Thread: Well hi there!

Hello lords and lovelies!

Greetings from "sunny" Derbyshire!
I am a 21 year old new burly performer in search of a little help and advice to kick start my adventures in sequin-land!

One big thing I feel I am lacking in at present is my stage persona. I did my first show a few weeks back, and although I loved every second of it, I felt I wasn't quite putting myself 110% into it, because I was still quite reserved and thinking along the negative lines of "you can't do this, you can't do this, you can't do this!"

I want to create a lovely inner world and inner self I can pull into before going under the bright lights to shup up that negative niggle and stop it spoiling things for me.

So, guys and dolls, how did you find your personas? How did you start to create your character of "wow"?

Any help and advice you can throw my way will be hugely appreciated

xX Rockabella Xx

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First things first, easier said than done is get rid of the negative "I can't do this" because you can and you have...well done!!
For the length of time you're on it you own that stage, but as far as how you develop a persona it's individual to every person as it isn't fake, it is you. Maybe not a part of you that is up front on display all the time but the part that thinks the thing you wish you could say but can't. The inner self you want is in there so...let it out!

Hey!

I can't give any advice as I'm very new to this myself! But well done on getting your 1st show ... I know how you feel about that negative part of you that holds you back. Mines been doing it my whole life and that's why I'm getting into this too just to prove to that side of me that I can do it.

So any advice anyone can give you will help me out too

WHo are U? and who do you want to be? Burlesque is sexy but that's not enough so are you sultry sexy funny sexy quirky sexy. It's like wearing a mask I think! It's your mask just as your name is part of the mask - Rockabella Storm? Hmmm could be kinda Rockabilly glam so is that what you want. See the sky is your limit when you put on the persona U can be whoever U want to be - U just have to decide who U want to be?????
So U want to be funny or sophisticated glam or outrageously sexy or the girl next door
If you decide who U are going to be and embrace the persona (appropiately - hey ya probably cant turn up to lectures only wearing pasties lol) U can do whatever on stage coz it's not Joan Bloggs on stage it's Rockabella Storm! Then start thinking what Rockabella would do on stage or how she would view a song - you wont do anything that you wouldn't do at the core of your being but you will liberate yourself to relax into a more creative vison on life
God that sounds like such bull but I do think you pick the mask you wear the persona you want to be and when you embrace it there is a freedom - hey Joan Bloggs may not stand in work and strip to pasties or wear corsets, stocking fans etc but Rockabella can!!!!!!!
However the most important thing is to have fun and enjoy yourself and when it ceases to be fun you gotta stop! BUt in the meantime have a blast

Hey Meldiva I get that you are wanting to prove something to yourself but at some point you have to say to yourself that you have proven it! I think when you admit that then you will think more of the fun element than the what am I going to prove to myself tonite! In a certain sorta way the who you are on stage is your alter ego where you can just enjoy the experience. It has to be a persona you put on and take off so that you can be yourself but U decide. Unhealthy for you to become your stage persona but U own the who you are on stage. So Who do you want to be it has to be who U want to be and not who U can prove U are!
ANd never forget to enjoy it!

I think for many performers, working out your stage persona takes time, it develops as you develop, and as you work out what styles are and are not for you, try out different things etc. And thats fine. In many ways we are always changing and developing who we are on stage, its a good process to keep going. The best way to find yourself as a performer is to perform, on the job training as it were x

In many ways, your stage persona is your mask. But in other ways, it's what is behind the mask.

We choose names and personas to hide behind, to shield our 'real' lives from the burlesque world and to offer protection from what we see as potentially embarrassing situations. Yet at the same time, when we're in our personas we do what we would like to do, things that our 'real' selves don't have permission to do in 'normal' society.

I guess what it boils down to is, be yourself. Your real self. The you that sings in the bathroom, the you that dances while vacuuming the living room. The you that does all those things you only do on your own. You might not want to be you in front of other people, but that's why we have personas who can be the real us without any fear or regret.

Sounds a bit wishy-washy I know, but that's where I found Doc, and I'm sure that's where alot of performers found their personas. Also, if it's really you under there, then the persona becomes real and believable, which counts for more than you would imagine.

Doc x

Originally Posted by Glorian Gray

I think for many performers, working out your stage persona takes time, it develops as you develop, and as you work out what styles are and are not for you, try out different things etc. And thats fine. In many ways we are always changing and developing who we are on stage, its a good process to keep going. The best way to find yourself as a performer is to perform, on the job training as it were x

I can second this entirely!

From experience I don't always think it's something you can decide on when you just start performing, it takes time. The more experience you have and the more you toy about with different styles and types of routine then the more you'll realise who you are. The one piece of advice I would give is not to pressure yourself too much, you don't need to know or to decide right away.

You might be surprised at what you find you enjoy the most. I was always slightly worried about bump n grind thinking I wouldn't be sexy enough but now I've found that it's something I REALLY enjoy and it suits me strangely enough. On the opposite I've always admired and looked up to performers such as Marnie Scarlet and Vivid Angel and I've attempted the more alternative but unfortunately I didn't feel It suited me.