Tag Archives: burlesque

Velvet Tongue Erotic Literary Soiree Pre-Halloween Fun and Filth

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I’ve been crowing for the past two months about how excited I am to be a guest at award winning poet, Ernesto Sarezle’s fabulous Velvet Tongue Erotic Literary Soiree coming up on the 29th of October at Bar Kick in Shoreditch. AND just in time for the release of novel two of my Lakeland Heatwave Trilogy, Riding the Ether, a paranormal erotic romp with ghosts and witches, sex magic and demons. I’ll be offering up a few naughty, maybe even scary tidbits.
Ernesto, more widely known as the Naked Poet, was kind enough to share a little bit with me about how the Velvet Tongue Erotic Literary Soiree came to be.
“Velvet Tongue started in February 2011. After many years considering the possibility of hosting an erotic literary event in London, I finally went for it when I was offered a fantastic venue, a sexy little gallery in Bethnal Green (Ten Gales) which, with its smart art deco style, adorned with lots of red drapery, proved to be the perfect setup for such an event. Sadly the gallery closed down and the second edition of VT had to be hosted in a new venue, where Velvet Tongue is still hosted. Luckily this new venue is also very special: the Bar Kick, a trendy sports bar in Shoreditch which, unbeknown to many of its punters, hides a charming little performance space in its dark basement.
For many years, I had been thinking that there was a niche for this kind of soirée. I was not aware of any other event like this in London (apart from an “erotic reading group” that gathers monthly to discuss erotic books) and I felt – rightly as it turns out – that there was a demand for it. Also, I had had experience organizing queer poetry nights (Glam Slam and – in the distant past – Homophone) which I quite enjoyed. But I wanted to try out something a bit more “polysexual” and more varied, including not only performance poetry but also other literary forms and performance approaches. Among events that have inspired me I can mention poetry open mic nights and literary salons in London. But VT is closer to an event called Perverts Put Out in which I once participated in San Francisco. The event, which normally coincides with the Folsom Street Fair in September, gives voice to alternative sexualities and lifestyles (so prominent in the Californian city).
What to expect at Velvet Tongue: If you are there as a member of the audience, the opportunity to hear the stimulating and diverse voices of people from all walks of life dealing with intimate aspects of their sexuality.  If you are a writer or performer, the opportunity to present your own erotically-themed material at one of the open mic slots (if there are any available; booking in advance by email is recommended) in front of an appreciative audience. To ensure quality literary standards I always invite three or more guest performers whose work I am familiar with and thus I know are going to deliver something exciting and worth listening to.
In the past two editions, there has been a good deal of flesh exposure, including full frontal, both male and female. But potential contributors should not be scared; rather, they should be excited and expectant at the prospect of performing in front of a warm, open minded and enthusiastic audience.”
Thank you, Ernesto!
I’m way too shy to get my kit off, but I’m not too shy to read about people who aren’t, and to read about all the fun they get up to once they do get their kit off. If you’re in London on Monday evening, the 29th, be sure to join the fun.
Hosted by Erotic Award winning poet, Ernesto Sarezale.This autumn, our featured writers are:

– K. D. Grace (novelist)
– S. P. Howarth (poet)with special appearances by:
Rubyyy Jones (burlesque artist)
& Itzi Urrutia (performance artist)Plus the usual open mic slotsand other surprises still to be confirmed.To get one of the (5 mins) open mic slots: email Ernesto (ernesto [at] sarezale.com).

Velvet Tongue
127 Shoreditch High Street, London. E1 6JE
(Old St/Liverpool St tubes)
7pm-10:30pm, £3

Delores Deluxe Talks Body Confidence the Burlesque Way

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One of the huge advantages of living so close to London is that I get the chance to rub shoulders with some of London’s most fascinating, most amazing people, and one of those people is the totally delicious Delores Deluxe.

Delores is an established performer, producer and promoter on the London burlesque and cabaret scene. She is a founder and leader of London’s longest running troupe,  The Kitten Club Burlesque Cabaret which have been performing around London for 7 years.

Delores also manages all the entertainments for Volupte, one of London’s premiere venues.

Having a 10 year background in classical acting and musical theatre, she was delighted to stumble into the emerging burlesque scene in London and to put her skills to an exciting new use. Delores has an all-star troupe of Kittens, all very successful in their own rights within the industry. She has led the troupe to many successes and glamorous accolades including two West End Shows, residencies at Volupte and Madame JoJo’s, Performances at Cafe de Paris, Claridges and Bush Hall and also regular musings on the airwaves of BBC London.

