Dear Constant Reader,
The centerpiece of The House of Knyle mentorship was to work with Egypt on an act. This could either be an existing one or a new one. I toyed with the idea of seeing what Egypt would do with “Mina in Furs”, the number I workshopped at Stripper’s Holiday, but decided to create something new. This was late September.
I wanted to challenge myself, so I picked a song outside my usual style. Really outside. “Whole Lotta Love” by Hollywood Vampires. I like the Led Zeppelin original, but I love this cover. I think it’s the harmonica and the vocals by Alice Copper and Brian Johnson that do it for me.
But I just didn’t know what to do with it. I felt paralyzed with indecision. This song wanted someone to dance with wild abandon and flip her hair around. That’s not me. Act creation is so hard for me. Choreography is not one of my natural talents.
So, I put things off. October was crazy while Scratch and I frantically tried to get Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Burlesque Costuming ready for the printer. Then I got sick and spent about three weeks of November in bed. This was about the point where Egypt announced that we had the opportunity to perform at Burlesque Bingo in January. I knew I would have to get serious.
I decided what my costume would be (and that will be a separate entry) and grabbed a reasonable facsimile. I went into the studio before rehearsal and just moved to the music in front of a camera. This isn’t how I normally create a number. Usually I’m more in my head. I break the song down and make an outline. But I was trying to do things differently, break out of my usual patterns.
I kept working on it and feeling more and more despondent. I could picture how other people I knew would dance to this song, but not me. I was thinking I would just chuck it all and start over wth something more in my comfort zone. Maybe another gown-and-gloves strip or a fan dance. I announced my despaire to the other mentees. And that’s when things started changing.
The other ladies were very supportive and Egypt and I set up an on-line date to work on it. Then I showed what I had to Scratch and he said “It’s not as bad as you think”. All that gave me the boost to keep going on it.
Egypt and I spent an hour in the studio via video chat and worked on the act. She gave me some suggestions, some of which I took, some of which sparked different ideas. I remembered Scratch’s advice to me during Stripper’s Holiday to expand my horizons, but stay true to myself.
Over the next month, I worked on the act constantly. Fear of looking terrible on stage is a great motivator. Scratch and the other BeauTease gave me feedback. I sent progress videos to Egypt. I took the floorwork section out; I put it back in, but now completely different. Scratch edited my music so the song had a stronger ending. I finalized my costume. I’m very thankful I had the time to devote to it without needing to rehearse anything else.
As for how it turned out, you’ll have to wait for a future missive.
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