never been the one to take criticism well or rejection so doing this and knowing I will receive a letter by mid September that will probably tell me thank you but no thank you isn't bad but good. I will proudly display my rejection letter to everyone. 

So happy Monday bitches and have a great week!!!

Things I am quickly learning

It's time to check in about the things I am learning now that I am not in the perfect little bubble that was my burlesque class. First though let me apologize for being so damn quiet. I spent this month with family and prepping to go see that family. It was a great trip though , but damn am I glad to be back in my metropolis of sin.

So to think upon the things I am learning. Well one thing is that people truly do like to judge a person before ever getting to know them. Not to say that I haven't found some fantastic people who look at a person as a an individual and get to know their character before making fast judgments. I have found those in this group as well. But sometimes people like to turn their noses up at things they don't understand or think it's something beyond their personal comfort level. This has always irked me since I have always been a person pushing the envelope, even as a small child. I just wish people wouldn't allow their minds to start building negative thoughts without getting to know a person first.

After the classes have ended not seeing all of my dear burly sisters getting into every show they want to is hard for me. I want to see all of us succeed and when one of us doesn't it hurts my heart a little. We were all warned that not everyone is going to get into the same shows or festivals and rejection is part of doing what we do, but it doesn't mean I don't wish them all happy pasty twirling times.

Women will always be women. I say this in the way that I know we can all be catty bitches from time to time. And I have worked in fields that were dominated by women my whole life and it never seems to change. Catty behavior always follows those who have estrogen filled bodies. It's like it is mapped in our DNA or something. To anyone reading this wait until you are in the comfort of your own damn car or home to make fun of a performer or say something that isn't nice. Also keep it between you and the wall. You never know who is around when you say these things and it could get back to the person you are talking about. Now I know how it may look if you are giggling during a performance and someone sees you and you haven't done anything wrong. I have done that and then I have thought "Oh no what if someone thought I was shit talkin?" The one thing to remember in the end is that the opinion of one is not the opinion of many. Always take things with a grain of salt. Especially, because I feel there has been a little shit talking about me out their in this little world. Doesn't matter though I like who I am and those who I have had the privilege of getting to know are great people as well.

Deciding on what you want to do for a new act is fucking hard!!!!! I keep hearing these great songs where I can see myself doing something to, but I don't know which one to start with and what direction I want to go in. I will figure it out soon though...I hope.

I am the mom. Yes in the alternate universe I live in I am an actual mom with two boys, but in this world I am the mom too. I tend to cheer my friends on and help them in any way I can. I will be the cheerleader when needed, the words of wisdom about outside life at times, the more responsible one (mainly that I can't come and go when I like) if someone is in need I will figure out how to make it happen asap. I will help in any way I can in the weirdest of ways sometimes, but my heart always means well. I don't mind being the mom either it is a part I play well and I like it.

The last thing is that I have ambition. I love performing and it makes me freaking happy. I know I will be faced with rejection and cruelty from time to time and I don't mind. In the end all that matters is getting on that stage and having a blast.

As a little shout out I love my Melons and my Kiki. You two girls make my heart sing. This doesn't exclude all you other lovely ladies out there. These two just make things good when I am feeling down.

Dixie Evans

The forever loved Dixie Evans passed away the day of our show and I found out after the show was over when our MC announced her passing. I never knew her, but will be forever grateful that she brought the revival back and it allowed me to find my passion in life again.

The stories I have seen floating through the Internet have been amazing and it shows what a magnificent woman she was while gracing everyone with her presence.

Everyone who knew her or didn't knows she is smiling down with glittery lips, grinding hips, and shimmies for all.

Rest in Peace Dixie Evans

The Past Weekend

Holy crap was this last weekend an amazing weekend. I performed in a show that I wasn't sure I wanted to do at first due to the second half being a roulette. I also got to see those beautiful faces that I have missed since our show case. And of course all the fabulous boobies too!!!!

This was only my second time performing and it felt so good. I was nervous before the show started, but once it did I was loud and proud of the girls I was with. The fear melted away and all I wanted to do was get on stage. How I have become so blessed is beyond me.

For those who may or may not know we all mostly perform in bars. And let me tell you this bar we were at was pretty freaking cool. We had tons of space and good seats for the audience. the producer was very sweet and took care of us girls too. During the first half of the show it was all our own numbers. I got to see a new number by a fellow performer and met a new performer for the first time. It was a great time and we were all rooting for one another.

