Hi there! This post is all about me going through a twisty-turvy creation project where one act idea met another and then another and came out kinda magic. I hope this dive into my process can be a helpful model or mirror for your own creativity! But, really I’m doing it as much to process my own material as for anyone else. So, take it or leave it my friends. The video will give you the visual elements of the story I’m telling. It goes well with the writing so definitely check it out and then read the details below if you’re interested.
November 2019 : Made an act I dubbed “Royalty” on request for something in this thematic at my regular nightclub gig, Club La Voute. Turned out pretty great! Was also just a straight forward striptease that I could adapt to the tiny rolling stage we push into the club for my shows. This was the first time I started using some of my acrobatic chair work with a finale that brings me upside down, legs spread eagle.
January 2020: I take the elements of “Royalty” and mix them with the flow and giant skirt prop of “Miss King Crimson” I debuted at the Montreal Burlesque Festival (see that act on video here). I needed something big and impressive for the giant space at the Taboo Show - a trade show for all things sexy. But I also needed it to be accessible to a very newbie and suburban audience so I didn’t want to bring the Oz meet S&M piece. What came out was something pretty fun given the very short time we had to prepare (we got the contract at the very last minute of course). But, my big mistake was the choice of music for the majority of the piece. It wasn’t as punchy as it should have been and the ending sucks. I just couldn’t get a big finale in with a song that fizzled out like that.
September 2020: I am asked to make something new for La Voute’s dinner theatre setup that meets Covid regulations during a brief opening in Montreal’s nightlife scene. I had the idea of revisiting a reverse-tease act I made for “The Cure” show at The Wiggle Room. But, I knew it had to be significantly modified for this new venue situation. How many ingredients in a good act can you change before it’s not good anymore? Maybe… None? As soon as you change one element (whether that’s, costume, music, choreo, etc), you change everything and there is no longer any guarantee that it’s going to be good or even work at all.
I changed the music to better suit the venue - small cabaret versus giant highbrow nightclub set for dinner. Didn’t think my new audience would dig The Cure so I go with “Castle” by Halsey.
I changed my hair from a long pony tail to a very, very long full wig. I did this partially because I had just paid to have this wig brushed out and it had originally cost me bundle to sew extra track into the base to make it very full. I wanted to get my $ worth but, I should know better! Just because you invested in something doesn’t make it the right choice for your act. Always put the audience experience first. They don’t know the back story. The wig ended up being a huge obstacle for completing the reverse tease and kept hiding me face.
I felt pressure (from myself) to more acrobatics on the stationary bike prop which I hadn’t done before and which it hadn’t been built for. Really not a good choice to try to rush the very technical engineering and consultations it takes to properly modify a prop. Yikes!
September 2020 Tech Run: Circumstances out of my control (see video, curtain clearly isn’t working and my coworker who breathes fire couldn’t be near that material) takes the curtain out of the equation in terms of stage setup. Retrospectively this stressful last-minute change is actually a godsend. No matter how much time I spent on the journey to this night, I’ve learned enough to know… if the destination sucks when you get there, Leave! Immediately! Biker chic reverse-tease goes bye-bye.
September 2020 the Following Weekend: Without the curtain and many other challenges, we decide to change the act for the rest of the run of shows. I pull another past act out of the woodwork, “Royalty”. The artistic director at La Voute is a brilliant human and collaborator. He suggests bringing the act through the room so that more people can see it (the actual stage is not visible from most corners of the space). While is last-minute change in a sea of changes is stressful, I also know that putting the audience first is my number one priority. If they can’t see the act then there’s no poing in it being good.
I decide to carry the song choice and chair choreography elements from the reverse tease act into the “Royalty” act I’m tackling now. Hopefully the strongest elements of these two acts, combined with the dynamic movement from one part of the space to the other, will make something worth watching. It was a shakey first night (always is) but we all agree that it’s an overall success! For the rest of the run of shows, I keep rehearsing and making small modifications to the choreography (this is where getting your friend to film the act each night is really important). I finish we a version that feels really powerful where I take off my bra while upside down on the chair at the end. BOOM.
December 2020: Now I’m faced with a Covid reality where my art needs to either hide in the sand or get on the screen. What can I take from all this that can make a cool virtual experience? I am very lucky to have a studio space where that giant skirt prop is currently living. I think I’ll take advantage of not having to move the skirt to use it on film. I’ll take the song that was born out of that first biker chic act in September and some of that bad ass chair choreo and mix it with that January 2020 version I did. What could go wrong? Stay tuned for the results of this next mad mashup :)