Julie Does Burlesque 

How it Began

It all started when I volunteered to be the dollar girl at a drag show, during Pinkfest, by the way. It was so much fun being part of the show, I decided right then and there that I wanted to try my hand at amateur drag.I found out that night that they (Hamburger Mary’s in Andersonville) have an amateur night on Tuesdays, which is the perfect night for me — my odd family schedule makes Tuesdays my best night for Julie time. So, I was all set — except for one problem — I don’t know how to dance.

Finding a Solution

More photos of Julie in a slideshow further down the page.

So I contacted my friend Brandy, who got her start in the drag community. I’m Facebook friends with some dancers (cis women) and was thinking they might be able to help me figure out some drag choreography, but we quickly agreed that that would be a more than a little creepy, especially for someone I hardly know. Then, I remembered that the burlesque show we saw during Pinkfest offers beginner classes. Perusing the Vaudezilla website, I found said classes and zeroed in on the one called Glam Rock burlesque — “OMG, that looks perfect, cuz I’m a huge fan of Bowie and The Velvet Underground.” The description also said ‘all genders welcome’ (actually all the Vaudezilla classes say all genders welcome). It was a 5 week class with an option to participate in an end of term performance. The problem was that I had missed the first class, so I figured I would sign up for a single drop in class (for $25) and just feel things out. 

First Day of Class

The class was on Sunday afternoons, which is a time I usually spent with family, which meant I would need to clear it with my wife. Without giving her too many details, she agreed, but was a little puzzled. Then, I had to decide what I was gonna wear. I know you’re all dying to know if I went to the class in Julie mode. Sorry to disappoint, but I figured boy mode would be best, especially given the logistics of a Sunday afternoon. But, I knew that my usual guy outfit of jeans and t-shirt was not gonna provide enough movement for working through a dance routine. So, I brought along some shorts to change into, along with some modest 3.25” heels, just in case. 

Arrived at the class and the first thing we did was introductions. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the first class — the one I thought I had missed — was actually cancelled and this was the first official meeting of the group. Including myself, there were only three of us and when it was my turn to introduce myself, I explained that I was a long time CD, but was thinking of doing some drag and basically my objective was to learn how to dance. The other two, both cis women — KC and Courtney, were also basically beginners. We also learned that this was the first time teaching for our instructor, Greta-X. So, all around, there was gonna be a lot of learning going on. I should add that even though, I was in guy mode, I gave both names and indicated that they could call me Julie — took a little getting used to (I think on both sides), but I think it worked out for the best. 

Oh My, The Pain

Don’t know if you know anything about dance classes, but the first part is always about 15 minutes of stretching. I knew this was coming, because my wife was a dancer. But, I was not prepared for how strenuous that stretching was gonna be. After the stretching, Courtney and Greta put on their heels, so we could start learning the routine. I was like, okay great, glad I brought mine and put them on. The problem is that my muscles were so fatigued from the stretching that my legs were shaking while trying to do the routine and my heel kept ‘chattering’ on the wood floor. So, I quickly ditched the heels and focused on just learning the moves in the routine. The other two seemed to catch on almost immediately and I was struggling to even remember the moves, much less do them correctly or on time — and we only did the first 30 seconds of the song. Oh yeah, the song Greta had selected was Children of the Revolution by T-Rex. 

By the end the the class, I feeling totally defeated and the friendliness Greta had shown me at the beginning of class had seemed to evaporate — I’m guessing she thought I wouldn’t be back for the next class. However, that feeling didn’t last long and before leaving the studio I declared, “This was so much harder than I expected. But, I’m so determined to figure this out. I’m gonna get this!” Again, not sure Greta was convinced. 

Getting Back on That Horse 

On the train home, I started formulating a plan about how I was gonna pull this off — texting Brandy for some moral support was super helpful. My saving grace was that we made a video of Greta doing this first part of the routine and during the video she was counting out the beats — one, two, three and four. As I got to the business of learning the routine, I quickly realized a few things. First, was my relationship to music. I don’t play an instrument, so I’ve never had to learn how to count the beat. As I’ve been learning to count and practicing with some of my favorite songs, I’m falling in love with a whole new dimension to those old favorites. The second thing I realized was how out of shape I am. Practicing the 30 seconds of the routine just 3 or 4 times and I’m out of breath and sweat is poring down — how am I gonna get through the two and a half minutes of the entire song? Part of that was using muscles I had never used before, but to build up some stamina (mostly my heart) I started a daily regiment of 35 minutes on the exercise bike. The third issue is my lack of flexibility. So, coupled with the bike, I start a stretching routine — I was determined not to let that 15 minutes of stretching at the beginning of class ruin the rest of class. Actually, part of my problem that first week was that my muscles were cold before the stretching, which is why they hurt for about 4 days — also doesn’t help that those muscles are 50 years old. 

Julie Rises

By the next class, I had figured out and memorized the first 30 seconds of the routine and had come into class with relatively warm muscles, biking and stretching just before heading out for the class. I can’t say for certain, but I think Greta was not only surprised that I was back, but pleasantly surprised that I had the routine basically figured out, even if I didn’t look all that graceful. During that week, I talked to my wife, checked the schedule and was able to commit to being in the stage performance at the end of the session. Courtney and KC were very excited and KC let out a little ‘go team’ cheer. It kinda caught me off guard and felt so cool that we were a little team — facing this challenge together.

