Dear Constant Reader,
This book has been hanging about on my “to be reviewed shelf” for a while.
Burlesque Dancer 101: A Professional Burlesque Dancer’s Quick Guide on How to Learn, Grow, Perform, and Succeed at the Art of Burlesque Dancing From A to Z by HowExpert with Emilie Declaron, n.d.
Well, that seems like a lot to promise in one slim paperback (about 100 pages). From looking at other HowExpert offerings the titles are similar, offering guides on how to “Learn, Grow, and Succeed” at something “From A to Z”, so I won’t blame the author for that.
In the introduction it states that the book will give you “all the tools necessary to launch and develop your burlesque career” whether you’ve just started out in the art or even never been to a burlesque show. That’s a tall order.
The book’s six chapters contain an introduction to the world of burlesque (a little history, some notable performers, some burlesque styles, a few “traditional” routines, &c.), routine creation, costuming, hair and makeup, performing, and developing your career.
Not surprisingly, the book is very superficial. The information and advice isn’t bad per se*, but trying to cover every topic one would need to become a professional burlesque performer means this book is just skimming the surface. It’s more bullet points than in-depth tutorials. That’s not awful if you want to use this as a jumping-off point, but it shouldn’t be the only source.
There are no illustrations in the book, which it really could have used. Trying to figure out poses or make pasties or style victory rolls without drawings or photographs, especially for completely novices, is very difficult, if not impossible. I understand that image rights are a whole issue and increase the cost of a book, but line drawings would have made some sections a lot clearer.
The author is from the UK, so some of the vocabulary and spelling isn’t US standard. I’m fine with that, but I’m not okay with errors. Gypsy Rose Lee’s name is spelled correctly in place and spelled “Gipsy” (the UK spelling) in others. Now that might just be an autocorrect error, but there are also typos, misplaced words, and punctuation issues that indicate a lack of editing. That’s probably not the author’s fault so much as that of the publisher (which also claims authorship).
The part that really aggravated me was in last section on next steps after you’ve become a performer, which suggests producing shows, selling burlesque costumes, running “hen dos” (girls’ nights out), doing corporate gigs, and “start teaching other future burlesque dancers and create your own school”. While these are aspirations, they’re not things I would recommend to brand-new performers with only a little experience. Personally, I get very frustrated with the suggestion that anyone who performs burlesque is qualified to teach. But that is a rant for another time.
Although the table of contents lists recommended resources, it’s just a list of other HowExpert books. There’s a small section of burlesque related websites at the end, mostly for places to buy costumes. The industrious reader could pick out names of performers mentioned throughout the book and look them up, since there are many mentions of performers for examples of acts or personal style.
It’s not a terrible guide, but by trying to be too much, it becomes very little. The Burlesque Handbook is still my recommendation.
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*But recommending hot glue for Swarovski crystals is terrible advice. Don’t do it.