Burlesque On Ice Rehearsals - Week Two!

Following on from last week when I kept a daily diary of Burlesque On Ice rehearsals; we're at the end of week two!

Burlesque On Ice - tickets on sale NOW!

So what happened this week?! It's had its ups and downs (literally and figuratively!), we've made great progress with the whole show, had photoshoots, puppy visits, music mix-ups, and unfortunately our Glorian Gray wasn't with us as she's not very well, so we all sent positive, get-well vibes up to Manchester and hopefully she'll be back in skates next week!

Monday
I went in slightly earlier this morning as I had rehearsals for my solo with Hollie, and I caught the end of the professional skaters rehearsing the big opening number for the show - bloody hell, it's going to be a-may-zing! Honestly - they've got jumps, lifts, spins, cartwheels; the lot! Boom!

Ruby Deshabille and I spent a couple of hours going through our solo routines, as some moves we could do easily on ice are not so easy on the plastic and bits of them had to be changed or adapted - on the synthetic ice you need to work twice as hard to get half as much result and it's flippin' difficult!

While practising a move in my solo I caught the toe-pick of the blade and, where on ice it would cut a bit and maybe make me stagger, with no give on the plastic I just went straight over and fell face-forward onto the ground! I managed to catch myself as I fell and my knee caught the brunt of the fall so I have a nice shiny bruise on my kneecap now. Lovely.

Later in the day we continued to polish and clean the two big group routines in the show, which are going to look awesome when they're finished, and Hollie impressed us all even with just the bare bones of her solo routine!

Showgirls! With Bonnie Fleur, Trixie Kixx and Ruby Deshabille!

Tuesday

Today was a lovely day - both professionally and personally! In non-ice related news; my missing cat came home! He's been gone for about twelve days and it was heartbreaking but he's back in one piece and I couldn't be happier!

In rehearsal news we spent the day cleaning and rehearsing the two big group numbers in the show - Hollie wants the routines to be so ingrained it's like muscle memory so even if we freak/forget/get stage fright, our bodies will still know what we're doing and just do it regardless! It's something I remember from college, and at times it can feel like we're soldiers doing drill but it's so good.

We even got time to have a basics lesson - as I've mentioned previously, it's so different skating on the synthetic ice to regular ice that it's useful to keep going over things we *thought* we could do to keep ourselves on form! 

My knee was hurting a bit from my fall yesterday but nothing that coffee and nurofen can't handle! Boom!

Wednesday

I was exhausted today - a late night last night followed by a very early morning made me tired and a bit cranky, so I can only apologise to my fellow cast members for being a big ball of grump all day!

We went over the group numbers, adding in Joe Morose on the cleaning. Then in the afternoon the glamorous Gwendoline Lamour joined us for her section and we spent a fun-filled couple of hours mincing, strutting and shimmying around the ice - a booty shake is a lot harder when you don't have a solid surface beneath your feet!

When skates start to hurt, there's always the option of these sexy, sexy shoe covers...

Thursday
Today was great fun! The pro skaters in the show stayed later after their rehearsal time to run the big finale number, and it's going to be epic!! Fans, Isis Wings, kick-lines, cartwheels, shimmys, boobs.... what more could anyone want?!

Rosie, Jek, Sarah and Kerri practising a lift! Eek!

Hollie in full CSI mode... kind of...

It's the first time we've put the whole thing together and we managed to have a stagger through of the actual show run a whole day before schedule which was ace.

In the evening, Antonia arrived to fit us with some of our costumes and I'm really excited about mine - my ice solo is a variation on one of my regular acts and I'm adapting it for ice, which is much easier said than done!

Friday

A nice end to an exhausting week - because the professional skaters in the show didn't have any pictures for the programme, the lovely Tigz Rice came along for a morning photoshoot on the ice

Pro-Girls on the ice - Hollie trying to hide!

