Stripper's Holiday Photos

I have to tell you, Stripper's Holiday (the intensive week-ish) was one of the best educational experiences I've had as a dancer; Stripper's Holiday (the show) was tons of fun.  Here are some awesome photos from Jeffrey Millies of Pez Photography.

Dance Class Challenge: 30/100 - Act Review at Stripper's Holiday

Our last official class was yesterday afternoon. We performed our revamped numbers for one another and for feedback from Michelle. Everyone's number was tighter. Her suggestions were spot on. Everything paid off in both shows tonight.

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Dance Class Challenge: 29/100 - Fan Technique at Stripper's Holiday

I have Michelle's fan video at home and I've studied fan with a few people, but I did pick up a few tricks to polish up my fan acts that I didn't have before. Rosie Bitts and I split a pair of fans between us so those who've had less fan training could work with full sets. This resulted in some hilarity with the two of us acting like siamese twins with fans. It was a great time.

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Dance Class Challenge: 28/100 - Independent Study at Stripper's Holiday

I can only imagine what you're thinking. 'Cheater! Independent study as a class?!' We worked long enough and hard enough on implementing our notes from the act review sessions for it to count. (Michelle reworked the schedule to give us this time to work.) We all went to the studio, found a corner or a space in the mirror, and put the notes on their feet. It was great working through it with giant mirror.

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Dance Class Challenge: 27/100 - Choreography Technique at Stripper's Holiday

This particular class can be summed up nicely as such: burlesque obstacle course. I learned not to race through my actions, totally applicable outside of class.

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Dance Class Challenge: 26/100 - Tease Technique at Stripper's Holiday

Yesterday we had another round of Tease Technique after a nice stretch. The choreography was easier the second day. I'm still working to correct some of my bad habits but at least I recognize them when I do them. Today is our last round. I hope my tiredness doesn't prevent me from rocking it.

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Stripper's Holiday: Music Theory with Franky Vivid

While we got an abbreviated version of Franky's class, it was amazing. He talked about how to select a song and the the song choice guide the choreography. He talked about the blues scale and beats. We listened to some great examples of music they used in burlesque clubs back in the day. It was perfect for the music nerd in me, and really helped me figure out where to go with a couple of my newer numbers.

As a side note, Frankie is one of the nicest people. I'm glad we got a photo with him at Lucha last night.

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Dance Class Challenge: 25/100 - Boa Work at Stripper's Holiday

Our boa class was short and full of tricks. I have Michelle's boa DVD. She taught different tricks in class. It was awesome. Great way to end the day of classes. We've all been pow-wowing the business of burlesque since.

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Dance Class Challenge: 24/100 - Act Review at Stripper's Holiday

Four of us had our acts reviewed today. It was nice hearing feedback on the other acts. Michelle's notes on my number were exactly what I needed. I ran my number again when I got back to the apartment to implement the notes. Watch out, kids. Shit's about to get real. :)

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Dance Class Challenge: 23/100 - Choreography Technique at Stripper's Holiday

Dear reader, you're only getting little teasers of the classes I'm taking. We addressed musicality in this class, and Michelle pointed out some of our bad habits to be corrected. I learned in acting class not to rely too heavily on my bag of tricks. I guess I should do the same as a dancer.

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Dance Class Challenge: 22/100 - Tease Technique at Stripper's Holiday

The first class today was Tease Technique. Without giving away the farm, I can tell you I learned some tricks for working a big stage and creating pretty, confident body lines. Also Michelle is a fun teacher.

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Dance Class Challenge: 20/100 - Intermediate/Advanced Burlesque at Stripper's Holiday

I took Michelle's class on the spur of the moment, freshly dressed between the arrival of my flight and the evening Naked Girls Reading Book Club. Sure, I was dressed like a 1950s housewife, but I did the entire class.

I love the way Michelle teaches. I look forward to tomorrow.

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