Short answer: Yes!
But let’s work it!
Burlesque is for everyone to enjoy. Want to go to a show? Go, go, go! I can’t recommend it enough and I have written a whole other article on what to expect of your first show. The only reason I can think of you wouldn’t enjoy a burlesque show is if you’re coming straight from the 50s and feel easily offended by sexuality, nudity or words like “vagina”. Then maybe… maybe not.
The real question here is… Is a Burlesque class for me?and here it is what I believe:
Burlesque is NOT for you if:
- You’re a straight guy who doesn’t really enjoy moving your hips or doing drag. You can still enjoy a show! But maybe you won’t feel comfortable in a class, and I get that. No shame, come to our shows!
Burlesque is DEFINITELY for you if any one of these are true for you:
- You’re a woman (or identify as one) between the ages of 18–99+,
- You’re a guy between the ages of 18–99+ and you love to move sensually with all those hips!
- You’re anywhere in the gender spectrum and you love to move sensually… and you’re between the ages 18–99+ — Burlesque simply is not for kids!
- You’re curious about what all the buzz is about and just wanna give it a go,
- You’ve seen a burlesque show and really wanna be doing that,
- You like to move your body, but dislike the rigid and strict dance class format,
- You want to have a good time playing with (and laughing at) your own sensuality,
- You would love to learn pinup poses,
- You crave loving your body more, but are not sure how to get there,
- You want to break a sweat, but aren’t really into all the jumping craze or lifting weights kinda thing,
- You actually love to lift weights, but would like to stay with or develop the more delicate and feminine side together with the muscles,
- You want a safe environment to express yourself through dance moves and learn how to look gorgeous for yourself,
- You love vintage and retro songs… and all kinda of badass classics and fierce female vocalists,
- You know that feminine and powerful go together and want to explore it even more,
- You want to feel powerful and feminine at the same time — and maybe you work in the corporate, male-dominated world and is looking for some girl power!
- You want to meet like-minded sisters and feel inspired by other fierce women,
- You always wanted to learn to strip: for yourself, for a partner or for the whole world!
- You want to reclaim your sensuality and sexuality, unapologetically,
- You always wanted to have a taste of what a showgirl’s life is like,
- You danced your whole life and you wanna try something different,
- You never danced before and you are convinced you can’t dance.
Burlesque brings loads and loads of benefits that go beyond just a dance class — I’ve got a booklet I made to share the other benefits of a burlesque class and some hints on how to make most of it, I share it with everyone who signs up for my mailing list if you’re interested— . In my mind and in my experience, it’s the most welcoming and broad art form which can also incorporate dance, it’s the most flexible and the one which gives you the most freedom to be yourself and create. I’ll just go ahead and say that it’s the one every woman should try. I keep saying that and I’ll tell you why. As a small kid I did ballet for a short while, maybe around 6 months? Then the school unfortunately closed. I loved it to bits. I loved to dress up, and I loved the delicate moves I learned and I dreamed of being a ballerina one day. As you might have guessed, this never happened. I do believe that if I do put my heart into it, even now as an adult, I could still accomplish quite a lot and add ballet to my burlesque performances, but I just don’t want to. Basically because I tried several schools and I just don’t feel comfortable in them. I get in class and everybody seems to be immersed and worried about their performances and getting those splits and leaping and pointing and it all feels so rigid. I like fluidity. I’m a creative. I’m an adult. I wanna create, as soon as I can, not invest years and years learning beyond my physical ability to then have, maybe, a tiny bit of freedom. I don’t like the vibe, and I have no time for that. I’ve tried Zumba. It has amazing energy, I agree. But oh boy. Do I hate the music. I hate latin music, sorry! (not sorry). Besides, it can be very… unwelcoming and unaccommodating of different types of personality. The jumps and the noise and the high fives… it’s all so much thought towards an extrovert personality type. I felt very stupid trying the choreographies everyone seemed to know, and I felt like an outsider every single time as my vibe is just… different. I’ve also tried hiphop and I’m not even commenting on that. (okay I’ll just say I absolutely DESPISE the music… and I’m very sensitive to music so if you play something I hate, I’m walking away.) But that’s just me. I do pole dance. Not the acro type, more the sexy old school one. I love it. It requires diligence as well, and a lot of strength. Acrobatic pole is a bit more like ballet in which you need to nail certain specific moves to be able to really be part of the community, and even though I still do it and I love it, I still feel the pressure to perform at things I don’t necessarily lean towards. There are levels, and the fact I don’t level up keeps that nudge of discomfort in my head, you know? I’ve also done belly dance. It’s SO GOOD. But it fails me in the same regards: you’ll need years and years of hard training to reach a level in which you’re somewhat “free” to express yourself, and not even that free. But I’d recommend at least a few classes to everyone to be honest! There’s hundreds of other dance types out there, I know. I’ve tried some others as well besides the ones mentioned here, but truth is: none has touched my heart and taken me from feeling small to owning a stage. In none of them I’ve been to a show where I could watch a belly dancer do a horror piece, a singer do a 17-min striptease, a fire dancer enchant everyone and an artist bring the message “love yourself”, all on one single stage. And a gorgeous drag dancing in pointe shoes, and a female performer throw a huge dildo at the audience. And a giant donut in a mini skirt dance like that, followed by this amazing performer taking off her flight attendant clothes to transform into a dominatrix. All on the same stage. I’ve never heard a student leave a ballet class and say “wow I felt gorgeous today”. But I see this in burlesque all the time.