2012-06-05 Burlesque History and Beginning Movement with Katherine Lashe

So on June 5 we began Syrens of the South's 8th class series at Spinarella Pole/Dance/Fitness.  Hard to believe that on August 24th, we'll be celebrating our 5 year anniversary and our 8th student showcase, where has the time gone.  Anyway, we had 4 lovely ladies come into the class a little nervous, a little unsure but very eager to to discover the shiny world of burlesque.

As this was the first class we did introductions, I told them who I was, made sure no one had any injuries that I needed to be aware of, and then I asked the question I always ask on the first day, "What made you want to take burlesque classes?" There's always the joking comment about shiny things and then the nervous laughter that comes before people get to the root of it.  People get into burlesque for different reasons, because they love to perform, because they like shiny things, they saw a show and it looked like fun and then the one that breaks my heart every time, "I want to be more comfortable in my skin because I think I'm fat/ugly/unsexy/need to get out of my shell/etc..."  These are the ones that make me cry a little when they make it onto stage as they're trying to work through something much deeper then a need to be shiny.  Many times our students turn into performers, we've even had quite a few go on to the national festival circuit and even earn awards.  Let me tell you, nothing makes me feel more like a proud momma then seeing my students continue performing and earn national recognition!

I love teaching history and going over the intro to basic burlesque movement.  Burlesque's history goes back so much further then most people think.  My class starts at 44BC and goes through modern day.  Yup, BC, you read correctly.  The basic movement we go through is bumps, grinds, and some basic shimmies and then we put them all together in a little mini routine to work on transitions and movement, each one ending with the front bump because EVERYONE SHOULD EMBRACE THE FRONT BUMP!  They did a great job and I can't wait to have them come back next week so we can continue down this path together.