She takes her role of making the world a more glamorous and stylish place very seriously, campaigning for several global, worthy causes such as The Anti-Training Shoe Society, Unsightly Fleece and Hoody Awareness, Grey Underwear Anonymous and the recently formed Lipstick Association, ‘Keeping it Red’.

Delores is here today to tell us a little bit about something that effects us all, Body Confidence

KD: Welcome back to A Hopeful Romantic, Delores. It’s always a pleasure to have you here. Could you tell us what inspired you to begin a course on Body Confidence.

Delores: I have been working in burlesque for the last 8 years and started teaching burlesque around 3 years ago. After our shows, I was always amazed at the reaction from the women in the audience who would regularly come up and tell us, not just how much they’d enjoyed the show but also how inspiring they’d found it to see a variety of real women of different shapes and sizes onstage. They would often ask us for advice on anything from lingerie, corsetry, confidence, fashion and even their sex lives!?

When I started teaching burlesque more regularly with The House of Burlesque Academy, I found that a few ladies in the class would have real issues with their bodies and their confidence and would often ask to talk to me after the class to discuss these issues. I decided then there was probably a market for a class more tailored towards focussing on positive body image, perhaps with a burlesque twist!

KD: Men don’t seem to have the same issues with their bodies that women do, why do you think that is? Or do you think they’re just better at hiding it?

Delores: I think men, particularly younger men, have issues too, maybe they are just less open about discussing them?

KD: What do you see as the main cause for women’s over-all lack of body confidence?

Delores: I think there are many causes – I’m sure that many people have long term deep seated issues with their bodies that a couple of hours in a burlesque class won’t be able to address – I am not a psychologist! On a more general level, I do think the media, with airbrushed and enhanced images on every magazine, has set a very unrealistic ‘body ideal’ for most women

While I can understand that fashion magazines do, and have done this for years, my real hatred is for the newer celebrity magazines where we see women berated on the front cover for having lost or gained weight, wearing unflattering clothes or nipping out without make-up. This sets a really dangerous example and puts enormous pressure on all women, particularly younger girls who feel they have to look a certain way to be accepted.

KD: Do you think women’s attitudes toward their bodies are getting better or worse with all of the interconnectedness of the internet and social media?

Delores: There are definite negatives and positives to the internet – the digital age of Photoshop (or similar) means that so many images we see online are not real and while this does make the pressure and negativity widespread, it can also offer support and positivity.

I’ve had horrible things said about images of me online in the past but these days I choose not to read them!

Delores: Self-acceptance! I try to focus on the fact that we are all individual and unique and to bring in the burlesque theory that there is no ideal, it’s about being the perfect version of yourself.

KD: What do you think is most detrimental to our body confidence?

Delores: Our own judgement – we shouldn’t compare or try to be something or someone we’re not. I also think it’s absolutely vital to be aware of body shape and type and dress accordingly – looking like a million dollars in something that really suits your figure will do great things for your confidence.

KD: It seems to me that pop culture and air brush mag covers and cosmetic surgery readily available for a price take their toll on any woman’s body confidence. How can we combat that influence when we’re surrounded by it every day?

Delores: We have to be realistic and recognise it for what it is. Look around you? You can see that most women don’t look like the models on the covers of magazines and that attractiveness really is a lot more than a flawless face and perfect body.

KD: In the burlesque performances I’ve seen, I notice that there are women of all body sizes and shapes, and the confidence and sensuality all of these women exude on stage is amazing. Why, and how, does burlesque helps build body confidence?

Delores: Burlesque is a very feminine art form –  the costuming alone encourages positive body image by focussing on accentuating curves and celebrating being womanly. It also makes us look slightly differently at what is sexy,  perhaps seeing things as they were in the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s when women’s bodies weren’t under the pressure they are now and a feminine figure was something to be aspired to.

It’s also important to remember that most professional burlesque performers will have had a background in acting, singing or dance so they are trained performers with talent, skill and personality which does breed a confidence that is very attractive and seductive.

Personally having spent my previous career in acting and musical theatre, burlesque was a breath of fresh air for me, finally being celebrated for being unique and individual rather than feeling like the odd one out a lot of the time!

KD: How much does our attitude toward our bodies influence the other areas of our lives?

Delores: Very much so! I think feeling bad about any part of ourselves will be likely to have a negative impact elsewhere.

