Making an Act~ Part 1

Recently a reader of mine said she was really interested in how I make an act up, from start to finish.  This process is so crazy and fun and creative, so I'm going to do a series on this topic as I get ready for a show in May.

Most of the shows I perform in are produced by my teacher Bombshell Betty. So what happens is.... she will put out a performer call with the theme for that month. I can sign up or not depending on if I like the theme, have the time and the money. Then it's a mad dash to figure out a character, costume concept, and song. These have to be submitted to her as quick as I can, since Betty has so many other performers submitting ideas at the same time. If I want a spot in the show, I pretty much have to submit an idea in a flash! Yes, this is a little frustrating since for me the song selection takes the longest and I want to put thought into what I want my act to be, but I think she is pretty willing to let a performer change things up a bit as the act grows.

For May 8th show the theme is great! Super hero's & villain's.  I HAD to be in this one. First question: do I want to be a super hero or a villain?  That was easy, who has more naughty fun? The villain of coarse! Second question; Who do I want to be? The first idea that came to me was Cat woman, but that to me was too obvious a character, one everyone would expect to see. The next idea was Poison Ivy. I imagined flowers and vines wrapped around my body, but then I realised my good friend Miss If-N-Whendy had already done an act similar & I didn't want to copy. Then, I had the shining moment idea. The "of coarse I have to be her" idea. The "I can't be anyone BUT her" idea.

Cruella de Vil !!

How perfect a villain is she? She is so naughty, and bosses around men, and her outfit is wonderful.  You have to hate her and love her.  Alright, character = done.

Next, the area that is the hardest for me and takes the longest, finding the right music.  I right way thought of the part of the movie where Rodger is playing a song on his piano about Cruella de Vil. I looked it up on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEc0woB3piM   a very cute and fun Disney song, but not one for burlesque. 

I just kept searching and found the perfect song on itunes, Cruella De Vil by Knightsbridge. It's fun, jazzy, and has a great beat for burlesque!

Last, I had to come up with a costume.  This is pretty easy as Cruella has a pretty famous costume.

I have to figure out how to make it all come off and what will be underneath, but more on that on another blog.

I sent every thing in hoping that it would be approved. And, it was! I'm so happy to be able to come up with my own rendition of such a famous villain!

Check in with me and see how this idea grows into a reality of a full on performance.

xoxo

Dangerous Delilah







Coming up with an Act

This year Bombshell Betty decided to do theme shows, examples would be.....Summertime, South of the Border, Around the World, Halloween, Christmas, you get the idea. When she first told all of us this, I was pretty excited, since that would save me from having to come up with my own ideas and just focus on the act. This year I have done two of the theme shows so far. Now, I'm working on this months act. And yes, I'm procrastinating! I have to show Betty my act in two days!

So, I'll start from the beginning. The shows theme for August 23rd is summertime. The idea that comes to mind is the beautiful beaches I grew up going to in southern California, warm, sandy, salty. As you all know that right now Katy Perry's hit song 'California Gurls' is blasting all over the radio, I thought perfect song. Well, that's about as far as I got, nothing came to mind. I decided then that I wouldn't perform in this show. That is until just a few days ago when Betty put out an e-mail listing the dancers, and I was on it. I had forgotten to tell her! Oops! Not wanting to disappoint I put on my thinking cap and tried to think of what I could do.

Wipeout by the Surfaris came to mind, a great surfer, fun song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UofdWQG346k&translated=1 . But it's not so simple, I also really like the song Pipeline by the Ventures http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G8W7dvKOX4&feature=related . Whats a girl to do? Deal with it later ;) Next, costume. As I listen to the songs I try to see what repeats, where does some thing fun happen, things like that. What is lucky for me is that both songs are very similar. That's where I figure out how many pieces I have to take off and how long I might have to do it in. I started to think... maybe a dress, gloves and bra. I knew I wanted to have a teal colored costume too, since I wanted to give a watery, ocean vibe. I headed out to see what I could find on Haight street . I first went in to New York Apparel. This place never disappoints. There I found a fun wrap skirt, the kind belly dancers wear, blue boot shorts and some black lace gloves (not for this act, but were oh so pretty I couldn't resist.)

Next, I headed down the street to a craft store that I never knew about and found some pretty, shiny cloth in the same color along with some sequins. Then I was off to Ross for a cheap bra, at least that part was really easy. Here is all my booty!





Now my problem is, what is the third thing going to be that I can take off? Maybe a dress? Gloves? I also need to keep in mind the beach theme, I'm going for. Then my boyfriend suggested a surfer T-shirt. Not a bad idea, I could put something on the front like 'surfs up' or 'surfer girl.' Now I have to decided how the top will come off. Should I take it off over my head, or make it tear away? SO many things to think about!! Why did I wait so long?


This blog is getting rather long. So more tomorrow, I have to come up with a dance now!

Oh, as you can see I'm going to try to show you some pictures of things, to make this blog even more fun!



xoxo

Dangerous Delilah