Now the second half of the show was a whole new twist to what we are used too. You pick a number spin a wheel and they play a song. I pulled a number first and ended up being first, I'm not going to lie I cursed big time on stage. then got a song that I didn't recognize on stage until I heard it start. Luckily for me one of my teachers got there before the second half and sat in front so it helped me remember all of my basics and stick with those. I also had those lovely ladies that I call my friends sitting around the room so it made for great times and tons of smiles. I swear if it weren't for them I don't know what I would have done that night. Truly the Roulette was a high for me.

My hubs even had a group of guys come that he worked with. Luckily I knew them and they were loving the show. One of them even was a prop for one of my girls. He was super cute about it and had great faces. And my Amazon made it before the show started so she didn't miss a thing. I love my family and don't know what I would do without the hubs and Amazon. and my friend Kiki brought her Dad to see his first burlesque show and it was so much fun having him there.

I just want to give a shout out to the ladies of my life Thank you for being loud and crazy that night I would have been very different if it weren't for all of you.

The list of fabulous faces I saw so I don't ever forget the amazing support they gave me.

Kiki Delco and her Daddy
Melons Collie
Viv Vegas and her boyfriend Mr. Vivi
Deviant Dhalia
Ophelia Pearl and Jeffery Xerxes Brice
Lou Lou Roxy and her man Christian
My hubs and Amazon
Missy Miss
Chantana
Lottie Luck
And the crowd of people I have met recently and even a few faces I didn't know.

I honestly don't know what I would do without those ladies.

My last special thanks goes to the MC and the producer. Miranda Glamour and Roxy Rouge. You ladies were amazing and I am grateful for the opportunity you gave me.

SHOW!!!!!!

Wow that last post was so serious. Well here is something that may cheer you up. I am getting kinda naked this weekend!!!!

 

 

Who's Gonna make you a chubby chaser?? I am!!!!!

 

 

Fun times and lets hope I don't end up looking like an ass on stage during the second act.

Getting booked

So after having our big show now we are now left to start promoting our selves in order to start performing. This is a big task for all of us to take on. Self promotion can be a scary thing when you have to start doing it. Figuring out where to start and how to sound professional. Not everyone does it this way, but we have all been taught it is our job to ask never wait to be asked. If you do that it may never come. this includes if we all perform for years. Meaning we shouldn't stand on a pedestal waiting for others to come to us. We may be fabulous, but none of us are the queens we all wish we were, so there are no hand outs.


Now for me I started hanging around the shows, community events, and started talking to those who produced shows. When talking I did it either over Facebook or in person. Starting on Facebook really helped me, because I felt like it was a lot of pressure taken off the initial beginnings. It does leave the gap of them recognizing you in person. So I introduce myself to anyone I have spoken too on Facebook if I see them in person. Many don't remember me the first two or three times, but I introduce myself again and again along with jogging their memories of how we know each other. This my friends has helped me out a lot!!!! The other thing too is I have listened to my friend Kiki when we are out together when she explains to me who is who in the crowd. She helps many people in our community out through her fabulous seamstress skills so I am right there listening when she speaks.

Being round and getting your face out there in the beginning is so important I am now realizing. It was worth the late nights and blabbing I have done at shows. The other thing that helps too is social media!!! I am all over social media stuff now. I look at Facebook daily, I use Twitter, I have this blog, and am getting ready to start a fan page in a few months when I finally have enough shows under my belt.  Having all of these are really helping me see what is out there along with supporting as many other shows as I can.

Emailing professionally either on Facebook or through email are harder then they seem when you are new. We don't know how to start the email with more then five words, but it has to start somewhere right. Oh and having your video. We don't have ours yet, but videos are a great thing to have. If no video being willing to audition in person is the other option. I don't expect anyone to take me into their show if they have no idea who or what my act is about. And I know being let down is part of it as well. I will not be what people want all the time and I will count myself lucky every time I get picked.





Lil off subject but things that will help you...I hope.

More things that have helped me personally are not drinking when at these events. Not that I won't have a few drinks, but not allowing myself to act like an idiot in front of others. I am too good at doing that and no one wants to see my short ass wondering around stumbling and slurring my words. I want to leave a good impression not a bad one. Another thing that sticks in my head from classes, Thanks Cha Cha.
 Attempting to stay out of the drama. Don't get me wrong when and if I actually do hear something I allow myself to be a woman for a few minutes, not gonna lie. But after those minutes are up I remember it doesn't matter if I like them, love them, hear something weird about them, or anything else. They are just like me a human being who makes mistakes, is a bit weird (well in my case a lot weird and proudly), are parents, or just a hot damn mess. So why should I look at them any differently then I would myself. This is a thanks to the lovely Lou Lou.