KD: What regimen would you put women on, if you could, to improve our body confidence.

Delores: I think to focus on making the most of what we have – a Gok Wan approach if you like! Celebrate, dress up, draw attention to your best attributes and get to feeling happy in your own skin.

KD: Tell us a bit about the Body Confidence classes. When are they available? Where? Who can participate? How can we sign up?

Delores: Studies show that women are up to ten times more likely to have a negative body image than men. This is unsurprising when you consider how much emphasis is placed on the ‘thin is beautiful’ message in today’s media. Celebrity magazines constantly bombard us with unflattering images of women, badly photographed, emblazoned with vicious tag lines of how they have gained or lost weight and therefore failing to live up to this ridiculous and un-natural body ideal that society deems acceptable.

We ladies of burlesque are here to help! We do not endorse any of this awfulness. Our industry is made up of women of all body types, shapes and sizes, all of them equally fabulous, sexy and successful with no sense of competition or ideal.

This workshop will look at the way we see ourselves and challenge how we feel about our bodies. We will be encouraging positive body image by creating a burlesque character that is the perfect version of ourselves – focusing on the things we do like, learning to accept the things we don’t and how we can make the most of what we have, regardless of size or shape to begin to accept ourselves as truly unique, beautiful and sexy….. with a little burlesque twist!

The classes are starting at Sh! Women’s Erotic Emporium – the first one is on the 27th September at 6.30pm

£25 (includes bubbly and cupcakes!)

Sh! Store
57 Hoxton Square London. N1 6HD

020 7613 5458 or book online:

www.sh-womenstore.com

Delores can be contacted via her PA, Miss Jillian George–Lewis

You can find Delores Here:

www.shwomenstore.com
www.volupte-lounge.com
www.thekittenclub.com
www.houseofburlesque.co.uk

 

 

 

Spring Forward! Fun, Filth, and Fiction!

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Every once in a while I get out of my cave for a little fun and entertainment, and Wednesday last was one of those times. The delectable Rubyyy Jones was able to secure tickets for the Erotic Meet folks to see a performance of the critically acclaimed show, Burlexe. I love burlesque! I love the costumes, I love the women, I love the glitz, I love the music and I love the delicious, saucy bawdiness of it all. I especially love that burlesque is very much a woman’s world. Women make the rules. Women run the show.

Burlexe is unique in that it isn’t just an amazing burlesque show, but it’s also a series of short vignettes between the performances in which women tell their stories of how they got into burlesque. The stories are diverse, and in some cases very surprising. They range from the story of a banker by day, burlesque performer by night who gets outed, to a young widowed mother who needs to support her children, to a woman with bi-polar disorder who discovers burlesque balances her. The performances were bawdy funny glitzy burlesque at its best, and the monologues were gritty, moving and often disturbing. If you’ve not seen this fabulous performance yet, then get thee to the Shadow Lounge in Soho and do so!

Filthy Mouths and Evil Tongues

Friday night brought another trip into London for my first reading with the talented, amazing and sexy women of Filthy Mouths and Evil Tongues. I don’t mind telling you I was a little bit nervous sharing the floor at Sh! Hoxton with the likes of Elizabeth N. Spire, Molly Moor, Lady Grinning Soul, Mia Lee, Annie Player, Sarah Berry, The Dragon King’s Daughter and the incomparable Mel Jones. Oh, the evening was so naughty! The place was heaving, fizz was flowing, many choccie cupcakes were eaten. As always, the Sh! Ladiez were fantastic, and the shopping was as yummy and filthy as the performances.

Novellas

Next month I’ll have my first ever novella released. In fact I’ll have two novellas released almost at the same time. I’d never written a novella before, and I was intrigued and excited to try my hand at writing something in the 20-40 thousand word range. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the paciness the shorter length provided, and yet the space to explore characters and plot more thoroughly than I would have been able to in a short story. Novellas are a happy medium, indeed, and a lovely change. I hope I have the opportunity to do it again. In the meantime, I’m getting very excited as the release dates draw near.

The Secret Library

I’m very proud to be included in the debut volume of Xcite Books ground-breaking new collection of books called The Secret Library. Each volume has a gorgeous, very discrete, velvet cover. Inside each cover are three very naughty novellas. I’m very honoured to have my very nasty road-trip story, Migrations, included in The Secret Library volume called Traded Innocence. Also included is Toni Sands’s title story, Traded Innocence and Elizabeth Coldwell’s story, Cooking Up Trouble. Deliciously sexy stories in gorgeous, discrete covers written by some of the hottest erotica writers in the field are bound to be a big hit. I’ll be talking more about The Secret Library, Traded Innocence and Migrations very soon.