Costume Odyssey

When I agreed to be in the stage performance, I hadn’t realized that meant that I was gonna need a costume. As a T-Rex song, it called for outfits with lots of glitz and glam. On the other hand, we agreed that Children of the Revolution was about the LGBT movement of the early ’70s, so we wanted that as an additional theme. I offered to find something with the colors of the trans flag and Courtney and KC simultaneously came out and said that they wanted to represent with the bisexual colors. That was the beginning of three weeks of shopping — endlessly searching vintage clothes shops, at least 5 visits to AKIRA, 3 corset stores and finally a visit to a store called ‘Bras Galore,’ which turned out to be the big final score. I should note that all of this shopping was in boy mode and I spent a good deal of that time in the fitting room — got very comfortable trying on dresses, bras and corsets in boy mode. With each sales associate I would just explain that I had a burlesque performance coming up and they were immediately on board with helping me find whatever I needed. 

A Wardrobe Change

For the third class, Greta said that we should bring the costume purchases we had found, because we should practice as close as possible to the outfit we were planning to wear on stage. So, for the next class I was practicing the routine in the perfect sparkly dress I had found at a thrift store. Unfortunately, while practicing at home, I discovered that while trying to remove it the sequins of that dress kept getting caught up in my fishnets — definitely would be awkward on stage. Oh yeah, remember that it’s a burlesque routine, so a required element is to remove the outer garments to reveal the under garments. Fortunately, I found a replacement dress via another visit to AKIRA (the gold sparkly one in the pictures). By the fourth class, I was practicing in the new dress, my favorite wig and revealing a super pretty pink corset — the only thing I was missing was a blue bra and panties, which is what I found a Bras Galore — actually it was a bathing suit. All on all the costume cost me 2-3x that of the class — but totally worth it. 

My First Spotlight

My mother-in-law was coming in town for the holidays, so I had planned a Julie night out, for a few days before she arrived. The plan was dinner and dancing with my friend Claudia. About a week before, I noticed that the Newport Theater was hosting an event called ‘Shoot the Shit.’ Basically, one could sign up to get a video of their burlesque routine for their professional portfolio. I’m not a professional, but I figured I’d sign up and see what happens. Claudia was happy to have a change of our usual routine and she was gonna get to see all the other burlesque performances in addition to mine. I should add that this night was before my class had learned the last 30 seconds of our routine. So, I had to be creative and figure out something for that last half a minute. Arriving at the Newport Theater, I ask the about the dressing room so I could change into my costume — of course I was already in full Julie mode, makeup, wig, hip pads and an awesome sparkly skirt that the host thought was my costume — bless her heart. I left Claudia to watch the other performers and headed to the dressing room to put on my corset and ultra form fitting dress. Being in that room with total acceptance of the other performers was surreal as I felt about as feminine as I have ever felt. Before I knew it, I was on stage discussing how the performance would be lighted — “this is my first time, so do whatever you think is best.” Finally, the lights go down and the music starts. My mind is racing . . . don’t mess up, don’t mess up. What I didn’t expect was the enthusiastic cheers from the audience (almost all of them were other performers). That feedback from the audience was so intoxicating and pushed through to the end of the routine. O.M.G! That was so awesome! Not sure I did the routine perfectly, but the intensity of being on stage with all of that support was completely amazing.

The Big Night

The night of the official performance (10 days later) I made my way into the dressing room feeling pretty confident. This was a much larger group, probably 10 classes doing their final performance. I was the only obvious looking trans person, but felt completely accepted in there with the dozens of cis women. Did I mention that the burlesque community seems to be super awesome about all body types, because they’re all about celebrating real bodies and not just the ones we see in the media. 

The big difference tonight was that I would be performing with the group. Courtney had to miss the last class, so the one pre-show run through was the first time we did the entire routine as a group. An hour later, the three of us were waiting in the wings to be called on stage. To break the tension, one of us called for a group hug and before we knew it we were on stage, set and ready for the music to start. Again, the audience roared as soon as we started and most of the routine was a blur — I was basically relying on muscle memory at that point. The routine ended with them taking off their tops and being down to just pasties. I have nothing to paste pasties to, so I figured that my finale would be to throw off my wig — just in case someone hadn’t figured me out by that point. As we left the stage, we gathered for another group hug, elated that we had gotten through it without anyone falling off the stage. 

Moving Forward

Shirley Blazen in the middle.

Since that night, I’ve enrolled in a second burlesque class. This one is called Stage Presence and is totally different. The focus is on getting into the right mindset. With the experience of my two performances, the first thing I learned in this new class was that I didn’t look at the audience once. Yes, I heard them and absorb that energy, but there was so much more energy I could have exchanged with the audience. Eye contact and smiles, basically an emotional exchange, which is the actual point of the performance. Circling back to my original objective of doing drag, if you’ve ever been to a drag show, you’ll know that interaction with the audience and exchanging energy is central to a great drag performance — funny how I had never noticed that before. In any case, this new class is so much harder than the previous. We’re not learning a routine, but every class succeeds in pushing me out of my comfort zone. It keeps reminding me of my favorite Bowie quote: “Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.” Actually, that mindset is probably the point of this entire venture into the world of dance/drag — it’s put so much passion back into my life — maybe you’re noticing.

Oh yeah, one more instance of circling back. After three weeks of the Stage Presence class, my instructor, Shirley Blazen, says that she thinks she’s met me at some point before this class. We stare at each other for a few seconds, and then we both remember that she was the MC of the Vaudezilla show we attended during Pinkfest. She is exactly as fun and enthusiastic as that picture suggests — if I learn one tenth of her stage presence, I’ll be well on my way to becoming the Ultimate Badass burlesque Queen I desire to be.

View video of Julie’s burlesque performance on the Dropbox site.

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Tags: burlesque, crossdressing, featured

Category: Out & About