The Land of Shiny Things

Brace yourself!

2009-12-04T13:13:41Z

Two blogs in two days!

Promise me you won't have a heart attack! Because I would be seriously bummed if anyone missed V for Vixen!

We had our first rehearsal in Oberon last night, and it was the normal amount of stress and chaos. Scratch has finished the stage craft planning, but moving around 8 dancers, 6 lindy hoppers, one singer, 3 stage hands who are so active they might as well be cast, and 2 lighting people with follow spots -- that's some craziness right there.

But we sorted it out with good cheer.

The numbers are looking great. They need more time in the space - but they'll get that tonight.

I can't honestly say, there's not a weak one in the bunch. Even the number with lots of challenge that I choreographed very late in the game is looking good.

Wrapped up the night with a salad and half a lobster at Eastern Standard. Which just rocks. Their kitchen is open until 12:30! They have a limited menu that fits more into the realm of light snack than late dinner, but it was pretty easy to assemble a decent dinner. And I would gladly pay more for small portions to be able to eat late at night but like a grown up. Being ensconced in their posh leather couch with a marble top table and a half lobster in front of me had me feeling like a true starlet.

Must see: V for Vixen

2009-12-03T04:43:48Z

Hi ladies and gentlemen!

So, I have been a truly sucky blogger, and I'm sorry.

I'm sorrier still to start the post with an ad, but truly DON'T MISS THIS!

V FOR VIXEN
A Wintertime, Wartime Fable Told In Swingtime

Friday, Dec. 4, 10:30 p.m.Oberon
Two Arrow Street
Cambridge, MA
(Just outside Harvard Square)

This is an amazing show, and it's running for 1 night only. You'll see some of our best numbers from ages past, with some lovely new (and not new!) faces. And some all new numbers. We have 5 lovely new ladies joining us, plus a fabulous singer, plus an entire crew of Lindy Hop dancers that I haven't even gotten to meet yet!! Behind the scenes, Scratch has a cadre of really great folks that we've come to know and love over the years, so even the backstage crew will be kicking ass and taking names.

We're totally inspired by the coolness that is Club Oberon and we've made use of some of of the really cool theater stuff to add in all sorts of wonderful surprises and to pull you in and back in time to 1939.

I'm totally pumped, especially after seeing this nice review.

Well - it's been a rather sucky summer. At the open dress rehearsal for the Wrathskellar, I sprained my ankle. Never being a girl to do things halfway, I managed a 3rd degree sprain... I'm such an over-achiever.

That sucked, but I got a lot of love and support from the Boston Babydolls and our fans, from my coworkers and from many other people in my life, including my Indian dance teachers, and Barry the Body Wizard (www.muscularsolutions.com). You have to totally love a body worker who you call on your way to the ER, who you then visit at midnight to get vitamins, who then brings over some magic lasers (no lie) that do great things for your truly messed up ankle.

I didn't want to blog much about it, because I was mostly feeling quite pitiful and that's not something I like to dwell on.

The fall has been a case of onward and upward. We did a circus show the end of September that did well and was my first real attempt to get back on stage (although I limped my way through Wimiweh at the Improv two weeks after the sprain... but don't tell my doctors!).

Since then, our focus has been on a show at Improv Boston in November and now Oberon. I like to think that this is our upward swing. We took some great numbers, dusted them off, glammed them up and then wrote some new numbers. I'm proud to say that:

I choreographed or rehabbed all of the group numbers at the show.
Two of the group numbers are totally new for this show, while 3 are old favorites with more shiny goodness than before.
I'm also doing 3 solos myself, one of which is new and involves a whole new insane, glimmery costume that I love so much it's a wonder I'm not wearing it to my geeky job.

I'm also very happy to working with the new dancers. We've got a really good range of talent and a strong "can do" attitude that has me proud to be working with these ladies. I'm feeling very honored that they have worked so hard on bringing fresh energy to my choreography. I'm also really thankful to Helena, who came in this time as my dance captain and she has been a great help -- she's the person I can thank for preserving my sanity throughout October while Scratch and Mina where traveling. Her certainty and confidence when teaching choreography is a rock that I have come to greatly appreciate when we have so much to do in so little time!

That said, I have my fingers crossed. I've missed two rehearsals while traveling for Thanksgiving, and they tell me that everything is going smooth, but that just has me nervous. NOTHING ever goes smooth! That just can't be right! :)

Fun in June & July

2009-06-26T00:27:30Z

Hi gang,

After our fight with the town of Quincy, we're moving on and strutting it out!

Here's some of the neat stuff I'm currently working on:

Just got a Twitter account:
https://twitter.com/BettyBlaize

Given that some of the networks I compute from are very restricted, the coolness of being able to Tweet from my phone is simply delightful.

Fear the randomness that may result. Hopefully I will restrain myself from continually tweeting "OooOOoo! Shiny!"

Wrathskellar:
July 13-18 at The Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA
Buy Tickets here:

This is a real departure for us. Usually we're pretty shiny happy nekkid people (OK, not all of us are nekkid, and we're not all that nekkid... but anyway). This time we are dark, spooky, mysterious, sensuous nekkid people. I'm sure some of us were that way all along, but for my part, I'm a big goofball. So this is a real challenge for me.

I'm embracing it though. I have one number that's a real costuming challenge. And, if I don't need stitches by the end of the week, I'm considering the number a success. ;) Ya gotta love a number like that.

The other is a dance challenge - I'm using my 3 crazy years of Indian martial arts training to build a Russian martial number. Yes, I *know* that Russia is nothing like India. But if you can kick through someone else's chin, it really doesn't matter what country you come from - it looks pretty cool. And as a giant white woman, I'm just a little bit more plausible in a sumptuous Russian coat.

Also working a duet with Joy de Vie, where she's the sweet innocent one and I'm the mean one. The mean one? Can you believe it?

So... come see me be mean, and dark, and mysterious! I swear, I will not giggle.

If you like this... just wait until BBE!

2009-03-12T00:29:20Z

Even I can't be too hard on myself for this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx5kG82536g

My latest solo work, done in partnership with Scratch. I had the silk and the idea of the song, but he designed the awesome set that makes this more than just a pretty number with a big silk thing.

I really enjoyed doing it, and I'm pretty happy with the results, including parts I was worried were a bit boring. Mostly I'm sad that the digital video refresh rate makes it seem less flowing that in real life.

