Aside from Tequila and Fifi, the group hadn’t been inducted in the naughty world of burlesque.  The majority of the ladies were from the US and were soon shaking and shimmying like the famous American burlesque legends.  After perfecting a ladylike ‘S shape’ pose which I explained can be used to get men to carry your Asda shopping for you, the group threw themselves into the Broadway style burlesque posing routine with aplomb.  As a special request I taught the group one of Tequila’s favourite routines, a sultry Jessica Rabbit inspired burlesque number, which is sexy, understated and stylish – and the ladies did me proud.  And from the sublime to the naughty, we finished with some world-class tassel twirling action, where the group discovered a new party trick which I believe should be listed in a CV under ‘other skills’.

We would love to teach a burlesque hen party or burlesque birthday party in Edinburgh for you – get in touch!

Gypsy Charms

We’ll take you through a fun hour of burlesque basics, including posing, slinking, strutting and shimmying – you’ll never stand the same at a bus stop again! If you’ve already done a taster, pop along too; you can impress the newbies with your expert S-shape pose. Just wear comfortable clothes you can move in, and you might like to bring a pair of small heels. Although it’s totally free, we just need to know who’s coming, so do drop me an email on viva@burlesqueandcabaret.com

Date is Sunday 5 February 2012, 3-4pm at Rhiwbina Memorial Hall, 1 Lon Ucha, Cardiff, CF14 6HL. Age 18+, ladies only (sorry guys).

See you there!

We’re also now booking for a 6-week Burlesque Beginners course, running on Thursday nights from Thursday 23 February from 7.30-8.30pm at the same venue: Rhiwbina Memorial Hall, 1 Lon Ucha, Rhiwbina, Cardiff CF14 6HL. Cost is £36 for the six-week course and you can pay through the Paypal button on our Cardiff burlesque page, or enter the email address info@burlesqueandcabaret.com into your Paypal account or email me for bank transfer/cheque details. Details about the course on the same page.

Viva Misadventure

As is very often the case, the lovely bride-to-be had no idea what her friends had planned for her, and looked bemused (and a little shocked) when I descended on the group with my hair in a 50s pin-up style, and in my regulation Charm School Top, pink shorts and killer heels.  After assuring her I wasn’t about to subject her to some form of hen party torture that involved jazz dance, we proceeded on our journey through the naughty world of burlesque.

After making the hen guess the theme of the party by dressing her up in a corset and tutu, the ladies settled into the serious business of learning how to pose like a pin-up queen (although, according to some of the girls, standing still when hung-over was very challenging!), peeling like a professional and tassel-twirling.  Assuring the group that dance wasn’t an essential part of being a burlesque goddess put them at ease as they learned that stagecraft – acting – was the most important part of burlesque.

By the end of our time together, the Elgin Follies, as they are now known, were ready to strut and slink down Union Street and through Aberdeen’s nightlife hotspots – we hope they had a fun night, and girls, do send us some photos!

We hope to see you for your burlesque hen party in Aberdeen! Contact us on info@burlesqueandcabaret.com or through our Contact page.

Gypsy Charms

I performed two numbers: my high (ouch) kicking showgirl number with a large pink love heart chair, and a brand new act called Glittering Temptations where I play a jewellery thief who gets carried away with the contents of her swag-bag… with a narrative twist at the end! Slight technical hitch when the music cut out after 20 seconds, leaving me standing on stage in silence. Oh no! The music did start from the beginning again, which I thought gave me those 20 seconds to steal a drink from an obliging front-row audience member. Well, no point repeating the intro!

I met the lovely Susie Sequin, Daisy Champage, Primrose Proper and local burlesque troupe the Sextembers. Holding it all together was the fab Lilly Laudanum who performed a spectacular Lizzie Borden act.

And the audience! Best. Audience. Ever. Everyone entered into the spirit of it and was out to enjoy themselves. I’ve never heard such loud applause, whoops and cheers.  Bluestocking Lounge is a great night out for anyone close to Swansea.

Viva Misadventure

Apart from being interrupted on two separate occasions by male neighbours (“we’re looking for our kitten”. Hmmm. No rude jokes please), we had an undisturbed two hours of burlesque fun and frolics. Contact us for your burlesque hen party in Bath!

Viva Misadventure

The classes took place in a private curtained-off area, which meant that although no-one could see us, they could hear me bellowing, “… and… BIG SHIMMY!” at regular intervals.

I met some lovely new Cardiff burlesquers-to-be whose homework before the Cardiff burlesque classes start is to think up their burlesque name.

Cardiff burlesque classes will start again in February 2012, with a FREE TASTER (whoop whoop) on Sunday 5 February 2012, 3-4pm at Rhiwbina Memorial Hall, 1 Lon Ucha, Cardiff, CF14 6HL. This is a totally free burlesque class, but you must email viva@burlesqueandcabaret.com to book your place.

Hope to see you there!

Viva Misadventure

The famous Edinburgh club night has had a multitude of world renowned performers entertain over its 14 years of keeping the spirit of Las Vegas alive in the Scottish capital, but this is the first year that there has been a full cabaret show as part of the club’s New Year’s Eve (or Hogmanay, as we like to say) offerings.  We were delighted to be asked to provide some sassy burlesque entertainment as part of the bill.

