The First Time

My first public burlesque performance (outside of a classroom and in front of more people than just classmates and the teacher) was July 2007.  A few months before I learned that burlesque was still in fashion.  I jumped at every opportunity to learn.  When a choreography class was presented by Jewel of Denial out in the desert (about an hour and a half from my home in L.A.), I reserved my spot ASAP and marked it in my calendar.  It was the major event for my summer, like kids getting out of school and waiting for the one week of camp in the middle of the summer.

It was hotter than hell out there, but it was life changing.  Jewel spent two hours teaching us this number and we performed that night.  You can see me look over to her to see where we are in the choreography at one point.  The pasties I flash were from the workshop I took earlier the same day from Venus deMille.  I still make my pasties the way I learned in her class.