So... instead of watching the video, you should come to the Great Boston Burlesque Expo, (April 10-12, Cambridge Hyatt Regency), and see it in person! I'll be performing it, along with the awesome latest and greatest Boston Babydoll group number with truly insane floral costumes. Picture the grandiose ideas of Mr. Scratch, along with the elegant costume talents of Miss Mina (who made the inspiration costume that started us off), combined with my own somewhat more get-it-done-fast skills, plus the blood sweat and tears of 4 other Babydolls + a professional costumer. Yeah, crazy. We had weekly costume "homework" assignments.

Anyhow, that's just the tip of the iceburg for BBE this year. As always we have:

3 Great Shows Friday, Saturday, Sunday - each show is completely different!
Fabulous classes on Burlesque performance techniques and business topics.
Some fabulous lovely legends
A great vendor room
Drop in Classes

But, we are always trying new things too, here's some improvements this year:

A focus on new teachers - the teachers who stay on our teacher ranks are our absolute best, the ones that get rave reviews. We have more than 50% new faces this year to keep classes fresh and new
Vendors now have the option to have suites - so some will be in cozy hotel rooms.
A legend critique session on Sunday
Free breakfast with some of the packages.
Master Classes on Friday - for an extra fee, many of our wonderful legends and top teachers have agreed to do a Friday block of Master Classes. You'll also see classes from these great folks Saturday and Sunday, but the Master Classes are something extra special for dedicated fans.
Me, with more sanity, I hope to have a helper at all times. It might work to maintain a more stable Betty. But then, I'm not all that stable to begin with. :)

See you there!!!

I love this season! I love this troupe!

2008-10-16T02:29:09Z

We have FOUR great shows in three weeks!

Two are private shows, so you're just out of luck. But the 25th and 26th you should start your Halloween festivities a little early, with two great shows, in two great locations!

Sat., Oct. 25, 8 p.m.
Howl-a-ween
So sexy, it's scary! Ioka Theatre
55 Water St.
Exeter, NH
Tickets: $10 in adv./$15 day of show (plus on-line fee of $2)

We're returning to one of our favorite locations - an old school theater in New Hampshire. It's well worth the drive from Boston, and it's a chance for us to visit our New Hampshire fans. We're pulling out all the stops for our favorite season, with awesome new special effects, crazy props and fabulous new numbers and dancers! You won't want to miss this!

Sun., Oct. 26, 8 p.m.
SINDAY AT CHURCH

Church of Boston
69 Kilmarnock St.
Boston, MA

It's Sunday, time to go to Church and learn about sin!

The Boston Babydolls present a sermon in seven parts, featuring an
all-star line-up: Greed, Pride, Envy, Sloth, Wrath, Gluttony, and a
special appearance by Lust!

We kick things off (pun very much intended) with some high-stepping
action from Can-Can Revolution, Boston's favorite French-kissin'
cuties. Then the gypsies of The Poludaktulos Orchestra work their
magic on you. The Boston Babydolls take the stage at 10 p.m. for a
sermon you won't ever forget!

Advance ticket sales close at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25. After
that, tickets are available at the door for $13.

This has truly been a crazy season, both personally and in Burlesque. We've had a bunch of new dancers join the troupe, and I love their new perspectives, even as we scramble to help get them going with their cool new visions.

For me, personally, I'm really pushing the edge of both stuff-construction and dance. I'm working on two new numbers with new props and dance techniques. Which means Scratch and I are constructing new stuff madly We find ourselves scouring the city looking for durable light up skulls and then I spend weekends up to my eyebrows in 26 yards of silk. Trust me, if you haven't rolled naked in 26 yards of silk... you simply must try it. :)

In the meantime, three of our new ladies are learning a new choreography, Betty style! Which means way over the top and cartoony. Last week we got a fabulous Scratch gesture on how to be more crazy and funny. He was really fun to watch! Maybe we should charge admission to rehearsals? Also teaching a new choreography for which I got to make money fans! The vision worked very well and I'm psyched to have this cool new prop.

And to cap off why I love this troupe, I know of know other place where Mina and I can be crunching through a carnival music breakdown analyzing Middle Eastern music put to a waltz base beat, only to look up and see Ruby Von Vaughn-Vaughn lurching about, on stilts, spotted by Scratch. Then later, to look up from a chat on chair work and leopard fur stoles only to see that now the looming Ruby has turned headless! Where else can you have so much fun all at once?!!

Have I teased and tantalized you? Well - GOOD! Get your butt out to the shows. At the IOKA we'll be pulling out all the stops and really using the magnificence that is that stage. At Church, we'll be working with some other great performers and really rocking the stage, although it's a little smaller and some of the artisier numbers will not be seen.

For the Troupes

2008-07-02T03:20:44Z

Sorry this is so last minute folks! But you should run out if you possibly can - it's due to be a great show!

http://troupesfortroops.eventsbot.com/

We're supporting our troops by sending them a unique, and very cool pin-up book called, "For The Boys: Pin-ups for the Troops", and this Burlesque Festival is designed to raise funds to send books to the troops. Over 3,000 books have already been sent, but the demand for this unique and entertaining book is high and we need to send more!

Wed, Jul 02, 2008 at 8:30 pm to 10:30 pm EST
Cambridge, MA

Tickets are $10 at the door - a great deal since you'll get to see a bunch of fabulous troupes - the Babydolls are just one of the many groups. This should be a really awesome event. I'm particularly excited to revive both a number from Boston Billards this month and a number from the Dewar's Repeal Day show.

-Betty

Coolidge Ladies' Night! + BBE drive by

2008-04-11T02:58:46Z

Wow! And here I was trying to get my act together to post, and it's already time to announce about another fabulous show at the Coolidge!

It's the return of The Boston Babydolls' BURLESQUE: BY WOMEN, FOR
WOMEN, Saturday, April 12 @ midnight

The ladies of New England's leading burlesque troupe take the stage at
The Coolidge Corner Theatre for a special show just for the ladies*.
All the burlesque goodness you've come to expect from The Boston
Babydolls, plus a mini-burlesque lesson and more!

Tickets are $12 in advance ($18 the day of show). You can buy tickets
and read all about the show at http://coolidge.org/node/1692

No kidding -- this show will sell out!