Entertaining the high spirited crowd was our very own Gypsy Charms.  She kicked off the cabaret with a Las Vegas inspired burlesque striptease and fan dance to some classic burlesque tunes.  The show had a wealth of fantastic acts from across the UK to get the NYE party started from high kicking dancers to beautiful burlesque balloon pops, with the event hosted by the indomitable Frank Sanazi.  Gypsy and our good friend, boylesquer Mr Impressive Johnson ended the cabaret with a recession-inspired act to The Lady is a Tramp – it has an upbeat ending as Gypsy reveals her inner ‘lady’ after a burlesque transformation from being a ‘tramp’, with the aid of her prop: a wheelbarrow. Dita von Teese and her martini glass? Pah!

After dancing furiously with Gypsy and Miss Sass Galore – another member of our showgirl troupe and a favourite teacher of our Edinburgh burlesque hen parties – to everything from Elvis to the Proclaimers we settled down to watch a Vegas! regular, the lovely Missy Malone. After yet more dancing, and a wee tipple or two, Gypsy performed one of my favourite of her acts, her White Nights burlesque striptease.  You can a version of it on Youtube here: Gypsy Charms, Edinburgh burlesque dancer. Well… every event needs a good burlesque act to make it even better. And then… yet more dancing!

A fantastic way to spend New Year in Edinburgh – boobs, bums, burlesque and banter. Here’s to 2012!

Viva Misadventure

As Edinburgh born-and-bred girls, both Gypsy and Viva have had the pleasure of teaching at Dance Base, Scotland’s National Centre for Dance.  This is the sixth year our Edinburgh burlesque classes have strutted their stuff, and they never fail to raise both a smile and an eyebrow!  This year the theme for the burlesque class’s routine was The Alternative Office Party.  Using the traditional office party theme, we added a burlesque twist, where the infamous Scottish boylesquer Impressive Johnson who is (as usual) having no luck with the ladies at the annual office do, ends up falling asleep in a drunken stupor.  He then dreams of his ideal Christmas office party…  and to the happy beat of Hot Chocolate’s ‘You Sexy Thing’, our hero is surrounded by the ladies of the office wielding beautiful fans who proceed to perform a showgirl style burlesque dance around him as he strips off his tuxedo.  Then, as you would expect, his dream turns towards the ladies’ garments, as he imagines them performing a stunning burlesque striptease.  Obliging him, our Edinburgh burlesque ladies proceed to strip out of their glam evening wear to the burlesque classic ‘The Man with the Golden Arm’ to whoops, cheers and saucy noises from the audience.

It was a raucous, glam, so wrong yet utterly right end to a great year of Edinburgh burlesque.

Gypsy Charms

Contact us for burlesque classes in Edinburgh and burlesque hen parties in Edinburgh

SuperSexy brought burlesque and DJs together in Oban’s Argyllshire Halls.   I headed on up to the Highlands to provide Oban with burlesque entertainment.  The event’s host Gem did a fantastic job of overseeing the event as well as adding a touch of glamour to Oban. I began with a seductive American burlesque act, followed by a classic burlesque striptease and fan dance, and finished the night with a bang with a traditional burlesque act – a balloon pop.

The event was a roaring success, and while Oban was suitably cold the temperature at the Argyll Halls just kept rising as burlesque shimmied its way into the Highlands.

Contact us for burlesque performers in Scotland – just click on our Contact page.

Gypsy Charms

Photos courtesy of Kevin Wyllie Photography

A theme makes a difference – how about Moulin Rouge, burlesque, ‘80s or Grease? Getting a group of your friends together and dressing up (with a glass of wine or two) is all part of the fun. We recommend having a dance class party to match your theme (well, we would…)

We run showgirl Christmas parties with loads of formation dance routines which touch on old-style feather-clad showgirl glamour and take you right up to date with Pussycat Doll Lounge-style raunchier showgirl work.

We were in Las Vegas over the summer and were surprised to see the lack of traditional shows on The Strip… yes, it seems showgirls circa 2011 are not so much about Busby Berkley formations and Moulin Rouge feather backpacks, but more about the raunchy commercial dance, girls undressing each other and giant swings over the audience. We still like! We love Fantasy at the Luxor, we were a bit mmmehh about Holly Madison in Peepshow.

A burlesque Christmas party class introduces you to the retro staples of posing, peeling and teasing. And you might like to head over to Charm School, our sister site, for many more fun party ideas. An ‘80s class has tasters of Dirty Dancing, Fame, Flashdance and Footloose – just the thing for those of you (and that includes us) old enough to remember Footloose the first time around, while a Grease party is the ideal opportunity to let your inner bad-girl come to light – after all, you’re only emulating Sandy. A dance party is the perfect antidote to the usual over-indulgent Christmas party season and the calories burned surely gives you the perfect excuse for that extra mince pie!

Then, post dance class, a great idea is to play some themed games – how about best glove removal for burlesque, or our favourite, Pin the Tassel on the Burlesquer? (Best do it with a poster if you’re using pins… if you’re feeling a bit more risqué, just use a tasselers’ favourite, B&Q double-sided sticky tape and do it for real!) Or, as one of our more memorable parties told us, they had a competition post-burlesque lesson to see who could get the most boys to kiss their feet! Burlesque goddesses indeed!

Gypsy and Viva