I swear those two women help me out all the freaking time. Thank goodness for those two sex pots.

The Dixie Evens Poster is out for the Big Vegas show

The Dixie Evens poster is out for the Big Vegas show. I can't wait to go and see all of the amazing performers.

And the best part is this is going to help someone in the community as well.

Dixie Evens Week

This is such an amazing thing our community across the world is doing. When I first heard about it I was unsure what it was really about . But a hunting I went and found out that the woman that most would call, if not all of us, the Godmother of Burlesque needs our assistance. She was the woman who kept it alive when no one knew what it really was. She opened the museum and helped so many when burlesque started making its come back. Now she needs help from all those that can thank her for the revival. Half the shows in Las Vegas are going dark in honor of the fundraising show at the end of August. Across the nation and around the world will be doing fundraising shows to assist in the medical assistance she needs right now.

 It's pretty amazing to see how this community bands together to help the woman who has helped so many of us. We all have our Burlesque mothers, those who have helped us get into the scene as baby burlesquers and helped us learn. But if it weren't for Dixie keeping it alive none of us would have this gift of performance in our lives. So many women would not feel empowered by being the artists many have become and are becoming. She is a hero to so many without ever meeting or talking with any of them.

I will be at the Vegas one on the 31st to support this wonderful woman whom I will never know, but am so grateful for.

You should see if there is a show near you and go as well. I am sure it will be filled with amazing artists who have wonderful performances in store.

http://www.dixieevansweek.com/

Isn't community great!!

Photos!!!!!!

The premiere of Chastity Badcock

Sunday night was the most exhilarating time of my life. I watched my classmates shake theirs asses all over the place and strip like pros.   My throat was sore by the end of the night from all of the screaming I did. 

I had 13 close family and friends show up for this first performance of mine and I could not be luckier to have the support system that I have.  My husband and Amazon were there, my Mommy was too,  9 of the greatest friends I have including my best friend from high school, my sister was there and out of my friends 2 came from San Diego. I heard them all scream their heads off the whole time I was performing. Made me getting naked so much easier knowing those I love and hold so close were supporting me. 

 If you ever think of doing this take the time to make your vision exactly what you want. Meaning put the time to put your costume together right, practice until you think you can't and do more, get to know your song forwards and backwards, listen to your song until you get sick of it and then fall in love with it all over again. Also don't forget to have fun with it and keep a smile on your face. Don't allow yourself to over think it too much cause you have an amazing support group when it comes to Burlesque.

Now as for nine women I performed with and three great mentors. This is going to be long so I will happily say read it bitches!!' They deserve all of what I say here. 

First to our mentors

Cha Cha I've told you before you scared the crap out of me and made a few of us want to pee our pants when enforcing the rules. But I realize now in the end it was never truly you that scared me, but your professionalism. And it is now something I strive for myself daily. You work so hard and really all you want to do is help everyone become the best they can be. I feel so privileged to say I took your class and you gave us girls the ability to believe in our selves. I am forever grateful to you. 

Miss Karla Joy your mentors hip has been so much fun. You have so much to put into our brains and your wit is awesome. You have aided in my confidence. I'm so glad we had a chance to get to know you. And your puppy is so adorable.

Veronica for being so new to the scene you have been such a great help. You are a lot of fun to be around and I love all of your both poppin!!

Now for the nine ladies I had the privilege of getting to know

So I was going to do individual thanks to all of the ladies but I have realized this was much harder then I thought.

So to all you wonderful women who I have spent the last three months with you are so freaking wonderful!!!! Lottie and Melons thanks for being the first girls who accepted my weirdness first and making us the stripping trio. Kiki thanks for making the minimal costume I started with and making it the great costume it is now. And in that process becoming one of my close friends I can be a total wacko with. Chantana you are too sweet girlie and am so glad I get to call you a friend. Missy Miss thanks for being so willing to joke sound with me, I am proudly a dick now :P Classic Bitters thanks for also being a nerd. Geeking out during class with someone who gets it makes life that much sweeter. Deviant Dahlia you have made class a lot of fun with us giving each other shit all the time and you dealt with my waxing too.  Vivi Vegas you have been pretty quiet the whole time but you have always been supportive toward all of us and I can't wait to get to know you more. And let's not forget about Shea Michael thank you mama for reminding me we can always have fun and making my smile every class.

