THANKS SO MUCH!!!
I REACHED MY GOAL OVER THE WEEKEND! And there are still 4 days left to give!
Every share, dollar, newsletter mention, interview, tweet, hug, cheer lead, etc, etc, etc made it happen. I THANK YOU SOOO MUUUUCH!
I am going to be re-locating to my new website soon! Head over to http://www.theessencerevealed.com to get a sneak peek 🙂
Much Hugs, Essence Revealed
During the first BGB All Stars Show, we took some time to chat about burlesque. 😀
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Also, I recently shared some of my thoughts with Corset Magazine (The Go To Magazine for All Things Sexuality) too.
ESSENCE REVEALED – Essence Revealed is first generation Bajan born & raised in Boston. She got her BFA at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and MA at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education. Her writing has appeared places such as $pread Magazine, Corset Magazine, BurlesqueBible.com and 21st Century Burlesque. She’s been published in two anthologies: Pros(e) & Johns, Marks, Tricks & Chicken Hawks. She now performs & teaches nationally and internationally both solo and as a member of Brown Girls Burlesque. Her favorite thing to do besides reading is to lay on the beach in Barbados to rest up for a night of calypso dancing. Help Essence get to the Milan Burlesque Awards!
I decided to apply to the Milan Burlesque Festival. I did it mainly because I’ve always wanted to go to Milan. I really didn’t think I’d get in, so it never dawned on me to think about HOW I’d get there. So, when I got the e-mail that I got in I did a little happy dance then thought, “Oh well, too bad, I have to decline.” I told a few close friends & supporters and they all said, “You have to go. Do a crowd funding campaign!” My brain got busy telling me how I couldn’t do that because it wasn’t for a charitable cause or a life changing invention or a huge production, etc. I am doing this despite those voices. I DESPISE asking for help. Yes, I know there has to be give and take flow in life but, but… I’m a multi-tasking Taurus who will burn the midnight oil if I have to because I know, I’ll get it done. Enter fears here. Enter trust issues here. Enter control freakishness here. Yeah, I know I have baggage and can label many of them quite clearly. They are not designer! 🙂
Yet, here I am with 36 days left in a 45 day Indiegogo.com fundraising campaign.
I am asking if you can give and/or share the link and help me spread the word? It would be so appreciated.
This video is especially for my New Yorkers ;-):
Please & Thank You 😀
ESSENCE REVEALED – Essence Revealed is first generation Bajan born & raised in Boston. She got her BFA at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and MA at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education. Her writing has appeared places such as $pread Magazine, Corset Magazine, BurlesqueBible.com and 21st Century Burlesque. She now performs & teaches nationally and internationally both solo and as a member of Brown Girls Burlesque. Her favorite thing to do besides reading is to lay on the beach in Barbados to rest up for a night of calypso dancing. Help Essence get to the Milan Burlesque Awards!
I took part in my second burlesque festival this month – The Minneapolis Burlesque (MBF). I headed off to the Twin Titties in the dead of winter all for the love of burlesque. It was -30 degrees with the wind chill factor the first day I arrived. This turned out to be alright. MBF had organized for us to be picked up directly from the airport and a place to stay. Knowing I’d be in a cozy home later made me feel warmer from the start. The temperature rose to 8 degrees one day, man did that feel balmy! When I landed in NY the 25 degrees we had going on dern near called for flip-flops as far as my body was concerned.
The Thursday night kick off show went off with a bang. Everyone looked like they were having such a great time on stage. A green room area with two large that screens were set up. Every night of the festival participants could enjoy snacks back stage and cheer each other on. Good thing too because every show was sold out. There were just standing room only tickets available. I got to hang out and chat with performers whom I’ve admired from the interwebs since starting burlesque. I think I managed to not be a creepy fan girl.
I’d been to Minneapolis once before with Brown Girls Burlesque. I was excited to see all of the performers who I’d met at our Soul Train vs. Solid Gold show. I stayed with the lovely and talented Josephine Belle and her girlfriend. They were the ultimate hosts. I truly can’t say enough thanks to them for making me feel so welcomed in their home. I’m excited to get to show Josephine a great time on the east coast when she comes to NY to perform in The Brown Girls Burlesque All Star Shows later this month.
Friday night brought more great performances as did the early Saturday show. A visit by His Purple Majesty may or may not have happened ;-). I performed in the late show Saturday night. It was so much fun on the stage. The audience clearly came to see burlesque and loves it. My second festival has truly spoiled me. One of the best things was being able to see such a mix of classic and neo-burlesque all in one festival every single night!
The facade of the Central train station in Milan, Italy. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Next up for me this festival season is heading to the Great Burlesque Expo in Boston to perform at the Main Event Saturday night. A few months later I’ll be heading to Milan to compete in the Milan Burlesque Awards. Well, with a little help from my friends. I’ll be launching an IndieGoGo Campaign March 8th to help me get there. Please do give or share when you see it!
