Thread: Mood and burlesque...

How important is it to you that your routines be upbeat? I'm pretty new to the scene (been performing since February) and so far all my routines, while not necessarily sweetness, light and fluffiness, have overall been upbeat and designed to be cheerful all the way through. One of the things that really appeals to me when I watch routines is that they have a positive mood and that I can tell the performer is enjoying themself, so I've tried to encompass that in my own performances.

But occasionally you hear a song and think "that is gorgeous and I would love to dance to it, but the routine would really be so depressing!". There's one in particular that's captured me at the moment, that is a beautiful song but quite wistful and sad and the routine to match it would probably wind up being about rejection and not in a comedic fashion. So I am curious as to what other people do when they have that kind of idea - do you run with it for its artistic value despite it being a bit of a downer, or do you shake your head sadly and leave it where it started off, in your imagination?

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I don't think they have to be up beat at all. To be fair, most of mine are up beat and silly, but some routines I've seen others perform have been much more sombre.

I'm a huge fan of Fifi Fatale, whose inspiration is mostly gothic and her routines are just beautiful and mesmerising. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwRi6usAG6o]YouTube - Fifi Fatale @ Vivid Soda | Burlesque Revue - 6 - "Monte Carlo or Bust!"[/ame]

And of course another example of that would be the amazing Vicky Butterfly, who is quite frankly haunting! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9_rTc8KS7M]YouTube - Vicky Butterfly - "Belle Epoque (La Lune)"[/ame]

I would have a good think about it and see what you can come up with in terms of a routine, and then play around with it a bit. If you're happy with what you come up with, go for it!

I personally think that so long as the performer is passionate about the routine & it shows through in the performance, the mood doesn't matter & sometimes it's a breath of fresh air to see the odd downbeat act in a line-up of cheesecake & comedy routines.

For example, Heather Sweet does a lot of routines with political messages & one of my favourites is about KFC in which she's a mother hen who lays her eggs, throws them into the audience to save her babies from being deep fried... Then hangs herself with her feathers! But she does it so well with her story-telling & use of movement & timing with the music that it just looks fantastic, & despite the rather sad ending, you can tell she enjoys doing what she does which reflects on the audience.

So, if you think you can still enjoy yourself & let that element of positivity in yourself shine through the sadness of the routine to your audience, I'd say go for it schweedie.

x

I feel the greater range of emotions to can extract from the audience the better, it’s all very well delivering up beat and funny routines, the trick is to engage your audience as much as possible. The funny and upbeat routines work well because they make us laugh a little and make us feel quite cheerful, that’s how the routine engages us. But equally they can be drawn into the performance on other emotional levels like sadness, sympathy, surprise and sheer wonder etc, you might want to avoid ‘horror’ and ‘disgust’ though Lol! It’s about striking these cords through the strength of your performance, not just the music, you take the audience along the journey with you and ultimately win their hearts and minds. x

I like emotional variety! I'm doing my debut on friday, with a very upbeat and quite funny act, but my next one (I'm working on the costumes at the moment) is very sad and tells the story of Thomas Mann's novella, Death In Venice.

The ideas I come up with and feel excited about realising range from light and funny, to really sad to just plain ridiculous. I think what matters is the performers passion and belief in what they are doing. If you have thought of it and put it together, you probably really believe in it.

If you want to dance to a piece of music, that's probably the key. If it's moved you, you can interpret it so it will move other people too.

x

I'm definately becoming one moody burlesquer but I'm really enjoying myself being whoever I be and sometimes just want to grin while doing it. I'm very new and the most upbeat I've been so far has been as a stroppy stripper. The only feather fans I own are tatty floppy things belonging to a a sad old southern belle.

If you really like the song but still want to be upbeat could you be kind of contradictory to it. I'm not sure how that could work I'm not experienced but your post made me think of moments in David Lynch films where something dark is happening but the soundtrack will be the last thing you expected to hear with the action.

I think Vicky Butterflies moon act posted above is one of the most enchanting performances I've seen. I love performances that for a while make you completely forget everything else around you.

Its more about the style that suits who you are as a performer, what comes naturally to you. Thats not to say you cant experiment, indeed that is a good way to find out what your forte is. Being passionate about the act is the thing, and having it reflect you. Im rubbish at moody, graceful acts (this irks me as I think they can be beautiful), I have to do comedic, slapstick, fun type acts. That is just what I am best at and what reflects my on stage personality. Interestingly, off-stage Im slightly cynical, bit grumpy, dry-sarcasm using, a rather dark-humoured soul. Its odd that on-stage what suits me best is totally opposite to my real-world personality! So just try a few things out, dont be afraid to accept that some acts may not be right for you and let them go. You will get the hang of what you are best at. And remember that who you are now as a performer may not stay the same; you will develop and change both as a person and a performer and this will come out in your acts.

Thanks for the advice everyone! Given it is a fairly minimalist act and shouldn't require much outlay by way of costume materials, I shall give developing it a go and see how it works out.

why not? and if you arent happy with the results then at least you have tried. x

Half of my acts are not very upbeat, and are quite minimalistic - one or two colours, slow music, slow subtle moves. It's not terribly easy for me as I'm rather restless and energetic! But those acts also end up being the most powerful - precisely because I'm not rushing around cluttering the stage with unnecessary distractions. The simplicity makes the central message/story clear.