We also had Joe Morose with us all day and we had a laughter-filled afternoon with him learning the rest of the finale choreography and working on our individual introductions... it's going to be hilarious! During our solos rehearsal a bit of my choreography changed to a slightly more impressive looking move, which is awesome, but terrifying, and I'm chuffed to bits with myself that I managed to do it at all!

Trixie Kixx also brought along Darcy, who definitely needs to be in the show - look how good she looks in skates!

Pooches on Ice?

Cuddles from Darcy

Once again I'm absolutely shattered and aching, but it's all good and the show will be amazing - now I'm off to pop crystals on a drag queen's dressing gown...
xx

Niche Blog

Exhausted after a lovely, but busy as hell week! We've been in intensive rehearsals for Burlesque On Ice, which has it's world premier in about two weeks! You can read all about the first week of rehearsals here...

Aside from immersing myself in skating and choreography rehearsals all week I've also had a couple of nice little shows: Friday at Proud Cabaret City, and Saturday at Proud Cabaret Brighton! I've never performed at the Brighton venue before and it was gorgeous!

Mirror Picture! Friday night with Taz Zebrowski, Mister Meredith, Missy Fatale and Michael Standen!

 

 

Some pictures by Lesley Taylor from Proud Cabaret, Brighton

Sunday has been a lovely day - meeting some friends for a cheeky afternoon beverage then having an impromptu date-night with the boy.

We're back into Burlesque On Ice rehearsals tomorrow so it's an early night and a good sleep for me now! Rock and Roll!

Burlesque On Ice Rehearsals - Week One!

So, the first week of Burlesque On Ice intensive rehearsals is over - and it lived up to expectations: intensive!!

I kept this diary during the week - and will be doing the same for the whole run of the rehearsals and show, so enjoy!

Monday
Bloody hell, I ache!! This morning Glorian Gray, Taz Zebrowski and I woke up at the crack of dawn to journey to the wild North... Archway, where the Burlesque On Ice team has relocated for the next couple of weeks. We arrived early in order to assist with the get-in of the synthetic ice, and had a productive morning drinking tea as multiple panels of what looked suspiciously like styrofoam were brought into the room.

 

Once everyone else arrived, we had a lesson with Alexei, the Russian ice coach who is a specialist in synthetic ice skating. And you know what... it's flippin' difficult! 

After about 45 minutes we had a break for coffee and biscuits, and Ruby Deshabille finally got her Secret Santa present (I ordered it online and it took aaaages to arrive!)

Ruby 'Cheshire Cat' Deshabille

Bonnie Fleur and I took the opportunity to pimp out one of our show sponsors as well - Burlesque On Ice is sponsored by Vivian of Holloway and we posed for a couple of pictures in some of their gorgeous dresses:

It's bloody difficult skating in a wiggle dress!

Finally home and aching, but have a glass of wine while waiting for the bath to run. Tired and happy!

Tuesday

Such a lovely day! I was lucky enough to join the gorgeous Gwendoline Lamour for a Burlesque lesson! Along with Ruby Deshabille, Trixie Kixx and Bonnie Fleur we took over a dance studio for the afternoon and went through four elements of classic burlesque striptease from Femme Fatale to cheeky Pin-Up; the aim was to introduce our Burlesque Virgin, Hollie Deller (who had pretty much *just* got off the worlds longest flight from America and come straight to the studio - bloody trooper!) about the different styles within classic striptease, and we had such fun mincing, strutting, shimmying and sashaying around the room.

It was such an honour to work with Gwen, who is a complete legend of the burlesque world as well as being the most brilliantly bonkers individual, and I learned so much from her in one afternoon.

Forgot to take any pictures so here's one of my favourite images of the gorgeous Gwendoline!

Wednesday

Back at the rehearsal room today with Hollie on the ice. We were re-blocking an existing routine to fit the show outline, and spent a couple of hours reworking the steps; fabulous fun especially as we we got to throw Joe Morose around and generally be a bit saucy!

