Burlesque Rituals
I’ve spent the past week performing in a theatrical production. It’s been an interesting experience for me for a few different reasons, partly because I’ve never acted before and partly because I’ve now spent a week backstage with actors preparing for their performance, instead of Burlesque and Cabaret performers. I will say this, actors are quieter! There’s still excitement backstage, but generally fewer g-strings, errant puffs of glitter and what Michelle Carr calls “Puppet Voices.”
Michelle Carr – When this woman shouts “No puppet voices!” at you, you listen.
With this different backstage environment I found that I needed a different type of psyche-up. The character I play is a Burlesque Dancer (so not too much research was needed for the role!) who is both sad and triumphant. I needed to find a way to rev myself up as a performer and as a performer-playing-a-performer. So I came up with this:
- Pull your shoulders back
- Lift through your solar plexus
- Become aware of your sternum
- Picture a solid beam of light radiating from that point.
- Deep breath.
- Now go drive them wild.
Feels good, doesn’t it?
