[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
ten years ago I was a single mother
working in an auto body shop in Austin
Texas and I was trying desperately to
make it as a choreographer there are a
lot of people in Austin Texas trying to
make it big but you know I thought that
just working on cars is what I was going
to do there’s a lot of competition and
then one day I was talking with some
friends after a small show i
choreographed and up walks this Jessica
Rabbit looking woman she was wearing a
red sequins dress had long beautiful red
hair and walked like she owned the place
she walks up to me and says did you
and I answered yeah she proceeded to
give me her business card which was a
photograph of her and two other women
naked covered in feather fans and
wearing Vegas style headdresses then she
says to me call me I’m looking for new
talent
I knew nothing about burlesque at this
point but I did know that when Jessica
Rabbit tells you to give her a call you
before I answered any business cards I
wanted to do some research on this
fabulous topic that was laid before me
and what I found was a rich in colorful
history that dates all the way back to
the 1800s it is full of risque songs
suggestive dances acrobats and comedians
some of the history I personally found
very fascinating were things like the
beginning of burlesque had no nudity at
all movements we associate with for less
like shimmying or tassel twirling these
were inspired by a belly dancer by the
name of little Egypt and she debuted
these moves in 1893 at the World’s Fair
in Chicago we get the word burlesque
from the Minsky brothers when they
called their variety shows Berle EQ
shows and my personal favorite the
Ziegfeld Follies this is where we get
the sparkle and the over-the-top
costumes that are seen now today in
Vegas but something else that was really
interesting to me was the Minsky brother
shows were considered the poor man’s
Follies charging about 75 cents a ticket
where the Ziegfeld Follies charge
four dollars and forty cents a ticket
they both had nudity one was considered
a little scandalous yes other was
considered art by the way this was not
just the korabik this woman’s name is
ruby jewel and she is one of the
founders of the jiggawatts burlesque
revue which did end up hiring me for my
choreography abilities but there is a
rule if you’re in the troupe you have to
so when the opportunity came up to
performer list my initial reaction was
actually no now remember I’m not shy
so performing wasn’t the problem I had
given birth to a wonderful little human
being and in doing so my stomach was all
stretched out and flabby my poorer
breasts were like sad little flapjacks
from the breastfeeding ladies no I’m
talking about I don’t mind showing my
body I own bikini bathing suits but I
was having a real problem looking that
way charging people at the door and
I mean cuz when I look to the
entertainment industry I didn’t see
anybody with a body like mine I didn’t
know as much about entertainment as I
classic burlesque and variety shows they
started to die out around the 70s due to
people becoming desensitized by
increased sex and nudity in their
television and movies some would say we
become so desensitized that we now
longed for an entertainment to make us
use our minds something that I like to
say is burlesque making people use their
imagination since the 1800s it’s a good
line my jiggawatts sisters dug their
heels into the ground and they swore it
didn’t matter what I look like they
asked me to have faith in their
experience and their knowledge and then
they proceeded to teach me what did
matter in burlesque these women were so
intoxicating ly confident I had no
choice but to listen to them so I
and the audience loved it I could hear
applause even after I left the stage the
supplies changed everything they all
but even more they didn’t know me they
didn’t have to clap for me they even
paid to get in so this really showed me
the freedom that is a neo burlesque you
really can be any size any shape a
burlesque act can express anything from
a heavy political statement to a
slapstick joke you can be anybody you
want to be in burlesque just as long as
you’re entertaining so in practicing
this new freedom of mine I could not
help but to wonder what other society
standards have I been agreeing to that
have been keeping me from being the real
me I do consider myself a dancer I was
not born with a ballerinas body y’all it
turns out there is a lot more than
ballet I can dance to okay I’m gonna let
you in on a little secret if there’s
something you want to do or be but
society says you can’t there’s one thing
you must do to make it a reality
go find someone who says yes you can let
naturally and learning this I could not
wait to teach others 99% of the people
that come to my burlesque classes are
looking for a confidence boost because
of that I get asked all the time how do
you ensure everyone has a positive
experience with burlesque even if
they’re not a performer or a dancer and
to them I say it has been proven to me
time and time again that human beings
cannot help but to appreciate others
when they’re being authentic
authenticity vulnerability we are
naturally moved by these things so then
they ask me okay how do you get them to
be brave enough on stage to be
themselves and to be vulnerable let’s
when you have to pick your own music
come up with your own dance steps and
design your own costume you cannot help
but to put yourself into your work this
is not Broadway where the music the
steps and the costumes have been decided
before you even think to audition
burlesque has to come from you at the
end of the day I am that person that
says yes you can let me show you how
would you like to be a garbage person in
your next number awesome you better be a
would you like to inspire people to vote
by wearing I voted stickers as pasties
you better make them big enough so that
way people in the back still get your
message
am i right so I do offer guidance but
what I’m really doing is I am giving
them permission to be their true
authentic selves
just like the gigawatts did for me I’m
not gonna lie there are a lot of things
about me that society says I can’t do or
be that I agreed to for way too long
things like I do consider myself a
scholar I love learning about new things
but I am dyslexic and learning in the
past has been hard I figured out I still
can learn
I just learned differently then went
what was shown to me in public school
I’m a parent and I want to be a good
parent but my parenting style it’s not a
nurturing one turns out my children
still feel loved and safe when I act
like a provider and a protector I got a
mouth like a sailor and I have no
problem telling you how it is but I am
burlesque was my Avenue in learning this
life-changing idea but you can
experience this with anything figure out
that thing about yourself that society
says you can’t do or be and then go find
someone anyone who says yes you can let
me show you how and then embrace the
vulnerability so that way you can start
living your lives as your true authentic
[Music] you
[Applause]