BURLESQUE: BY WOMEN, FOR WOMEN
Saturday, April 12 @ Midnight
Coolidge Corner Theatre
290 Harvard St.
Brookline, MA 02446

* - yes, we mean it. This show is for biological women only.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seriously, from me, this is a great show. Last time we did this, it not only sold out, but the gig was packed with wonderfully raving fans. And truly joyous fans make for a phenomenal show, because the extra energy makes a good routine into a great one. Knowing how awesome it was last time, we're all geared up to try to top ourselves and make this one even better.

Well... I haven't posted much since the Great Boston Burlesque Expo. Mostly because I've been sleeping, cleaning the house, paying the bills and performing, performing, performing. Not only did I actually end up with a sweet gig the NIGHT of the BBE competition, but the Babydolls have done another 3 gigs since - all with different material than I performed at the actual expo. Crazy but fun. I always said I wanted to do professional dance because I wanted to take on the challenge of rising to that level as a performer. Now that the troupe is really rocking, the challenge of keeping things well-tuned and yet still fun and fresh is really honing my skills as a dancer... it is such a way different world from just doing a few performances a year.

But that's not what I wanted to babble about. I wanted to quickly jot down a few of my favorite moments from the Expo so I don't forget:
- the teachers were phenomenal - not a single missing teacher on the days of the Expo.
- got some even more wonderful thank yous from teachers after the fact that really warmed my heart
- Eva Destruction came to be my right hand woman on Saturday and she was just phenomenal. Not only did she totally take over a big chunk of the routine work for the day which let me handle crisises, but SHE BROUGHT ME COFFEE. I've never had an assistant to bring me coffee before. So cool. (yes, I'm a total caffeine junkie)
- Seeing Lili in her Pink Poodle pasties that I made as a thank you for last year's convention extraordinary help. That lady is always there to bail me out when I have last minute class snafus. God bless her!
- Hearing "Thwack! giggle, giggle, giggle" coming out of Kim Carroll's fighting class for most of his class slot. It does my heart good to hear so many ladies learning how to stage fight!
- Getting a fantastic foot rub from Jacqueline Hyde ... right after she WON the solo performance for the Expo!!! Here she is, the big winner, who is walking on air, and she's giving me a foot rub!!
- Meeting the legends and getting to see them both inside and outside of the Expo space. We had dinner the night before the Expo in Chinatown in the Emperor's Garden - which used to be the Pilgrim Theater. The ladies remembered performing there and were pointing out what was and wasn't there back then - much of the original wood work is still intact. And hearing their stories where people from the pages of history books waft in and out of their lives. Really neat and a night I'll never forget.
- Waking up each morning looking out at the Boston skyline from my room at the Hyatt and thinking "what's next?" By Monday morning, I felt like I had always lived there.
- Shooting the shit in comfy clothes with Lili and Scarlett after the Sunday night show. Where the best stories come out. I only get to see these ladies once a year, and yet seeing them this year was like I'd just seen them last week. It's so wonderful to have folks like that in my life. I just wish we weren't on opposite coasts.

I finished the Expo with the feeling that we had made something truly wonderful occur. I was really proud to be a part of it. I'm sure there were many more fabulous moments, but I wanted to jot down what I could before I had completely forgotten.

Carnival D'Amour

2008-02-13T04:21:03Z

Not sure if I've touted this enough - Valentine's day we'll be at TT the Bear's in Cambridge for Carnival D'Amour! It's a rocking show, including an old classic and a new take on a previous number from me... as well as a mix of old and new from all your favorite Babydolls. Plus, we've got these awesome special guests:

Professor Badger's Cabinet of Curiousities! (www.eightcornerglobe.com) One part museum, one part freakshow, The Cabinet of Curiousities is a unique collection of nature's mistakes, genuine historical artifacts, and things humankind was never meant to see – all conveniently exhibited under one roof.

The LUSH Gals! (www.lush.com) Need a hand to hold on Valentine's Day? The fabulous ladies from LUSH will be, er, on hand to give hand massages using their trademark all-natural products. Look good and feel good, courtesy of LUSH and The Boston Babydolls!

and, of course, high steppin' stilt walkers, revolutionary hula hoopers, dextrous jugglers, puissant poi spinners, the rich, big top sound of Cirkestra (www.cirkestra.com) and the burlesque beauty of The bodacious Boston Babydolls!

Show at T.T. the Bear's (10 Brookline St., Cambridge MA) on Thursday, Feb. 14th (Valentine's Day). Tickets available at www.TicketWeb.com. Big, sweet-looking ad at www.BostonBabydolls.net/performances/carnaval.php

Wohoo!

2008-02-05T03:35:16Z

Professor Badger's Cabinet of Curiousities (www.eightcornerglobe.com) will be at Carnival d'Amour with us, adding to the circus atmosphere. It features "Human anomalies, Wonders of the Animal Kingdom, Nature's Mistakes, Genuine Historical Artifacts" and so much more!

Scratch showed them to me at a local sci fi convention this year - and it was truly awesome. They converted a modern hotel room into this awesome creepy museum of things creepy and weird. Now they'll be in one of the rooms at Carnival d"Amour - seeing the room I think the lighting could be awesome and with a bigger, less obviously-a-hotel-room space, I think they can do great things.

I'm actually sort of jealous on the audience on this one - I know I will be in performer head space and not fully able to enjoy the show with costume changes, warm ups and generally being ready. So I don't think I'll get to see all of the awesomeness we have in store.

You know you're a Burlesque dancer when...

2008-02-04T00:22:35Z

... you find your underwear on the sidewalk in front of your house and you are simply happy that the prodigal underwear has returned. My student was a little horrified. I couldn't tell whether it was (A) that my underwear was on the sidewalk, (B) I admitted it, or (C) I was actually happy that my underwear had returned home, since it's my favorite basic black pair, I use it for shows a lot, and I'd been looking for it.

On other news... had a show at TT the Bears last night for Sean and Suzie's Mardi Gras Ball. A really fun show. I got to dance two songs with a live band. Super awesome! I love live bands, the energy is so much better and I'm happy to roll with the randomness that can come with working with humans who do their own thing. The crowd vibe was good too.