I'm starting to ache now and can really feel the difference between normal ice and the plastic ice; it's much, much harder to get momentum and glide on the synthetic ice, and while I feel much more stable, it's more difficult to perform some of the moves that rely on gliding into them! Tell you what; by the end of this I'll be able to crack walnuts with my butt cheeks!

Oh - and guess what?! We got tube posters up too!! They'll be appearing at stations all across the tube network which is super exciting!

Burlesque On Ice tube posters!!

Thursday

Another hard day, but a fun one nonetheless - Hollie choreographed and began setting the Finale act and it's going to be awesome!

It's starting to really hurt my feet: when I got home I felt like I was walking on stones - because the boots are such thick leather, feet heat up quicker and expand; add to that the heat on the blade from the friction caused by the synthetic ice, which doesn't cool the blade in the way that regular ice would do, and it contributes to very hot, achy feet!! However I wouldn't change it for the world, as much as I want to milk the sympathy from having achy footsies!

Oh - and there is a competition on the Burlesque On Ice Facebook page: can you take a bonkers picture in front of one of our tube posters? Prizes to be won!

Sarah Christou in front of our poster at Hammersmith!

Friday

We had Jasz Vegas back with us today!! We spent the day going over the choreography for the opening of Act Three and the Finale, and polishing and cleaning the whole thing - we've done so much in a week I'm amazed and the group routines are already looking fabulous!

Still achy but able to work through it now - I've not danced this much since I left college!

Oh: and Trixie Kixx brought along a new addition to the cast!!

Trixie and Darcey!

And that's that - in one week we have choreographed, learned, set and begun to clean the two big group routines in the show; it's super exciting to see everything coming together and I'm so proud to be part of such a wonderful group of people who are all working so hard to make this show amazing!

Tickets Link

Showgirl Magic

Is this my first proper 'What I've Been Up To' blog of 2014? I think it might be... I mean I wrote about New Years Eve but that was half in last year and doesn't really count, and the Resolutions post was more about what I *intend* to be up to... can you tell I'm tired?

So, hello! Welcome to 2014 - how's it been for you so far? I'm exhausted already!

This week has been lovely, if a little hectic: on Sunday I worked with Zebrowski Photography to create a sexy little teaser video for 'Psyche'... (more on that later) and take some promo shots.

Teaser video for Psyche...

 

My favourite images from the shoot

On Monday I was in skating rehearsals, getting back to grips with the ice after the Christmas break! It was great fun to be back with the Burlesque On Ice girlies and we all went for a coffee and lunch mid-skate which was lovely.

Tuesday was a day of meetings and running errands before heading to Simon Drake's House of Magic for a late Christmas show. It was great to meet the fabulous Lolo Brow properly at last as she joined the family for the night, and the show was as wonderful as ever! It's brilliantly bonkers to be part of such a fantastic show and I love it!

Mirror Picture! With Lolo Brow, Stevie and Beulah Bell!

On Wednesday I was back in 'real life' work, and had a bit of a brain-frying day, but it was followed up by a few cheeky, apres-work drinkies with Emma, my manager, which made me feel much more normal before I had to dash off to meet Antonia Lynch, the insanely talented costume designer for Burlesque On Ice, to discuss my costumes for the show. I'm very over-excited about them and can't wait!

After a quick coffee and a chat I had to dash off once again to meet the gorgeous Bruise Violet who has made me the most amazing chiffon boa for 'Psyche' - it's like a candy-floss explosion! Simply gorgeous!

We only had time for a quick hug and for me to pick up the boa before I had to jet back across London as one of my favourite people, Lili La Scala, had invited me to watch Black Cat Cabaret at the opulent Grill Room - the show was incredible; the cast was phenomenal, including Lili herself, Dusty Limits, Vicky Butterfly and the sensational Lady Rizo. I felt like I had been whisked to Paris during the Belle Epoque in such beautiful surroundings and it was a perfect way to end a busy day.