Mischief

I’m also very pleased to have my novella, Surrogates, included in Harper Collins’s brand new eBook line of erotica, Mischief. And very aptly named now that the cat is out of the bag, and the list of writers creating Mischief are among the nastiest and the best in the business. I’m very pleased to be in such filthy company. As for my novella, Surrogates, well it’s a garden porn ménage at its nastiest, and just in time for spring.

My Other Babies

With Body Temperature and Rising being my first paranormal erotic novel, in many ways it feels like The Pet Shop and Body Temperature and Rising are contemporaries in my writing timeline. While Body Temperature and Rising keeps getting great reviews and is the main topic of my guest posts on other sites at the moment, The Pet Shop continues to get fab reviews and grow in popularity alongside Body Temperature and Rising. Of course I’m very glad to see this, as I love all my babies and the release time was short between The Pet Shop and Body Temperature and Rising.

In writing news, I’ve finished the first draft of the second Lakeland Heatwave novel, Riding the Ether, and have begun book three, Elemental Fire, which is stalled at the moment due to a much-needed catch-up on PR and admin. I hope to return to my efforts next week. As the two novels are set only a few months apart in the timeline, I have decided to write them pretty much as though they were one continuous narrative, which will give me a good sense of continuity with the two and also, maybe even more important, keep me from feeling too much empty nest syndrome in between the finishing of one and the beginning of the next.

That’s the week in a nutshell. And a busy week it’s been. Here’s wishing you all a fabulous Spring Forward!

The Fabulous Delores Deluxe Talks Burlesque

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KD: I’m very excited to have the fabulous Delores Deluxe on A Hopeful Romantic today. Delores is the best person I know to reveal to us a little of the delicious mystery that is burlesque.

Welcome Delores! I’m absolutely thrilled to have you as my guest. I have a confession to make; you’re one of my fantasy guestsJ I’m dying to know how did you get into burlesque, how did you get to be Mummy Kitten of the Kitten Club?

DD: I originally trained as an actor and was working as such for about 7 years. I was offered an audition to be part of a cabaret burlesque troupe that was about to be set up. I didn’t really know what burlesque was but I had a feeling I would like it!

I did the audition and was totally hooked – it offered so much of what I really enjoyed doing and obviously the opportunity to wear corsets for a living! I took a decision to turn down a much bigger theatre contract and do the pilot of the burlesque show which I ended up co-running with Kitten Blue and was named The Kitten Club.

Kitten Blue eventually moved to Vancouver with her Canadian Tomcat and I took over the business and show in London and haven’t looked back!

KD: I attended a burlesque teaser taught by one of your kittens, Tempest Rose, over at Sh! Women’s Emporium close to a year ago now, and one of the ideas that I found most striking, that made me want to learn more about burlesque, was the idea of women, not only in control of, but celebrating their femininity and their sexuality. What happens on stage at a burlesque performance seems so much different from what happens at a strip club. Could I ask you to address the differences and your views of those differences?

DD: Burlesque shows and strip clubs, as far as I’m concerned, have very little, if any, common ground.  Striptease is only a small element of what burlesque is but I think many people associate that with stripping and strippers.

Burlesque is an art form which is as wide and varied as any other, while there is an element of striptease,  there is also great emphasis on skill, storyline, costuming,  comedy, message and spectacle. The point of a burlesque act is not how much clothing is removed but rather to entertain, tittilate and even educate!

Strip clubs are traditionally for men. Burlesque clubs are frequented by everyone ; couples, groups, hen parties, celebrations and a large percentage of our audiences tend to be women.

The performers are all in control of their acts which they will have created themselves and are being specifically booked and paid for. Although burlesque is sexy, it is not designed to ‘arouse’ men, nor is it gratuitous or sleazy.

KD: Perhaps this is a good place to ask for Delores Deluxe’s definition of burlesque.

DD: Burlesque is a sexy, sassy and skilled theatrical performance.  Its roots are in variety and music

KD: I’ve only read sketchy histories of burlesque, which I’ve found totally fascinating, but I’m very interested to know what you see as the major differences between early burlesque and the recent revival of burlesque?