We have SO MUCH going on:

- Carnival D'Amour - Valentine's Day - Thursday February 14 - ourselves, the awesome band Cirkestra, and a ton of our variety act friends.
- Geometry of Love - at the Ioka Theater - a stage I adore - it's a wonderful, renovated, old time theater that makes me feel like a real Burlesque star. I'm super excited since I am reviving a number from last year, writing a new one and doing a new favorite of mine...
- Rack Em Up - February 10th, I'll be there playing pool... badly!
- The Expo - I've talked about it a lot, but this time I'm pleased to report the Babydolls are working up something Friday night as a group. We're reviving one my first numbers but upgrading it significantly. Mina and I just started costume planning and I'm thrilled that we are pooling our resources and experience to make some pretty fabulous costumes for the gang.

-Betty

Warm feeling of accomplishment

2008-01-18T05:09:27Z

After a long hard day of planning and estimating work for my Clark Kent like daytime life, I grabbed a quick salmon dinner (YUM!) and came home for a night of more planning. But, unlike the frustrating work of daytime - this got done!

Go check out The Boston Burlesque Expo Conference Pages to see my lovely work. Scratch did the layout and navigation, I did the class page, teacher, page and updates to the submission page. Behind the scenes the schedule is floating by our wonderful teachers ready for posting on Monday, January 21 (stay tuned!).

I'm really psyched - we have a hardcore pool of my favorite teachers from last year, plus a whole bunch of wonderful new teachers from this year. Teachers are coming down from Canada and all the way from LA and Seattle. This is totally exiciting! The energy is really getting juiced up this month.

WHEEE!

Ahh, the luxurious feeling of righteousness

2007-12-11T05:41:40Z

I've practiced both my solos for Brrrrlesque!

My big black men's coat is done, complete with lapels.

I've caught up on my Boston Burlesque Expo teacher mail. I'm psyched, we're going to have even more fun this year, as I think our space is way better and I'm already getting great teacher feedback.

Fear my righteousness! Wohoo!

It is often hard to get up the motivation to get everything done - it's always so easy to procrastinate and let stuff pile up. So I'm feeling smug about having so much important stuff done.

Speaking of Important Stuff - Come see Brrrrlesque!
Crucial data:

Saturday, Dec. 15, midnight
BRRRRLESQUE
A Winter Wonderland
The Coolidge Corner Theatre
290 Harvard St
Brookline MA 02446
[ Directions ]
Tickets: $12.50 in advance
$20 at the door

We've got a ton of new numbers, including Miss Honey Do, Miss Mina, Miss Dominique Immora, myself of course, and even Miss Vita. Vita's been really busy with America's Next Top Model and her regular life, so we haven't seen her much. So I'm really looking forward to seeing her very bubbly self as she takes the stage with us! Whee!!

Oh! Almost forgot - ANNNNNDDDDD Best Sellers is doing a wine tasting from 9:30-11:30 before the show. They are an awesome wine shop just across the corner down Harvard Street from the Coolidge - easy walking distance. They specialize in reasonably priced wines. Last time I went figuring on buying a bottle and pretty much restocked my wine cellar for under $100. They had so many wonderful wines, and I was simply shocked at how little I paid. They really do find some really great stuff and they're prices never make me think twice. I'm planning to do some significant Xmas shopping this time!

BTW - have you noticed that Xmas is getting shinier than ever? Scratch, Mina and Miss Red had to dissuade me from taking home shiny little cone-trees made entirely out of colored jingle bells. I figured I could make a cone bra out of them that would make Madonna envious. And then when I hopped it would jingle. I tell you, would that not be the bee's knees. :)

Teaser!

2007-11-30T05:23:48Z

That's what I do, right? :)

I have a whole bunch of projects coming up. Definitely a burst of creativity in the works.

1 - make copper dress tearaway and make some blue undies for the Dewer's private gig next Wed. Feel lucky if you got a personal invite from Scratch, it's a private party. If you saw me at Halloween you're getting a glimmer of my crazy plan. (Scratch, if you're reading this, don't forget my book...)

2 - construct puppet coat and get a head from Scratch for Brrrleesque, December 15. A new Betty Blaize Special coming soon, the song is perfect, this is totally going to rock.

3 - whip out the white silk, blue dye and a spray bottle for Mina's new number for Brrrlesque, I'm honored to be doing my first custom solo choreography written for someone else for Miss Mina to a song we both love. It's going to be truly gorgeous.

4 - Burlesque Expo is humming along. Class planning for another year commences.

I pioneered a new (to me) from of choreography annotation - I whipped out my iPod, sang the choreography over the song and recorded it all with my iPod voice memo recorder. 10 minutes later it was uploaded, burned on CD and distributed. Best new toy of the year for Burlesque dancers. Last year the iPod changed my life. This year its the recorder... I've also been using it for classes with my Indian dance instructor, as all the music I work to with her is sung live by her. So her compositions don't really exist in recorded media. The song may, but generally her particular arrangement doesn't. Since tape wasn't readily uploadable, having the new recorder is a god send.

One other accomplishment - I crystallized a pair of gloves. The pros that read my journal are probably going "ho hum...", but it was new to me, and I was very pleased at making a template for an anal retentive repeatable pattern. All my other crystal work has been on non-stretch surfaces, so I was very nervous.

Another show, my dears

2007-10-20T14:48:57Z

If you didn't see the Wet Spots, you missed a pair of fabulous, fabulous shows. They are awesome, and if I do say so myself, we are pretty darn cool ourselves. :) I enjoy shows for a number of reasons, but this time my favorite thing was definitely watching the other acts.

And now you should be kicking yourself if you didn't come see us last week. But you can make it up to yourself by coming to our Halloween show. As you know, our Halloween show gets a lot of our energy. This year, we don't have a full Out for Blood run, but we do have a bang up show:

There is an e-Postcard for the show at http://www.bostonbabydolls.net/images/oct07-forweb.jpg

The text is:

The Dollhouse

Sunday, October 28

8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

The Paradise Lounge

969 Commonwealth Avenue

Boston, MA 02215

Tickets: $10/$8 in costume

18+

CIRKESTRA joins The Boston Babydolls for a show that will scare your pants off (or our pants off anyway)!

The creaking calliope, the mournful wail of the black accordion, and the shriek of the haunted violin — it must be CIRKESTRA!. If you've never had the pleasure of hearing this group that "swings like a drunken carnie" (7 Days) you're in for a special Halloween treat.

And there are treats galore at this super spooky edition of The Dollhouse. Come in costume and save $2.00 on your admission — plus everyone gets a burlesque goodie bag. This won't rot your teeth, kids!