The ceiling of the Grill Room

At the weekend I was excited and nervous: finally debuting my new act, 'Psyche' at Proud Cabaret, City. It's been in development for over a year, since I first had the idea to finally getting my act together (excuse the pun) and performing the damn thing so lots of nerves as a year or so's worth of work came together...

Psyche

The act was inspired, in part, by the legendary Gypsy Rose Lee's signature routine 'Psychology of a Striptease Artist', in which she spoke to the audience about what was on her mind. I wanted to lift the lid on the glamour and seduction of burlesque and reveal what we actually think about while we're performing; contrasting the biggest cliches (over-the-top sparkly costume, the most obvious piece of music) with the mundane mind-wanderings of a performer who has done a routine so many times they can think about what to have for tea while seducing an audience...

Fortunately for my nerves, I performed alongside some wonderful people who were all very lovely about the fact that I lurched between petrified silence and verbal diarrhoea!

Mirror Picture! With Taz Zebrowski, Michael Standen, Betsy Rose and Joe Morose!

So that's that! The next few weeks are a whirlwind as we go into intensive rehearsals for Burlesque On Ice; and I can't wait!
xx

New Years Resolutions!

This time last year (can't even believe it was a whole year ago!) I made some New Years Resolutions for 2013. In 2012 I made the resolution to start, and keep, a blog... and here we are two years later - where does the time go?

1) Begin Dance Classes Again

2) Take Horse-Riding Lessons

3) Learn A Language

4) Apply For International Festivals

These were the four resolutions I set for myself... did I achieve them? Well, no, not really. But let me explain...

Dance Classes and Horse-Riding fell by the wayside when Burlesque On Ice came along. But this is a good thing. Reading through why I made certain resolutions; I wanted to go back to dance classes as I love dancing and performing, and wanted to push myself once my confidence had returned, to try a new dance style I'd never tried before... I think I can allow myself to feel that Ice Skating is a new style! It was also an exercise thing - however having spent the last six months skating at least two or three times a week, I'd say I've got that part covered!

The Horse-Riding resolution was also to learn a new skill; it's something I enjoy and something I'd wanted to do for myself and not for my career. While I didn't particularly get on with Figure Skating when I first started, and it was obviously something taken up with performance in mind, it is something I have grown to love and I can see myself keeping up, for myself, for years. And I managed to go Horse-Riding once!

I am not great with languages. I know this. The problem is two-fold - sometimes I know I know the word for something, but can't remember it; sometimes I know a word in a different language but cannot for the life of me remember what it means. However I'm trying!

Looking back over this resolution from last year, it's quite funny that I've turned it upside down slightly - I wanted to focus on French with possibly a little Spanish. As it's happened I've started learning Italian and Polish! Slightly different, I'm sure you'll agree! Polish is incredibly difficult as it bears absolutely no relationship to the English language but my boyfriends family are Polish and we're hoping to go to Krakow in 2014 so it's a good one to have. And Italian as we have friends out there and want to go for a couple more visits in the coming months (any excuse for a holiday, really!) 

I'm definitely not proficient though, and this makes me a bit disappointed in myself. I need more focus and dedication, and to not let my mind wander or be so easily distracted.... ooh, shiny thing...

Finally, I made the resolution to apply to international festivals, and I did. I didn't get in, but I didn't particularly expect to; it was the applying and conquering my fear of festivals that was the big deal for me. And I guess I did that in a small way by filling in and sending off the application forms for the first time in my Burlesque career!

So.... this brings us to 2014! 

What are my New Years Resolutions for this year? Well...

1) Finish What I Start

This look back at my New Years Resolutions from last year is quite sad, and made me realise that I am actually a bit flaky regarding things for myself. So my main resolution this year is to try and see things through to the end, for myself.
In 2013 I tried, and stopped, so many things - joining a gym, writing a novel, Rosetta Stone... to name just a few. It's disappointing to myself that I never finished any of them! This year I aim to start - and finish - more new and exciting things: maybe I'll finally learn a language, or *finish that novel I've been working on*... (Family Guy quote for you there...)

