In September we were lucky enough to be joined by Veronique Devine (Ms. V) and Madeleine Soleil for an introduction to burlesque dancing.

As well as trying out our new venue, Que Pasa, we also had lots of new faces come along to join in and it was lovely to meet you all.

Ms. V started us off with a bit of burlesque background and history. Burlesque as we know it today, came out of the American Vaudeville scene. Whilst we probably all associate burlesque with strip-tease, Ms. V also highlighted how comedy and satire are important parts of a burlesque performance and also, in good WI spirit, Sisterhood!
After out history lesson we moved on to work on out body confidence. This was a great ice breaker and got the whole group interacting to pick out things we liked about the way other ladies looked.

Then down to the moves! Ms. V and Madeleine took us through a whole range of simple burlesque moves, from strutting to wiggles, using a feather boa or even getting down on the floor! Everyone gave the moves a really good go. Some weren’t as confident at the outset as others, but still took part and looked great doing it. The group atmosphere was wonderful and supportive and I hope left everyone feeling really good about themselves.

We finished off the evening with a short performance by Ms. V where she showed off her burlesque prowess. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. V and Madeleine Soleil for showing us such a good time!

Apart from a bit of an issue with the low lighting, we were really happy with Que Pasa as a venue and will be back there again for our October meeting – Breast Cancer Awareness Month on Tuesday 30th – see the event here.

Thank you all,

Sotonettes

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