Originally published Aug 21, 2017, on burlesquer Aurora Wilde’s blog.

CREATING INSPIRATION
There are many ways to ignite creativity. Some rely on following a set of instructions, like this technique:

Make a list of body parts and create a sequence of movements based on that list.

Example: left hand, head, hips, both hands, feet, knees

Start the movement with your left hand. From there, what can you do with your head? Then your hips? Each cue could lead to only one motion or a series of them branching off from one another. …

Originally published August 14, 2017, on burlesquer Aurora Wilde’s blog.

COSTUME AS CHOREOGRAPHY
Costumes are a huge part of burlesque performance. Take time to play with your pieces. How do they move? How can they be manipulated? What do they represent? What are some different ways of taking them off and/or interacting with them?

Don’t feel the need to set choreography right away, take the time to explore all the possibilities first.

Originally published Aug 7, 2017, on burlesquer Aurora Wilde’s blog.

DO YOUR RESEARCH
Research the styles, people, and time periods you are emulating. Whether you are only using them as a starting point, or aiming for an exact representation, do some research to use as your basis for creation.

Are you inspired by the Roaring Twenties? Look up the fashions and dances of the time, the hottest artists, and what was happening socially and politically. All of these things can enrich your story and choreography.

Are you doing an impersonation of a favourite performer? Look into their home life, childhood…

There are myriad reasons to pursue this art form. In this post I want to share with you the reasons I got started doing burlesque, and why I keep coming back to it.

1. For Fun

As the Grand Beaver Judith Stein says “One of the best things you can do for yourself is to dance naked. And if you can have an audience and get paid, even better”.

As stated in my performer bio*, I have never liked wearing my clothes. At any given moment I would rather be au naturel. …

Audiences across the country are mourning the temporary loss of live performance as we wait for theatres to reopen. Personally, I had tickets to several shows I’ll never see now, and I’m wondering how to keep art in my daily life. Organizations like the Vancouver Improvised Arts Society are providing a solution.

VIAS is livestreaming improvised ambient electronic music on Facebook Live every Sunday at 3pm. The performance, CROWMAN LIVE!, features the Improvisational Arts Society’s Artistic Director, Meredith Bates, and guest artist Chris Gestrin, both multi-award winning artists. Anyone can tune in while they improvise live, with the option to…

Adjacentland — Rabindranath Maharaj
Wolsak & Wynn Publishers, 2018

Adjacentland is hard to read. For one, readers have to watch for subtle clues and reread sections, deciding what is real and what is imagined. The narrative is fractured and fantastical. The narrator believes his account to be true and yet it can’t be — three men merge into one, a woman becomes see-through, etc. I waited for everything to become clear right up to the last word and still feel like I have to reread it to fully understand. Rabindranath Maharaj wrote this novel after seeing his father suffer from…

Originally written January 25, 2019.

The Beyond Meat burger is popping up everywhere, including my favourite pub. Beyond Meat claims their plant-based patty “looks, cooks, and satisfies like beef.” It’s also supposed to be good for human health and the environment. Is it too good to be true? I used the internet and my tastebuds to answer this question.

The Beyond Meat burgers consistency is spot on. The taste is a bit nutty, similar to beef but not quite there. It’s close enough that if you didn’t know you had a pea protein sandwich on your plate you might think…

Big Dog the 2nd is a dog named after a cat. He already had another name, but we didn’t know it yet.

It’s spring 2019 and I’m visiting my parents in Castlegar, B.C. There’s a 100lb dog running around the neighbourhood having an excellent time. He has short tan fur and is easily human-height when standing on two legs. He notices our husky Juno in the backyard and starts biting and pulling on the wire fence, trying to break in.

In a small town like this people know their neighbours, and their neighbours’ dogs, but no one recognizes this rambunctious…