How I Lost and Found My Mojo

So, last month's fan show with Red Snapper was an enormous success, one that ended in us sealing a deal with the venue to become an exclusive deal with them. So happy to say that our little troupe has its very own home at Juanita's Cantina in Little Rock! WINNING!

Before the show, though, I must admit that I'd lost my costuming mojo. Normally, I absolutely love putting costuming together for a show, but I just couldn't make myself motivated enough to work on costumes for this one. I finally FORCED myself into the fabric store and made myself sit down and start stitching. Lesson learned-- when I lose my mojo, gotta force myself to start working. Unfortunately, I didn't force myself in enough time to really get the costumes looking the way I wanted and was stuck tweaking them until the day of show. Looking at the pictures from the show, I'm satisfied, but not overwhelmed with joy at how they turned out, so I plan on doing further work before I present those numbers again.

After the show, got incredibly sick (read: mono AND strep simultaneously; I hit the medical jackpot), which left me on bed rest for nearly a week. Whilst in bed, I scrolled through a ton of vintage advertisements and pin up pictures and ended up getting a TON of inspiration for new acts (one even hit me so hard, I nearly jumped out of bed).  And, of course, now that I have my costume mojo going, I can't leave the house to get anything to work on. :)

So, lesson learned again-- when stuck for inspiration, scroll through old pictures to get my brain moving.

Just a couple of thoughts for anyone going through something similar.

Summer and Silent Films

It's oppressively hot here in Arkansas. I mean, more than you'd imagine. We've got temperatures over 100 degrees, and once you add the heavy humidity to that, it's not unusual to have temperatures in the hundred-teens. It's too hot to think! So, it's not unusual that I've been slacking on my exercise (sweat MORE? why??) and diet (but ice cream HELPS!) and feeling like a bloated slug. Snapping back into maintenance mode as of tomorrow to get in better shape for the Memphis Burlesque Showcase.

Speaking of Memphis, I've had several people asking what act I'll be using. The answer: I will actually be debuting a new piece! I'm in the midst of fabulous-izing my costume pieces (read: adding glitter and rhinestones), and will be wearing a couple of custom pieces. Our fantastic stage butler, Puss, is working on a black and white outfit for me, and uber-fan Kat has agreed to make some sparkly pasties for me, which I'm very excited about. Still have a prop or two to locate, but the choreography is already locked into my head and ready to run.

I've been feeling particularly inspired by silent movies lately. It started when I was was looking to see if there was anything with Clara Bow on Netflix (anybody who knows me knows my obsession with Clara), and I fell in love with the acting style used in older films.  Burlesque dancers, take my advice and watch some classic movies. Since the audience couldn't hear vocal tone, they had to express all emotion with their faces, which is EXACTLY how dancers need to use their faces while dancing! Plus, I'm loving the 1920's slang used in the title cards.