Source: thepinupnoire.tumblr.com via Essence on Pinterest
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Shades of Burlesque NYC’s only all Black Burlesque Show @ WOW CAFE THEATER Feb 15th 9PM
WHAT ARE YOU DOING VALENTINE’S DAY WEEKEND?
Shades & Friends at WOW Cafe Theater Feb 16th 9pm
Tickets are on sale now! Buy them early to take advantage of the early love bird discount 🙂
Are You on Facebook? Here is the event page!
Check Out Our Beauty Filled Pinterest Board!
ESSENCE REVEALED – Essence Revealed is first generation Bajan born & raised in Boston. She got her BFA at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and MA at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education. Her writing has appeared places such as $pread Magazine, Corset Magazine, BurlesqueBible.com and 21st Century Burlesque. She now performs & teaches nationally and internationally both solo and as a member of Brown Girls Burlesque. Her favorite thing to do besides reading is to lay on the beach in Barbados to rest up for a night of calypso dancing.
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10th Annual New York Burlesque Festival – Essence Revealed
Hope all my East Coast folks are staying hunkered down and safe during Hurricane Sandy!
Here’s some distraction…
Burlesque Beat has released an article with pics and thoughts about the Thursday night Teaser Show of the New York Burlesque Festival that I performed in. There are also great pics with the commentary 😀
My “bizarre full body cape” & costume was made by the Design Space Concept crew Marea Judilla & Edith Raw.
http://burlesquebeat.com/2012/10/24/new-york-burlesque-festival-2012-teaser-party/
I had been one of the go-go dancers earlier in the evening. I sweated my soul out dancing onstage with the other go-go dancers to warm up the space. I had never been a go-go dancer before that night (so it was a double first night). Man! It is hard work. I must have sweated in parts I didn’t know sweat was possible. Not only was this a warm up for the crowd, it was a warm up for me going on stage later.
We were in the famous Slipper Room home of several nights of Burlesque in New York City. The event was Sara Jenny & Rachel Grinstein’s first Sex Worker Cabaret. The cabaret is in homage to Annie Oakley’s Sex Workers Art Show (1997-2009) and took place during LGBTQ Pride month of 2010. When it got close to the time for me to perform, I went backstage to change and catch my breath. My stomach had butterflies. I always get so nervous before I perform. I had been on this stage only moments before so I knew the room was packed. Yikes!
I put on a burgundy dress and wide-brimmed hat. I had on transparent gloves that had rhinestones along the sides. This was the only thing with any kind of bedazzlement. I decided my name would be the same as the memoir play I’d written, Essence Revealed. I didn’t want to use my stripper name, well, because this wasn’t stripping… Well, maybe it was because I knew I knew how to do that. This was the first time I was attempting to do burlesque. I was scared to call it burlesque so I told the producer that I had coined the term “stripper-lesque” to explain what I was doing. I didn’t want anyone to call me out for doing burlesque “wrong”. Now I know that what is burlesque can be answered in wide and various ways, categories, styles, etc.
I get on stage and back the audience as I wait for the music to start. I had gone through an extra long list of songs about sex workers. I almost picked Sting’s Roxanne but decided on Michael Jackson’s Dirty Diana. The music began and I started to dance. I didn’t have choreography per say, so I was going on feeling what would come off next. I wanted it to be a slow tease. I made eye contact with one of the photogs in the front. She became one of the main focuses of my tease. She just seemed so friendly from behind her camera and really calmed my nerves while I was onstage.
The hat came off with a head turn. One glove and then the other. Oops, I took my dress halfway down and my pasties were already exposed through the sheer tank camisole I had over them. Hmmm, I think the pasties are supposed to be seen last. It hadn’t dawned on me until right then. I made it down to the short shorts which were sheer in the back and silver sequins in the front. I had on a pair of plain black thongs under the shorts. I only put them on because the shorts were sheer in the back. I hadn’t planned on revealing them. Yes, that one thin strip of fabric made the sheerness seem not so bare in my stripper mind’s eye. However, since the pasties had already been seen, I decided, last-minute, that the tiny thongs with a booty wink on top would be the final reveal of the act. So, off went the shorts. Bounce, bounce went the right cheek and I was done when the song ended.
Performance out of the way, I was able to meet the nice photog who turned out to be Syd London who shoots often for Time Out New York and The Village Voice online. So, the picture of me with the big rimmed burgundy hat was from my first time attempting to do burlesque. I actually bought the picture from Syd (ya know, to show the niece & nephew when I’m 90). The Slipper Room closed for renovations shortly after that. It is slated to re-open soon. I’ve seen pictures of the renovations (complete with aerial rigging :-D) and it looks beautiful.
I think it’s kinda cool that the first time I did burlesque was at the Slipper Room even if I had no idea what I was doing.
**Full Disclosure: Keeping my word means much to me. That I have posted on Wed instead of Tues the past two weeks may only be a big deal to me. Still I apologize. I have been trying to climb out of the grips of depression. It has been a struggle to write about happy things. My brain wants to lead me away from the light but I am fighting the good fight. The sunshine is under there. I can still feel it even when dressed in cloud cover.**
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