Doors open at 8 p.m. Get there early for the best seats. Cirkestra goes on at 8:30 p.m., the boo-tiful ghouls of the Boston Babydolls rise from the grave at 9:30 p.m.

Shows coming up

2007-10-09T00:42:30Z

Two new shows coming this weekend!

I feel rather bad - we've had a bunch of shows and I've been so busy preparing for them, I didn't post ahead of time notices.
But now is a great one - the Wet Spots are coming our way for a night of naughty fun!
-------------------------------------------

The Wet Spots show on Saturday, Oct. 13 has moved!

We are now playing the gorgeous Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline. Tickets are only $16.50 and if you pre-purchased a ticket for a the show at The Baseball Tavern, we will honor the $10 ticket (lucky you!).

It's a night of sophisticated smut, decadence and debauchery! New England's best burlesque troupe, The Boston Babydolls, takes over The Coolidge Corner Theatre for a very special evening with The Wet Spots.

All the way from Toronto, the kinky, funny songs of The Wet Spots are inspired by Cole Porter, Monty Python, and Tenacious D, The Wet Spots are known for their lively shows, which feature spankings, singalongs, and bawdy sex-ed. Bring a change of undies, because they are funny.

Special late night show, starting at midnight

Tickets are only $16.50 (including restoration fee). You can buy tickets in advance at the box office, online at http://coolidge.org/showtimes, or by phone at (617) 734 -2501

The Coolidge Corner Theatre

290 Harvard St

Brookline MA 02446

directions -- http://coolidge.org/map

We also have a show on Sunday:

Oct. 14, 8 p.m.
The Lucky Dog Music Hall
89 Green St.
Worcester, MA 01604

If you weren't watching our website, you probably missed a bunch of our wild, recent shows:
- The Modern Drunkard's - we did a private show for members of this group. My favorite part - the made us our own dressing room, right behind the stage, with hanging rack, shelves and everything. They were also a wonderfully appreciative crowd and ready to give us all the booze we could drink.
- The Ioka - a show up in New Hampshire. The Ioka Theater is a beautiful retro theater, complete with balcony seats, wings, and dressing rooms built into the stage. The dressing rooms even had makeup stands with the classic row of bulbs around the mirror. And ours had a little parlour in it (there were TWO dressing rooms). The theater was beautiful - it was so easy to feel like a Burlesque Diva, no imagination required! The crowd was totally into it and was way loud and appreciative. I can't say enough for cheering on your performers, we easily doubled, if didn't triple the quality of our performance as we got bigger, sharper, and crisper in response to the audience love.
- The Paradise - home again, home again. The familiar is nice. Did a good show, had a nice crowd including a gang of ladies celebrating a birthday. Did our favorites - for me Cuban Pete and Wimiweh and my Baseball Bit with Scratch. Sadly, the dressing rooms pale in comparison with our previous gigs.

Also - look for us on the cover of Performer Magazine, serving as lovely arm candy for our pals Three Day Threshold. I must say, we do look stunning. And check out the inside for even more great pictures.

And that was just September.

Right now, on the Betty Costuming Front, I'm puttering and finishing up a few No Deadline projects. Just finished a fuchsia and gold bra/belt set that you just might see during the Halloween season. And am now working on rebeading a fabulous black beaded evening gound. I'm also studying Marcel waves in preparation of attacking Mina's hair - I think she'd be even more stunning than usual in a 20's style bob!

Fabulous Burlesque Show - Red, Hot and Blue!

2007-07-18T03:36:42Z

The Boston Babydolls: Red, Hot, & Blue

Saturday, July 21, 2007, 8 p.m.

The International Lounge

184 High St.

Boston, MA 02110

http://internationalboston.com/location.htm

The Boston Babydolls return to The International Lounge on Saturday, July 21 with an all-American romp. This burlesque revue stars Miss Mina, Betty Blaize, Dominique Immora, Honey Do, and all the rest of The Boston Babydolls in a summertime salute to the good ol' U.S.A. More than just dancing, the show has comedy, feats of derring-do, and more.

Tickets are only $20. Feeling like a big shot? A limited number of V.I.P. tickets are available for only $10 more! These $30 tickets are down front, where you get the best view of the show – and the personal attention of the performers!

Our last show at The International SOLD OUT. Advance tickets are strongly recommended.

Valet parking is available. Purchase tickets at

http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showCode=BOS1

or by calling (212) 868-4444

So much stuff!

2007-05-02T19:01:07Z

First off - come see our next show:

The Boston Babydolls: Around the World
Friday, May 11, 2007, 8 p.m.
Saturday, May 12, 2007, 8 p.m.

The International Lounge
184 High St.
Boston, MA 02110

A Burlesque World Tour!

Travel around the globe with Boston's Best burlesque troupe in an evening of classic burlesque acts! A sizzling score of red hot jazz and cool big band blends with the most beautiful burlesque babes in Boston for a night of sexy fun!

Join some of your favorite Boston Babydolls for a burlesque world tour, with stops in France, Germany, Russia, Cuba, The Islands, exotic Arabia, and the good ol' U.S.A.! Your tour guides for the evening include the delicious Dominique Immora, the fresh Honey Do, the buxom Betty Blaize, Miss Mina -- the mistress of The Boston Babydolls -- and more!

Tickets are only $25. Feeling like a big shot? A limited number of V.I.P. tickets are available for only $10 more! These $35 tickets are down front, where you get the best view of the show – and the personal attention of the performers!

Advance tickets are strongly recommended. The show is 18+. Valet parking is available. Purchase tickets here or by calling (212) 868-4444

Paradise in April

The performance the end of April was DYNAMITE - if you didn't come you missed a great show. I performed "Hello Dolly" by Ella Fitzgerald with my latest wardrobe addition - a new hat. The hat is way over the top - feathers, flowers, glitter, crystals, beads, lace and glitter dot fabric. I'm pretty thrilled - it's the first time I've built a hat from scratch. And being so over the top, it was perfect for Dolly.

Here it is - my fab hat!

I did this number on somewhat short notice, and was really happy with how it came out. Not such a technically challenging number, but it was so much FUN. I found myself grinning from ear to ear as I was dancing, and felt that joy and sharpness that comes with body and mind uniting in the moment. I love dancing, and I love performing, and I love doing a job well - but all those things are often cerebral payoffs. This was a heart and soul moment. That happy time that comes once and a while when you wake up and realize that you are doing *exactly* what you want to be doing and can't think of anything at all you'd rather be doing.

