November 23, 2024
Chicago 12, Melborne City, USA
Dear Diary

Burlesque with The Hot Bopping Girls

On Friday night I finished off an already busy week by attending a Burlesque taster session with the Hot Bopping Girls.

The Hot Bopping Girls (or 2 of them anyway, the third being currently heavily pregnant!) are just returned from their international debut in Rome on Valentines Day with an act they previewed at the Bo Nanafana East Side Story.

They are just launching a new venture, Burlesque Norwich, offering 5 week Burlesque lessons covering everything from peel techniques to character creation and the taster sessions were designed to give people an idea of what they can expect.

We were greeted with feathers and fizzy wine while we had a chance to get to know each other and relax a bit before moving upstairs to the studio.

The studio is a fantastic space for the lessons with a huge mirrored wall and plenty of space in which to strike some sechsy moves! Hannah and Lucy started by taking us through some poses, ways of standing and ways of walking on stage to make the most of your body shape. They were excellent teachers and it’s amazing how much a difference a slight change in position of your hands can make to your body.

We then went on to stringing together a short routine.

You don’t get the delights of seeing any photos of me striking a Burlesque pose as I was behind the camera (such a shame) but I was really impressed with how much they managed to fit into a short, hour long, session without it feeling at all rushed.

Currently there are 2 5 week courses planned, both on Tuesday nights, commencing the 1st March and the 5th April and costing Ā£45 for the full course. If you fancy learning to be a Burlesque superstar you can contact The Hot Bopping Girls via the Burlesque Norwich Facebook page. It seems there’s a possibility of a Friday night course in the future, as several people (me included!) can’t always make week nights.

After such a wonderfully glamorous evening I left in a good mood. I wandered home day dreaming about my future on the stage as a glamorous Burlesque artiste.

Then I got drenched head to foot by a bus driving through a puddle, and when I say head to foot I really MEAN head to foot. I was drenched, grumpy, and my pin curls didn’t stand much of a chance either.

How quickly we come back down to earth *sigh*

The rest of the photos I took are here

    • 14 years ago

    I made Lucy and Hannah’s hats for their Rome debut, I would have loved to see it. Looks like the class was fun!

    Sorry to hear about your soaking, the same thing happened to me once, it was hideous.

    • 14 years ago

    This looks incredibly similar to the classes run (originally in the same room!!) by Kitty Golightly… I attended her beginner’s class in Oct/Nov. I don’t know how different the classes run will be though…?

      • 14 years ago

      I know Kitty Golightly does burlesque classes, though I’ve never attended any. I think a good burlesque lesson will probably contain much the same content!

      Her classses book up a long time in advance as far as I’m aware, so it’s nice to have other people starting up!

      The Garage is an excellent dance venue as well.

    • 14 years ago

    šŸ™ Shame about the bus.

    Those classes look ace! Loads of fun- the facilities look top notch too!

    • 14 years ago

    Oh poppet. And it was all going so well. Chuffing buses!!!

      • 14 years ago

      I was so cross, it was dripping off my nose!

      I actually turned around and shouted after it, for all the good that did!