These ladies rocked the house Sunday night and I could not be prouder to say I was part of their group. The numbers were dazzling and the amount if time and effort put into costumes was great!!!

Sky's the limit!!!!!!

 

Beginning to end

So at the beginning of class we were all asked to write down what our definitions were of burlesque. Now because I had been researching prior to class I told myself I had this in the bag. I literally wrote maybe five sentences. Boy was I in for it. Five sentences does not describe what burlesque is to me. But then also I don't know how to explain what it is. So here is where I will try and tell you lovelies what it is and hope it makes sense.

What is burlesque sounds like such an easy question, but really it isn't because it depends on the person. It could be all about the show and for others it could be about the comradery. For me personally it is a mixture of both. And really it was about how it turned my insecurities into something great. Burlesque has also changed from a dancer on stage for me into a performer on stage. There is so much more that a person has to think about and do in order to make what they are envisioning grand on stage. I have also been shown how you can be any kind of person and make your vision look amazing and never have performed a day in your life.

So again what does it mean to me......

Burlesque is this hidden art form that allows me to seductively reveal myself to you. Now this reveal may be my flesh, cheekiness, sexiness, courage, or all of them put together. This all being done on stages with fun, loud, rowdy audiences. This art form allowed me to gain a community that accepts my individual art and assists in making it better.  When it comes to it being an easy art I don't believe it is at all. You have to have dedication to the form and really want it bad enough in order to make it into something amazing. In the end it is worth every hour I have spent listening to the same song over and over, dancing in the random spaces of  my house, and trying hard to stay within a budget and make a great costume. It also comes with the modern twist of personal promotion where I have exhausted myself (and my hubs) by going to as many shows as possible, pushing my personal boundaries by talking to many people I don't know yet (but quickly I do), keeping up with social media, and personally learning not to put my foot in my mouth.  I have become a person who hears music differently again, looks at common things like fans and begins wondering how they can be used in a number, and in the end I have gained some great female friends that I can be me around.

Recently one of the girls posted an article where it spoke about the top five regrets of those who are dying. I now feel like I will not have major regrets in my life. Finding this "professional hobby"  has finally allowed me to do something that makes me happy (well and my hubs since he is the money maker), I feel like I am really living my life now, I have friends that I would really like to keep in my life ( along with the ones I have kept over the years), and to top it off I have this ridiculous support system at home within my family.

Burlesque and Social Media

Who would have known how much social media would play in this new venture of mine. If you aren't a savvy person with internet and social media start learning now!!

It was a requirement in our class to create a social media page of some sorts. I had started the blog and then went on Facebook and made a page there as well. Then when realizing I could probably do more to help myself get out there I started a twitter page as well. I know many who have instagram, fan pages, and websites too. One day I will probably make a website when I actually have content to put up, but for now I think this is enough for little old me.

The hardest thing I realize about social media is that you get weirdos wanting to be your friends and trying so hard to creep you out. Luckily I have personally only been creeped out once. And hopefully I will be lucky enough to only have that one incident. But for many of my other burlesque friends and colleagues they have many incidents where people they don't know try hard to gain information of photos that are unacceptable. It's hard to figure out who is okay to have on our pages and  who is a horrible idea until they are there already.

For those of us who are new we are at the beginnings of our careers so we are trying to build our following. We would like it to be filled with those who love the art we bring to the stage and  those who are also part of the art through mcing, performance, variety acts and so on. But it seems you get a lot of those peeps who just like to creep up on half naked ladies. It makes me wonder if any of the boylesque dancers ever have similar problems on their pages as well. Well I know I am a bit of a stalker with Billy boy, but he is so damn pretty. Anyway, it is weird that creepers crawl out of the woodwork in order to freak us out.

Since creepers are unavoidable I will say this to all of them. Stop asking for pics and telling us what nasty things you would do to us. None of us find this to be a quality we want in a human being on our pages. For those of you quiet creepers who friend request us and then never say a word, but we all know probably stalk our pages daily thanks for being quiet. If you want to be a non threatening creeper don't tell us how you want to be our friend and one day actually see each other. None of us are looking for boyfriends.