Luckily, being Dolly was mostly waving, sitting on laps, flirting with the audience and bopping around enthusiastically. Thank goodness, cause doing a sultry serious piece would have been hard to sell while grinning from ear to ear. Indeed it was nice "to be back home where I belong..."

Upcoming Gigs

I find myself once again in the fun position of being a teacher. I have developed a Middle Eastern Stylings for Burlesque class, coming soon to a classroom near... well... Boston. And I'm directing two choreographies for the Babydolls - for the two gigs in the next two weeks. That's a little stressful, as it means getting to learn to direct two new dancers, in two different somewhat hard choreographies, in a very short span of time. But, heck, I like a challenge!

It does make me realize that I've come a long way as a choreographer - the two numbers we're working on are numbers that were developed relatively early on in my Burlesque career - and I can see a number of choices that I made that make the pieces *harder* without making them *better*. At this point, the risk of changing them is as great as the risk of leaving the hard stuff in place, but it makes me thankful to have had the opportunity to learn to do this better.

Hooray For Hollywood!!

2007-04-18T15:03:01Z

Hooray for Hollywood! The Boston Babydolls are saluting the silver
screen, and you've got a seat on the aisle! Boston's best burlesque
troupe has whipped up a batch of movie magic just for you! Whether
you're a sci-fi fan, a mystery buff, or you scream for horror, this is
the show that'll pop your corn! When the flirtatious females of
filmdom aren't heating up the stage, Herr Alaric will be playing all
your favorite theme songs. Ready for your close-up? Than grab a
fistful of dollars and head on over to The Paradise Lounge. Tickets
$10 ($8 for appropriate Jazz Age attire), 18+ for admission; 21+ to drink.

Featured Dancers:
Miss Honey Do
Penny Royale
Dominique Immora
Betty Blaize (hey! that's ME!)
Vita Lightly

As an added incentive - you can see my utterly fabulous, hand made hat that is beyond ostentateous. It's extraordinary and I'm really quite proud of it.

Where: Paradise Lounge
969 Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA

More info on details here:

www.BostonBabydolls.net/performances/dollhouse.php

Glurb, Surfacing for air

2006-11-14T04:15:20Z

So... show is done, and I'm on to the Boston Burlesque Expo - an extravaganza February 16-19 here in Boston. Hence the name. We're clever like that.

I'm class coordinator and so I'm running about hunting down teachers, panelists and panel moderators inside and outside of the Burlesque scene. I'm staring to get energized, and it suits the post-show crash fairly well - in that I get to be a bit hermitlike and sit around in a bathrobe and fool around on my computer.

Before time slips away from me, I wanted to just take a few minutes and reminisce on some of the really great parts of the Out for Blood show we just finished. So I can always remember the good stuff.

The thing I keep saying to folks who ask about the show is "what a great cast" and I mean it. We were a mix of talents, personalities, backgrounds and opinions, but we ended up blending really well. After a month of being forced together 5 nights a week, we could have been ready to kill each other. But instead, I found myself actively scrounging together my last two ergs of physical energy to make it to a Sunday night Babydoll Paradise show which was our cast party from OFB. I liked the cast a lot and by the end, I looked forward to hearing about their days each night as we put on makeup.

I liked the show. I was really proud to be in it. I'm not talking about my parts so much, as the fact that I got to perform with some really great folks. None of us are huge big massive names just yet, but I think some day I may be able to boast "I knew --- when..."

Scratch and Mina and I are gelling. I'm really starting to understand what they want, and am able to come back with something that suits the bill when they ask... even if it takes me 24 hours of grumping to get there. Scratch said it nicely "I like that I can have a wacky idea, tell you the outline and have you take it the rest of the way". I, for my part, like that I can take the idea, run around with it, trot it by once or twice as it grows up and come up with something my director likes.

The pre-show Babydoll food plan (shared food with Scratch and Mina) was damn tasty.

I didn't get sick at all. I did hurt my hip really badly, but I didn't get sick. We're sticking with the positives here. And no, I don't have a sore throat right now. I'm still in denial about that, thankyouverymuch.

I think the show did really good things for me, as a dancer. My Indian dance teacher noticed my expressions had really locked in on a peice that she's always pushing me on. I was a little nervous when I first started Burlesque that it might be too much fun, and too little substance. Indian dance and Middle Eastern are so very technique-focused, and Burlesque is much more open ended. But pushing myself to be bigger and more cartoonishly expressive has helped, even in Indian dance, where I'm supposed to be a little more subtle.

All in all, I'm glad I got a chance to challenge myself this way.

Now I dive back to email, and soon to bed.

Communications on LJ and Tribe have sucked lately. My day job has suddenly cracked down on personal communication mechanisms, so my lunchtime/afterwork highbandwidth access has gone to zero. And after a day on a fairly new computer and a T1, the gerbil powered computer on ADSL is not very enticing.

First Night

2006-10-04T03:46:41Z

Phew!!

Now I remember why I do this. I was wondering there for a minute.

We just had opening night here at Out For Blood. Our audience was not packing the house, but they were attentive and enthusiastic, and that's what it takes to make me happy. I'm easy that way.

OK... I'm even easier than that. :)

As per usual (you'd think I'd have learned to roll with it by now), tech was stressful, dress rehearsal was problematic, and the opening night was way, way better than that. Load-in and first rehearsal on our stage had me beat, frustrated, feeling worthless and so bloated I wanted to just drag myself up onto the beach and wait for rescue workers. Dress rehearsal was better, but I was still having serious issues with my last number, which was the closer for the show... so I felt it really had to smoke.

And then... it hit. The "glow" of performing with lights and stage and tech was starting to build in dress. And then the last run of the dress rehearsal my last number - The Spider - popped. It was all I could do not to yell "YESS!!!!!" into the darkness as the lights went off. (why not yell "yes!" in dress rehearsal... because according to the law of cartoons, that means a large, smoking hot stage light will fall you immediately thereafter - being a cartoon myself, I have to recognize and obey these laws of Toon Physics)

Tonight was great - no insurmountable snafus and plenty of times were I had the extra oomph to make a move pop, extend, or otherwise be fully completed. We had a very proud moment where our music got a bit weird - we lost the cartoonish entrance music and went right to the main song for our three person number. God bless my cohorts Mina and Honey - we entered in character, we psychically agreed what had to be cut to get back on track and we fell into it like this is exactly what we meant to do. That's a wonderful troupe moment right there.

