Dear Diary: My Texas Burlesque Weekend
What a long and exciting weekend. I was in Austin for the Texas Burlesque Festival. I am still recuperating!
We got down to Austin in the early afternoon. It rained the entire time during our four hour drive. We made it just in time to attend the end of the TBF brunch. I saw Michelle L’ amour, the headliner of our Spring Swing Revue and some of my fellow performers from Austin and Dallas.
After brunch, I stopped by the event venue to have a look at the stage and dressing area. Michelle warned me earlier about the dressing area, but I had no idea; it was literally a separate space on the roof of the venue, accessible by an outdoor catwalk and set of very narrow, high-stepping plank stairs. Keep in mind, it was still raining. There was absolutely no way I would be able to navigate the stairs and catwalk in my costume. Instead, I wore my costume throughout the entire show, with a satin robe over my costume.
I had a lot of time to kill at the event as I was in the second half, almost at the end of the competition line-up. I was scheduled to be on the stage at 12:30am. I am the kind of performer that likes to perform first or as early as possible in the lineup so I can get my number over with and start drinking. This meant that I could not drink and had to remain sober until after I perform. Ugh!
There were acts from all over the nation, even performers that will be performing and competing at the 2009 Miss Exotic World Pageant. There were lots of great talent and costumes. However, there was also an extreme usage of glitter. If I didn’t care much for glitter before this night, I certainly do now! It was all over the place. Glitter, a staple among burlesque performers of all calibers, is extremely difficult to clean up, no matter how many times you vacuum or sweep. It just never goes away. There are some theaters that absolutely forbid the use of glitter for this very reason.
I performed my abbreviated Vouve Noir number that I would have taken to Miss Exotic World because each routine had to be four minutes or under. The song I performed my number to, St. James Infirmary, is a slower song, so I had to get out there and wow the drunk and tired audience. Of course, more pressure as Michelle L’amour was one of the judges for the competition. Even though she’s seen me perform before, I was contending with other performers that have been doing this for longer than I have. So, I had some wowing to do. And boy did I! I managed to clinch the title of Best Soloist for the 2009 Texas Burlesque Festival! I assure you, there will be some celebrating this week.
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