Burlesque

‘You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.’ C.S.Lewis

And this was me, back in May 2023.

I love dancing and when I retired, I was determined to have dance lessons. I started off at a Burlesque workshop in April. It was at Saltburn on Sea. A long way. It was absolutely freezing and the class didn’t start till 4pm. Still I persevered. We learned the dance to Express from the film Burlesque staring Christina Aguilera. The first thing I had to do was stand on a chair. It could have been the end of my dancing before it had even begun. But I persevered. Everyone was lovely and welcomed me on board as a newbie. I had no need to be worried. I was a natural. Well maybe not! I would have kept it up, but it’s a long way to go for a 2-hour workshop.

Excited about finding more opportunities to dance I went to a tap class. And the dance tutor became my tutor. She never lets me give up and always makes sure we do things right. We don’t cut corners. We practice until I’ve got it.

I wanted to dance at my 60th birthday party. Tap. But the church hall floor was too slippy, so tap was out of the question. Unperturbed, I looked on line for a dance. I came across Liza Minnelli singing and dancing to Mein Herr from Cabaret. I liked the song. The dance was sexy, liberating and empowering. That dance was beyond me, but I did find something similar – a chair dance on line and hey presto, it became my life’s work. Well maybe not, but you know what I mean.

You would think using a chair as a prop would be easy. Noooooo it’s not.
You need to have confidence in the chair that it will hold you. That you will balance safely and not wobble. You also need to be confident in yourself and a little bit courageous.

I did fall off the chair a couple of times but I was laid on the chair at the time, so didn’t have far to fall. I’d visions of tumbling onto the floor arm outstretched, broken, but I never did. Well at least, not yet.

I smashed the dance at my party. Nerves. Not me! I don’t think my guests believed what they were seeing. Mike had been a bit concerned when he knew exactly what I was doing, but he soon came to realise I wasn’t going to show him up. I wasn’t going to give up either. This would probably be my one and only chance to do this. I was going to do it.

The outfit was a but tricky. I bought a jazz dress off the internet but it didn’t quite work. So, I had to think of something else. In the end I found a camisole and knickers set, fishnets and a choker. Thank you, Debbie, for the choker. It finished the outfit off beautifully. I looked fab.

‘How do you follow that’, the DJ said at the end? My sentiments exactly.