Spider ran great. It can run better. There's always room to improve - be sharper, crisper, bigger, tighter, better. The beauty of a month long show is I can run it tomorrow... and tomorrow... and tomorrow...

And my Twirly Girl pasties are in, so I can be super shiny for The Spider tomorrow and not make do with my regular red pasties! Now I will have even-more-sparkly boobies! Yay!

Inch by inch

2006-09-29T01:46:53Z

Progress is being made on the pile of Babydolls goodness for our show coming next week. Got wire for fixing headwear. Got 3.5 out of 6 pasties finished. That's 3 pairs... How do you make 1/2 a pastie? You get the tassel and less than half the sequins sewn on it. :)

Still have:
- tearawayify the caftan
- actually fix the headgear, don't just visualize fixing the headgear
- fix the panel bits so they are not dorkariffic
- fix the corset cover
- practicepracticepracticepractice
- practice new spider intro music

Had a nice time being a burlesque diva last night at Masala Art. The guys working the bar and the waiting of tables were among my favorites of the staff and the place was really slow. So we spent the evening talking about tassel twirling, the artistic removal of clothing, great burlesque bits of the past. No, these aren't gay guys, they are exceptionally clueful straight guys who have figured out that opening up the Burlesque Topic will me talking about boobs all night long. A subject that everyone seems to find agreeable. :)

Managed to make a pastie at the bar waiting for my dinner to come. :o

Skirt done

2006-09-26T13:38:14Z

After looking at my list of OFB things to do yesterday, I decided that the most potentially time consuming, and slightly risky task was the skirt for the Sister Act. I have a choreographed place for a remove... so I better have a skirt!

This was an exercise of mistakes and confusion that was worthy of Project Runway (I'm so pathetically intruigued by that show). The only difference was I wasn't sharing my work space with other high drama designers. But I pretty much started with draping a big wad of fabric on myself, and ended with a nice enough looking, well fitting skirt that seems to stay on when it's supposed to stay on, and come off when it's supposed to come off.

So, I'm counting that as a successful feat of engineering. Despite my messing up cutting and pretty much hosing a yard or two of fabric. Despite my random eye ball attempt at curved corners and a straight, ripped hemline. Despite my fitting it on with multiple darts taken wherever seemed appropos at the time.

About the only disappointment was my failure to gauge the impact that my two layers of chainette fringe, 1 row of beaded fringe, and ruffles would have on the length and weight of the skirt... I know I should have planned better for that... but I couldn't envision what the effect would be. So... instead of a mid calf length skirt, the effect is almost ankle length. I'm pinning it out to make it very leggy to combat the potential dowdiness.

Given that the only thing I purchased for this was some more long fringe, I'm both impressed and scared by my fabric collection. After OFB, I need to lock myself in the sewing room until I have created some sense of order. If I can skim the top of the mess and make an entire skirt to match a bra/panty set - imagine what I could do if the room was in working order!

A Berry Babydoll Weekend.

2006-09-25T21:01:55Z

This weekend was chock full of Babydoll goodness.

Did a ton of making-stuff work for our big show - Out for Blood. I'm feeling like it might be possible to accomplish the rest of costume construction before our load-in on Sunday, but not so sure I'll get anything *else* accomplished between now and then!

Other realms of my life have noticed that I have "a glitter problem". I told them I was in denial and I could stop anytime I wanted. But I'm very tempted to show up at a meeting with a line of glitter, a rolled up dollar bill and a smudge of glitter covering one nostril and my upper lip. :P

Glitter problem continued today, when my associates noted that glitter on top of my nose make me look like Rudolph's gay brother - Randalph.

-----------------------

Saw some of our Out for Blood bits at rehearsal on Sunday. Wow. Just Wow. I think we have increased our production value, scary/creepy quality, and fancy Halloween idea pool significantly from last year. And it's neat to see our performers growing in different directions, based on their ongoing experience of Burlesque and the Burlesque community. I see ideas that were conceived during Miss Exotic World blossoming into whole new routines. And I see performers that started in one style branching into new avenues of dance and performance. It's really cool on both a personal and troupe level.

-----------------------

Did a gig with Scratch and Mina on Saturday - the Lizard Lounge. It's a challenging space - small, low ceiling (for a 6' dainty flower of feminity + 2-3" heels, that's important), and band equipment behind us. We worked with Ziaf who does renditions of Edith Piaf songs, complete with their own fabulous throaty female vocalist. I thought it was a really good match for our own retro/revival style, although the audience seemed a bit perplexed. They seemed to have a vibe of "we packed into this tiny space to see a band... why are you making it steamy in here with Burlesque... stop that!". Not really angry or pissed, but ... perplexed.

The first set went pretty well - and I left feeling we won them over. They really liked Mina's "Vie en Rose" where she plucks flower petals from her breasts until she's bared all but the pastie region. The second set was rough. The audience was fully baked by a good, but long set from Ziaf, and In No Mood for us. Happily, the Ziaf ladies liked us. I think we got compliments from all four of them - and compliments from fellow performers go a long way. And compliments from four hot ladies are great too! :)

Also saw a few other folks from the general Boston Metro arts scene - Lainey from the Steamy Bohemians, and a nice man who had worked the Mardi Gras and Bastille Day parties with us. Both recognized us and were happy to see us. Always good.

Had a few other compliments (like maybe 2) from other females in the audience. I think it's interesting that I get more compliments from ladies than guys. I don't know if its:
- I'm a gal that appeals more to ladies
- women find it easier to compliment women than men do
- women find it easier to approach me, in particular than men do
- I somehow filter and forget compliments from men

Just an interesting thing I keep noticing. It's OK by me - I like women just fine, and I think it's harder for a woman to hit my ick/creepy button. Also heard an interesting statistic a while back that women are equally validated by compliments from other women as they are by compliments from men. While men are more validated by compliments by women. Interesting.

Was very glad to pull out Beyond the Sea and Summertime - both were recent routines that I wished to be able to perform more.

A good laugh

2006-09-21T04:03:22Z

http://flickr.com/photos/p-fotos/sets/72157594267551542

Photos of me are on the bottom 2 rows. Apparently Lili and I are cartoons drawn by the same animator!