2) Get Fit And Healthy

Inspired by two ladies I'm lucky enough to be friends with on Facebook - ReeRee Rockette and Exotic Luna Rosa. Last year, ReeRee made her New Years Resolution to make 2013 the year of being fit and healthy. Not loosing weight per-se, but to get stronger, eat better and exercise more. She recently posted a picture of how far she's come from this time last year, and it's truly remarkable: she looked gorgeous in both pictures but has achieved her goal of being fitter and healthier, and looks absolutely stunning for it.
Luna Rosa is a burlesque performer and fitness model, and is one of the most beautiful women I know. She has just launched her new project The Body Odyssey and is going to be running classes in Covent Garden. I would give anything to look even half as good as Luna, and she is truly inspirational as she works so hard and is so dedicated.
So, inspired by these two women, I will aim to make 2014 the year of being fit and healthy: not giving into fad diets, and not really aiming to loose weight - just becoming stronger and healthier. I have a terrible diet at the moment, and other than ice-skating I don't really exercise. I am going to change that, and (see resolution the first) hopefully see it through!

3) Drink More Water

I am a Diet Coke addict. Not going to lie. I drink it like it's... erm... water. Which I need to drink more of. So there we go.
Benefits of drinking water include weight loss (as it fills you up, contains no calories and flushes out waste products and toxins), reducing headaches (as many headaches are caused by dehydration) and giving you younger looking skin.
Since I drink so much Diet Coke, I am aiming to replace at least some of this with water... I can't cut out the sweet stuff completely!

4) Try More New Things

I'm not going to be more specific on this one, as my specific resolutions fail. But I am going to set myself the challenge to do something new or exciting at least once or twice a month. I don't think that's too big of an ask - whether this something new is simply trying a new coffee flavour at Starbucks, or walking a different way home (when it's not raining, of course: then I just want to get home as quickly as possible), or as exciting as going to an aerial class, skydiving or learning to jump on a pogo stick...

Out With The Old

Welcome to 2014!!

This is a quick round up of the last week of the last year - so lets get on with it!

I went skating, rehearsing for Burlesque On Ice, which is in about five weeks now... eek! It was difficult to practise with hundreds of children on the ice, what with it being the holidays, so after an hour or so we called it a day and went for a drink in a nearby bar!

Christmas drinkies with Kitty Devine, Chrys Columbine and Trixie Kixx!

I want these, please... They'd be impossible to walk, or skate in, but they're SO pretty!

Christmas itself was lovely, spent with family, friends and food! We drove halfway across the country and back over a couple of days, and had a wonderful, much needed break.

Winning at Christmas

 

Boxing day walk with Taz

I spent the quiet period between Christmas and New Year putting the finishing touches to my new act - 'Psyche' has been a long time in the making, and I'm excited and nervous in equal measure to be finally debuting it in less than two weeks!

Piglet also approves of the new costume

New business cards arrived as well!

Then it was all go for New Years Eve!  I had been looking forward to this show at Proud Cabaret for ages as it included some of my favourite performers and people, and saw the triumphant return to Burlesque of the gorgeous Elle Amour!

The audience was wonderful, and drunk, and everyone had such a fabulous night seeing in 2014 with champagne, glitter and dancing.

Backstage with Elle Amour!

 

Seeing in the New Year with Elle, Leah Debrincat and Adama

Lili La Scala popped in to say Happy New Year!

 

With Joe Morose and Elle ** Champagne with Jolie Papillon, being photobombed!

Glamorous ladies... and gent as Michael Standen got in on the action

Abi Collins loves 2014...

And that's that! It's now 2014... where does the time go, eh?

I'm looking forward to the coming months - I have lots of plans and ideas and I'm so excited to see what the year will bring.
xx