DD: There are many different types and styles of burlesque.  British burlesque (traditional burlesque), American burlesque (classic burlesque), neo burlesque – also  there is the Berlin cabaret and even Moulin Rouge. We are very lucky in London to have one of the most thriving scenes in the world at the moment.

Modern burlesque is amazing and unique in that we have so much history to look at and take inspiration from and you will see an astounding diversity of style at any one show, coupled with performers putting their own stamp and creating modern routines with contemporary music and style with ideas inspired by our burlesque ancestors.  Burlesque is very specific to the time it’s created. Traditionally, it would send up high art or make a political statement or commentary which you can definitely see on our scene.  I think the major difference would be the position of women in society now – many of our shows and venues are produced and run by women so it’s a very feminine strain of show business.

KD: What makes the Kitten Club brand of burlesque unique?

DD: The Kitten Club has a very ‘tongue in cheek’ style and the show is fairly quirky – I guess that comes from me and the type of act I find funny! We often describe ourselves as ‘Carry on Burlesque’ in style in that we really like to use parody, send things up and definitely don’t take ourselves too seriously!

KD: As well as performing at Madame JoJo’s and Volupte, you and the Kittens also offer burlesque courses through The House of Burlesque, and one of those course which I’d like to talk more about is a course to boost women’s body confidence. I don’t know many women who couldn’t use a bit of body confidence boosting. Could you share with us how that course came about?

DD: It came out of many things, firstly burlesque made me realise there is no one ideal. Having been an actor for years and often being made to feel like a freak of nature for not being a 5’4’’ size 8, chorus line blondie or just not being seen for certain jobs at all because I was the wrong size or shape. Finding burlesque was a massive confidence boost at the time and gave me the opportunity to challenge what pigeon hole people might put you in.

I found that many of the women who came to our shows would often approach us afterwards to tell us how much they enjoyed the show and seeing a variety of  women with different body shapes. They would often want to talk about themselves and their hang ups ,  ask us about costuming, corsets etc and ask for advice on how they could buy similar. I also found this in the burlesque classes I was teaching – women wanted something more so I set up a body confidence class, which challenges women to look at themselves differently and focus on positive body image.

KD: If you could give women one piece of advice that would help them boost their confidence about their bodies, what would it be?

DD: Ignore the media  – abandon celebrity magazines!

KD: I think that may be the best advice EVER, Delores! Thanks! That leads me to my next question. The gorgeous costumes aside, what has always struck me most about my limited encounters with burlesque is the unabashed, downright joyous celebration of feminine beauty. Is there something in the psychology of burlesque that just brings out the inner feminine?

DD: Burlesque is very elegant, sensuous and voluptuous. Curves are greatly revered and the syle of performance means that parts of our bodies we are conditioned to dislike are portrayed as sexy, beautiful and perfect.

KD: Burlesque has an amazing history, and is enjoying an exciting revival. Where do you see that revival leading?

DD: Long may it continue! Cabaret is fast becoming a number one night out. Time Out now has its own cabaret section with many people choosing a night out at a burlesque show rather than the theatre. There are so many clever shows on the scene with performers and producers really looking at new, exciting ways to interpret the style

I can only see it going from strength to strength with the wealth of talent and vibrance we have in the cabaret community.

KD: As the New Year begins, what does the future hold for Delores Deluxe and the Kitten Club?

DD: The Kittens are raring to go for 2012. The Kittens themselves, Vixen de Ville, Tempest Rose, Vicious Delicious and Tomcat, Christian Lee, are all also well established, successful solo performers on the scene as well as being part of the troupe. We will be continuing our residencies at Volupte and Madame Jojo’s and are looking at hopefully taking the show further afield later this year for a few one-off dates.

KD: Where can we see the Kitten Club perform?

DD: We work at Volupte – a fabulous dinner cabaret club just off Chancery Lane with an amazing cocktail bar and kitchen. We perform here twice a month – you can see full details of dates and book a delicious night out at www.volupte-lounge.com. We also perform at one of the oldest and most established cabaret clubs, Madame Jojo’s.  We perform here on the second Sunday of every month and details are on our own website www.thekittenclub.com.

Come and join us!

KD: At my request, Delores has added a special bonus to this post, an introduction to that most mysterious and intimidating of all garments, the one that awes and terrifies. Yep, that’s right, the corset.

Corsets for the faint hearted!