Food for thought

2006-09-20T19:28:15Z

A interesting post from Scotty the Blue Bunny just went through burlesque_today and several other venues I'm on. The main point was targeted to the NYC Burlesque scene of "please stop free venues and no guaranteed minimum". I'm not inclined to post on the more public forums because:
A - I'm not in the NYC Burlesque scene
B - I'm fairly new to the worldwide Burlesque scene, my depth of experience is in other dance scenes
C - I have the privilege of working within the bostonbabydolls, and they have managed to both pay me a fair minimum for every show, and keep me so busy with gigs and rehearsals that I don't want to ponder more venues.
D - I'm not a business person. I have a job that pays me very well, and I readily admit that performing arts business is not my forte. Nor is it likely that I will give my other career to become a Babydoll full time.

But... I'm inclined to ponder it here in my own journal.

So... my first reaction was "wow! way to structure other people's experience". It's not that I disagree that a performer should get paid - I think they have every right to demand pay. In fact, I think that charging a cover charge forces your audience to put a value on your work. I've done other things where I wanted to recruit or entertain a mass of people, and I found that people often devalue what they get for free.

But... I come from a realm of dance where free shows are typical. Middle Eastern dance - at least in the Boston area - has a HUGE free performance population. There's free recitals, free faire gigs (Rennaissance and small town faires), benefit performances, for-tip-only restaraunt gigs, and tons of other stuff. We've even marched on Washington for women's rights! I've performed in that space ardently and regularly for a number of years. In most cases, if requested for a fee, these venues would shrug and say "never mind, we'll get some other (free) performer". Even if the entire ME dance community unionized and boycotted the venues - they are not desperate for our particular art form.

I have had times where I felt that the venue did not appreciate us, or did not understand that it took time, money, training, and other sacrifices to be at a gig. But many others have been incredibly appreciative - feeding us to within an inch of our lives, going above and beyond to make a good backstage space, getting us compensation in the form of trade - like free passes to the thingy, being prompt and clear in their communication, and generally giving "audience love". That can be worth as much as money. Particularly if you are performing with no intention of using the dance form to support yourself.

And yet, the ME dance form has many paying gigs, too. Some restaraunt dancers make good money in tips. The private party gigs can give a troupe or soloist $100-$300 a night. Very skilled and organized teachers can make a real salary on the combo of presentations and performances. Not to mention the video market. I would not say that amateur/free gigs have jeopardized the role of the professional. People understand that you get what you pay for. Granted - this scene is older than the neo Burlesque scene and there's not many people that would say "Belly dance? Never heard of it..."

And yet... I came to Burlesque from the warm, fuzzy, free world of Middle Eastern Dance and a troupe I dearly love - particularly because I was tired of venues with ho hum audiences, and because I wanted to try a form of dance where I could be treated like and expected to be a professional. I love my ME troupe, but I wanted a different sort of challenge. (OK, and I really like the glamour and the copious shininess!!) That includes money - but also expectations - that I'd be prepared, self-motivated, and actively "present" and willing to help at shows and rehearsals. As well as stuff I like less - promotion, recruitment, and conforming to my director's wishes.

I rather think that *in any art form* the presence of talented amateurs willing to work for free challenges the pros to justify their pay. If, for example, a free dancer is as timely, organized, talented and cooperative as a paid dancer --- why shouldn't a venue choose the free option? And, sadly, my experience with paid dancers has been that "getting paid" and "being professional" are two different things. Is the free dancer obligated to demand payment in order to help her sisters in the art form? I'm not so sure.

I had a bit of a knee jerk reaction to some comments about "paying their dues". I rather hate this term, partly because it can mean so many different things. If "paying dues" means:
- work hard to make great routines
- learn constantly and incorporate new stuff in your acts
- make the best/most creative costumes you can - within limits of time, money, skills, etc.
- be on time, prepared, and willing to work
- do what you say you'll do when you say you'll do it

...AND... be understanding that it make take a "scene" a few gigs to understand your value.

That I can get behind.

But all too often I see an implication that "paying dues" means:
- shmooze and suck up to the people in power
- put up with inconsiderate bullshit from people in power
- don't be *too* competitive, take the second seat because you are new
- you must involve the Cool Kids in your venture, because they are the Cool Kids
- hang out for a certain amount of time until someone in the know deems you worthy
- wait until there is a vetted "space" for you rather than making your own space

Well, honestly, I think that's insider bullshit, and contributes to the early demise of an art form, not its sustained flourishing. Such behavior can lead to a decaying "in crowd" with a minimum of fresh blood - because new talented people will take their energy elsewhere.

I'm not saying I've seen this in this particular scene - just that I've seen it in the performing arts and other semi-pro/amateur areas.

There is such a thing as scummy business practices, and I don't think that claiming newness or incompetence justifies it. I can sympathize with show producers getting really pissed off when someone with a free business model essentially undercuts an established venue. I'd be really annoyed too. But this is what happens in a capitalistic market, and fair vs. unfair doesn't have much meaning if one business model works better than another.

At least in Middle Eastern... the free performances often feed the for-pay performances. For example:
- Our troupe performed at a free venue - a sci fi convention that comped the day of our attendance and nothing else (in a place with expensive parking/difficult public transit) - our weird brand of humor and family style entertainment applealed to a young Mason (ie, a member of the Freemasons). He was in charge of organizing a Masonic event, and asked to book us. That gig was a hefty pay, and it led to several other gigs in the next two years, also for good money. We now dub ourselves Mason-Approved. :)

- Town Faire gigs often bring new students to schools
- Family/public gigs are a great opportunity to promote the form as something that can be good, family fun and trains our audience to treat dancers with respect, rather than as disposable sex objects.

Thinking of high school economics - dancers are in an unfavorable position. Like sports - it's both something people do for fun, and something people pay to watch. The competition is tremendous and the work model is such that it can be done around a full-time other job - creating more competitors. There's an intangible pay off in terms of fame and admiration that makes people willing to work for free or cheap - adding another form of competition. (last I checked, no one was in software engineering for the fame... and I have never gotten applause for completing a computer project on time and on budget) Demand is comparatively low - being a performing art - and a dance form outside the mainstream has even lower demand.

So... how to make a business out of it? I think that's something that a lot of folks are working on... and I've seen some pretty great and creative solutions.