[Music]
ten years ago I was a single mother
working in an auto body shop in Austin
Texas and I was trying desperately to
make it as a choreographer there are a
lot of people in Austin Texas trying to
make it big but you know I thought that
just working on cars is what I was going
to do there’s a lot of competition and
then one day I was talking with some
friends after a small show i
choreographed and up walks this Jessica
Rabbit looking woman she was wearing a
red sequins dress had long beautiful red
hair and walked like she owned the place
she walks up to me and says did you
and I answered yeah she proceeded to
give me her business card which was a
photograph of her and two other women
naked covered in feather fans and
wearing Vegas style headdresses then she
says to me call me I’m looking for new
talent
I knew nothing about burlesque at this
point but I did know that when Jessica
Rabbit tells you to give her a call you
before I answered any business cards I
wanted to do some research on this
fabulous topic that was laid before me
and what I found was a rich in colorful
history that dates all the way back to
the 1800s it is full of risque songs
suggestive dances acrobats and comedians
some of the history I personally found
very fascinating were things like the
beginning of burlesque had no nudity at
all movements we associate with for less
like shimmying or tassel twirling these
were inspired by a belly dancer by the
name of little Egypt and she debuted
these moves in 1893 at the World’s Fair
in Chicago we get the word burlesque
from the Minsky brothers when they
called their variety shows Berle EQ
shows and my personal favorite the
Ziegfeld Follies this is where we get
the sparkle and the over-the-top
costumes that are seen now today in
Vegas but something else that was really
interesting to me was the Minsky brother
shows were considered the poor man’s
Follies charging about 75 cents a ticket
where the Ziegfeld Follies charge
four dollars and forty cents a ticket
they both had nudity one was considered
a little scandalous yes other was
considered art by the way this was not
just the korabik this woman’s name is
ruby jewel and she is one of the
founders of the jiggawatts burlesque
revue which did end up hiring me for my
choreography abilities but there is a
rule if you’re in the troupe you have to
so when the opportunity came up to
performer list my initial reaction was
actually no now remember I’m not shy
so performing wasn’t the problem I had
given birth to a wonderful little human
being and in doing so my stomach was all
stretched out and flabby my poorer
breasts were like sad little flapjacks
from the breastfeeding ladies no I’m
talking about I don’t mind showing my
body I own bikini bathing suits but I
was having a real problem looking that
way charging people at the door and
I mean cuz when I look to the
entertainment industry I didn’t see
anybody with a body like mine I didn’t
know as much about entertainment as I
classic burlesque and variety shows they
started to die out around the 70s due to
people becoming desensitized by
increased sex and nudity in their
television and movies some would say we
become so desensitized that we now
longed for an entertainment to make us
use our minds something that I like to
say is burlesque making people use their
imagination since the 1800s it’s a good
line my jiggawatts sisters dug their
heels into the ground and they swore it
didn’t matter what I look like they
asked me to have faith in their
experience and their knowledge and then
they proceeded to teach me what did
matter in burlesque these women were so
intoxicating ly confident I had no
choice but to listen to them so I
and the audience loved it I could hear
applause even after I left the stage the
supplies changed everything they all
but even more they didn’t know me they
didn’t have to clap for me they even
paid to get in so this really showed me
the freedom that is a neo burlesque you
really can be any size any shape a
burlesque act can express anything from
a heavy political statement to a
slapstick joke you can be anybody you
want to be in burlesque just as long as
you’re entertaining so in practicing
this new freedom of mine I could not
help but to wonder what other society
standards have I been agreeing to that
have been keeping me from being the real
me I do consider myself a dancer I was
not born with a ballerinas body y’all it
turns out there is a lot more than
ballet I can dance to okay I’m gonna let
you in on a little secret if there’s
something you want to do or be but
society says you can’t there’s one thing
you must do to make it a reality
go find someone who says yes you can let
naturally and learning this I could not
wait to teach others 99% of the people
that come to my burlesque classes are
looking for a confidence boost because
of that I get asked all the time how do
you ensure everyone has a positive
experience with burlesque even if
they’re not a performer or a dancer and
to them I say it has been proven to me
time and time again that human beings
cannot help but to appreciate others
when they’re being authentic
authenticity vulnerability we are
naturally moved by these things so then
they ask me okay how do you get them to
be brave enough on stage to be
themselves and to be vulnerable let’s
when you have to pick your own music
come up with your own dance steps and
design your own costume you cannot help
but to put yourself into your work this
is not Broadway where the music the
steps and the costumes have been decided
before you even think to audition
burlesque has to come from you at the
end of the day I am that person that
says yes you can let me show you how
would you like to be a garbage person in
your next number awesome you better be a
would you like to inspire people to vote
by wearing I voted stickers as pasties
you better make them big enough so that
way people in the back still get your
message
am i right so I do offer guidance but
what I’m really doing is I am giving
them permission to be their true
authentic selves
just like the gigawatts did for me I’m
not gonna lie there are a lot of things
about me that society says I can’t do or
be that I agreed to for way too long
things like I do consider myself a
scholar I love learning about new things
but I am dyslexic and learning in the
past has been hard I figured out I still
can learn
I just learned differently then went
what was shown to me in public school
I’m a parent and I want to be a good
parent but my parenting style it’s not a
nurturing one turns out my children
still feel loved and safe when I act
like a provider and a protector I got a
mouth like a sailor and I have no
problem telling you how it is but I am
burlesque was my Avenue in learning this
life-changing idea but you can
experience this with anything figure out
that thing about yourself that society
says you can’t do or be and then go find
someone anyone who says yes you can let
me show you how and then embrace the
vulnerability so that way you can start
living your lives as your true authentic
[Music] you
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