There are two main styles of corset – overbust and underbust. They do pretty
much what they say on the tin!
Over bust covers your boobs
Underbust sits just under your boobs (can be worn with a dress, bra etc on
top)

Corsets come in various lengths  – depending on your preference, you can
have a longline which will cover yout hips or a regular length that will sit
just on or above your hips (depending on your height, build and shape)

They are measured by your waist – always read the information from whichever
paricular corsetier you are buying from but as general rule, you would buy
one 4 – 5 inches smaller than your natural waist measurement.

The corset has a front fastening known as busks – these are little steel
clips and the back of the corset is laced with the loops in the middle.

To put a corset on, you loosen the laces at the back and fasten the clips at
the front (I find top clip, bottom clip then the middle ones the easiest
sequence, but again, up to the individual)
The corset is then tightened by pulling on the laces at the back to get the
desired hourglass shape!
You can buy a steel boned or soft boned corset. The soft boned ones will not
give the same shape and waist reduction as the steel ones but are more
comfortable to wear as the boning is made of a firm rubber rather than spun
steel rods.

With the current trend for burlesque, you can now buy corsets in many high
street stores, however most of these are not of very good quality. Never buy
a plastic boned corset unless you are only planning to wear it once  or
twice as the bones will bend out of shape very quickly and ruin the look of
the corset.

I recommend investing in a steel boned one. Wear it at home for a few hours
to get used to it and it will start to mould to your own shape. Never lend
it to anyone else!
Once you get used to them, they are real fun to wear, can totally transform
an outfit and will maximise your shape, regardless of your natural figure to
make you look super feminine and curvy!

KD: Thanks, Delores! It’s been an absolute pleasure having you on A Hopeful Romantic. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing you and the Kittens perform again soon!

Burlesque: Women in Control

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Last night I participated in an introduction to burlesque class taught by the fabulous Tempest Rose, one of the famous Kitten Club kittens. A group of eight women gathered at Sh! Women’s Erotic Emporium off Hoxton Square. Most of us only really knew that Burlesque involves beautiful costumes, sometimes strip tease and stage performances, all done by very sexy women. We spent the evening learning to shimmy, and bump and grind, learning to use our bodies and faces to convey our emotions, and learning about the costumes and props of burlesque. (I’m pretty sure Sh! had a last-minute run on nipple tassels at the end of the evening.) The class culminated in our ‘graduation exercise’ — a glove strip-tease. The glove was the only item of clothing removed during the evening. (Unless you count a pair of VERY uncomfortable, nose-bleed stilettos that got tossed in the corner after a few attempts at bump and grind.)

I had no idea a simple glove could be such a sensual tool, nor that it could convey so much. Tempest told us that though strip tease is often apart of burlesque, a burlesque performer never takes off everything. In fact, a burlesque performer views the items of her costume as props rather than clothing. She said she begins a performance with some props, and by the end of the performance, she has less props.

The literal meaning of burlesque is to ‘send up,’ or to make a joke of. Its literary forms can be traced back to Chaucer’s bawdy Canterbury Tales. According to Wikipedia, Burlesque is a humorous theatrical entertainment involving parody and sometimes grotesque exaggeration. Burlesque sometimes parodies the higher performance arts – ballet, opera, poetry. It often, parodies the male and female relationship, and usually at the expense of the blokes. The form is often associated with a variety show and striptease.

What makes burlesque unique, according to Tempest, is that female sensuality and the female form are always at the centre of burlesque. What I found most striking about the evening, as I did the first time I saw Tempest introducing an audience to burlesque at Sh! Portobello, was the sensual female power that is the driving force of burlesque. That power was the reason I wanted to learn more. Tempest told us that in burlesque, the woman is always in control. It is in her power to reveal or conceal what she chooses in her own time. When curves and female sensuality are emphasized, the result is not only beautiful, but also very powerful.

Tempest demonstrated to us how female control in burlesque is shown in the stances and the movements of the performer. She showed us how the angular, sensual stances emphasized in burlesque showcase the female form, emphasizing sensuality and curves. The result is an art form that is 100% female powered. And the sense of that power appeals to both men and women.

She contrasted that to what a stripper might do at a strip club, where the stances are open and straight on, emphasizing what is between the legs. The movements suggest the sex act itself, and emphasizing a man’s point of view.

It was a girl-powered evening, with each of us showcasing our own unique female sensuality. There was pink fizz, silky gloves, corsets, lace, and laughter, and at the centre of it all we were in control. As a woman writing erotica for women, I like that a lot.